Keeping up with Fishersville Mike

In my internet journey today, there's no need to "catch up" with local blogger Fishersville Mike since I regularly pop in on him. We are both listed on the Staunton News Leader aggregator and sometimes cross paths while out and about the SWAC area, most notably at the Mitt Romney rally in October 2012 at Expoland in Fishersville. A fellow member of Smitty's Axis of Fedorables, Mike is a crossroads for many of the other bloggers with a running blog update on his sidebar.

The only thing I could disagree with him about is his Grumpy Cat on the sidebar with the warning, "Let it snow somewhere else." LOL. I'm a snow lover but it sounds like my fellow SWAC blogger would like to jump from Christmas straight into spring.

I've been to see Pat in Shreveport today as well as Smitty at The Other McCain. Here's a wave at Mike in Fishersville just a short hop from my corner of Augusta County ... I'm on my way to visit another blogger friend. Happy 2014!

Birthday greetings for a gentle friend

Shenandoah National Park hiking trail.
Photo by Bob (The Journey).

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like falling leaves." - John Muir

Today is the birthday of a good friend so I spent my early morning hours looking back over his posts at The Journey, reliving the trails he has hiked and the areas he has visited and his words of wisdom in the weekly Thyme Magazine.

Bob's window on the world takes me to new heights and destinations and I rejoice in his pleasure of photographing a butterfly on a purple thistle in August or the sun's rays on Elliott's Knob on a winter morning or the changing colors in Shenandoah National Park.

Bob and I first crossed paths as fellow home school parents 14 years ago. A Christian, husband to an amazing lady, father of two, artist, architectural renderer, nature photographer, and well-read man, he has an indepth understanding of the land around us and the political unsettleness of the world that some may miss in his quiet gentleness.

In 2000, as I worked Bush for President headquarters in Staunton, Bob came in with a pencil drawing of Osama bin Laden as a rat. At that time, most people had no idea who Osama bin Laden was but Bob knew. I taped that drawing to the wall by my desk and, after the successful election was over, packed it away with my political treasures. Less than a year later, America became very aware of bin Laden after the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks on our country.

In 2004, as I unpacked the office supplies to once again set up headquarters for President Bush's reelection campaign, out came the pencil drawing of bin Laden-Rat that Bob had drawn four years earlier. When he stopped by headquarters, he spotted it once again on the wall beside my desk.

Some years back when I expressed disappointment on my blog at the eyesore that is now Afton Mountain, Bob, who is a fellow SWAC area blogger, came up with a vision of what it could look like with architectural drawings of a vibrant Gateway to the Shenandoah Valley. Even now, his vision lives in my mind as I dream that some day that area will become the beautiful mountain setting befitting the apex of the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway.

Last week, while eating lunch with a friend in a downtown Waynesboro restaurant, I spied Bob coming up the sidewalk across the street and grabbed my camera for a quick photo. He later used the photo in his blog as he explained his part in revitalizing that area of the Valley.

Often found in his studio with its own window on the beautiful Augusta County countryside, Bob sometimes gets lost in the joy of his work. For our sake, I'm glad because we've become the richer for his willingness to share what has often been inspirational and unforgettable.

Happy Birthday, my friend. Here's wishing you many more years looking at God's world and bringing that beauty to us through photos and words.

Update: Bob's response post ... "Joy in the Journey: Milepost 60."

SWAC bloggers out on the town ... Christmas in Staunton

A toast to the annual Christmas dinner for the SWAC bloggers at Depot Grille in Staunton.

The Depot Grille ... decorated for Christmas.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
10 December 2010

The Journey through life....

I am always amazed at all that Bob accomplishes ... photographs, art, architectural scale renderings, hiking, church, family ... his window on the world is always filled with beauty and reminds me to slow down and look around.

Hop on over to The Journey and scroll down to see a mural he is working on for church, another mural under a Crozet railroad overpass, and the latest edition of THYME Magazine.

Blogging changes ... it's contagious

The SWAC bloggers are sporting a new look. Yankee Phil has joined Fishersville Mike and SWAC Girl in sporting a facelift ... a new look ... for the blogs. I like it. We're moving the furniture around ... knocking out some windows and doors ... adding new paint and carpet. LOL.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on mine as I continue to tinker with designs and try to recover lost links. Change is in the air....

It wasn't the same without you here....

Fishersville Mike went dark for a couple of days this week and SWAC wasn't the same without him. He's back online today and it's great to have him and his commentary back in the neighborhood. Welcome back, Mike ... you were missed.

Blogosphere links ... lots of good reads

I don't know if there's just more out there to read, or if I've been sluffing off and now trying to play catch-up, but there seems to be a lot of excellent posts not only in the Virginia blogosphere but by Virginians in other venues as well as other bloggers out there.

Congrats to all the Righty bloggers whose rankings can be found at Yankee Phil's site where he was #2 and Fishersville Mike was #5. Bob at The Journey has the latest issue of THYME Magazine: Journalism With a Better Flavor, with the title story, "Why Being POTUS Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry (Except for America)."

Tom White has branched outside the Virginia blogosphere this week with an article published in the American Thinker. And don't forget his daily News Hound, that regal beagle who continues to hunt for stories around the blogosphere.

Riley posts over at Virginia Virtucon about Jay O'Brien dropping out of the state senate race.

Krystle wants to know whatever happened to the U.S. budget over at Crystal Clear Conservative. She reminds that other issues have taken over our attention but, meanwhile, the budget is still not set. Check out the video.

Out in California, Donald Douglas at American Power blog traveled to Arizona over the weekend to see for himself what the anti-immigration protests were about since he didn't trust the mainstream media to accurately report on the situation. Indeed, what he saw and experienced was much worse than the MSM reports that sounded as if a family picnic had taken place. Donald wrote about immigrants and socialists marching against SB 1070 in Phoenix and said:

This is why I covered it. Reading the morning newspapers on yesterday's illegal immigrant march in Phoenix, you'd think it was just a nice outing for families to stand up against Arizona's SB 1070. But this was no weekend picnic. The event was more about revolution and reconquista than about "immigration reform." The Arizona Republic, CNN, and the New York Times all publised blasé reports, riddled with inaccuracies and omissions. And check the screencap at yesterday's Los Angeles Times below. It's hard to find a better image that captures the media's pro-illegal immigration reporting: "A girl waits to join the march through downtown Phoenix." See how seemingly normal things appear. The editorial choices made by MSM functionaries are staggering sometimes.

He has lots of photos so you can see with your own two eyes what took place. Be sure to check back later today or tomorrow for photos of the pro-immigration rally that took place Saturday evening.

Speaking of a hypocritical media, Brian Kirwin posts at Bearing Drift about President Barack Obama's Memorial Day getaway complete with a song to commemorate the occasion. Imagine if George W. Bush had scampered out of DC to vacation at the ranch on Memorial Day and during the worst of Katrina. The howls of protest would still be heard....

While we're talking about the oil spill, No Sheeples Here has all the low-down on James Carville, Maureen Dowd, and Chris Matthews as it dawns on them that their Emperor has no clothes. Ms. Dowd pointedly wrote in the New York Times:

Too often it feels as though Barry is watching from a balcony, reluctant to enter the fray until the clamor of the crowd forces him to come down. The pattern is perverse. The man whose presidency is rooted in his ability to inspire withholds that inspiration when it is most needed.

For five weeks, it looked as though Obama considered the gushing that became the worst oil spill in U.S. history a distraction, like a fire alarm going off in the middle of a law seminar he was teaching. He’ll deal with it, but he’s annoyed because it’s not on his syllabus.

Wow. That is stunning considering the source.

The Saturday funeral of Spc. Joshua Tomlinson in Shreveport, Louisiana, was a sad reminder of why we pause on Memorial Day to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. Pat Austin at the blog ... and so it goes in Shreveport asked readers to pause for a moment of silence at 2:00 Saturday as the funeral began.

No Sheeples Here posts The Final Salute. Have a Kleenex handy.

There will be many Memorial Day posts Monday. We remember ... we will not forget.

Vote for Phil!

It's my electric company, too ... Shenandoah Valley Electric Co-op. Imagine a SWAC blogger on their board of directors! Vote for Phil!

A bit of this 'n that from around the blogosphere

A new blogging week brings a look around the blogosphere to see what news is making the rounds.

Congratulations to SWAC bloggers Yankee Phil (#2) and Fishersville Mike (#5) on BlogNetNews/Virginia. Jason agrees with Rep. Tom McClintock at Augusta Water Cooler. Bob posts a beautiful photo at The Journey of the clouds after a Shenandoah Valley storm.

Tom White's News Hound was up early sniffing out the latest batch of interesting blog posts at Virginia Right! Thanks for the link, Tom.

Pat has her lineup down in Shrevesport.

In Virginia Republican District Chair news....

JR has District Chair results posted at Bearing Drift.

Right here in the 6th District, long-time GOP activist Trixie Averill is the new chairman.

Virginia Virtucon's Lovettsville Lady reports that Howie Lind is the new chairman of 10th District.

Morgan Griffith won the Republican Congressional nomination from the 9th District.

Around the Shenandoah Valley....

Mike smelled the honeysuckle blooming, a reminder it's spring in the Valley, which is a great time to take in a movie at Hull's Drive-In outside Lexington.

Republican Charles Djou wins in Hawaii:

"The people of Hawaii have given us a short-term lease with an option to buy in November. This is not the time for us to rest on our laurels. This is the time to redouble our efforts to bring out change. To do good, to restore our nation to prosperity." -- Charles Djou

The Other McCain has it covered ... so does Virginia Right! and No Sheeples Here and American Power.

Lots of great reading in the blogosphere. Enjoy ... more to come.

Congratulations to Trixie Averill ... new 6th District Chairman

Trixie Averill stood in 2007 against anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan in Charlottesville. Trixie, a military mom whose son Sgt. Marcus Averill was deployed 3 times to Iraq and once to Afghanistan, rallied with others in support of America's troops.

In a landslide election, Trixie Averill won the 6th District Chairman position Saturday in Lynchburg. Congratulations, Trixie!

I'm live-blogging the SWACers gathered at Jason's house reliving the convention and sharing with three who were not able to attend. It's a gathering of Yankee Phil, Augusta Conservative, Augusta Water Cooler, Barb, Kurt, Kelly, and David ... observations of the day are being relived and shared.

A collective "Congratulations, Trixie," from the SWAC Crew!

UPDATE: I published this post at 9:30 Saturday night and at 11:00 my cell phone rang. It was Trixie calling to say she had read the post and knew we were all together so I put her on speaker phone and everyone talked and relived the convention and congratulated her for her win. We'll take the rest of the weekend off ... and then roll up our sleeves and get going because there's work to be done.

I made Pat's roundup!

Every Sunday Fishersville Mike does a blogger roundup of interesting posts and it's fun to see which stories he finds interesting.

Phil does a Sunday BNN ranking update of conservative blogs around the Commonwealth.

Saturday Pat did a roundup over at her blog, And so it goes in Shreveport, and I made the list! Thanks, Pat ... you made my day. For those who are sick of winter, check out her post on spring in Shreveport ... her daffodils are about to bloom! I think Mike is envious because the ground here in the Shenandoah Valley is still covered with snow.

Lots going on in the conservative blogosphere....

Fishersville Mike ... moving up in the rankings

Yesterday fellow SWAC blogger Fishersville Mike was #1399 in the Technorati rankings.

That was better than Virginia Virtucon (1515), Bearing Drift (1531), or SWAC Girl (1574). He's regularly in the Top 5 for BlogNetNews/Virginia.

So how's he doing that?

Mike has blogging friends in high places.

If you've not read his blog, it's funny, informative, a quick read ... and he communicates daily with national bloggers such as The Other McCain, No Sheeples Here!, The TrogloPundit, Pundit & Pundette, and And So it Goes in Shreveport.

So far he's kind of flying beneath the Virginia conservative blogosphere radar ... but he's out there. So congratulations to Mike for being #1399 on Technorati and beating us all. Glad to blog with you in the SWAC Corps.

SWAC bloggers Fishersville Mike and Bob receive national recognition

Recognition ... a couple of SWAC bloggers have caught the eye of Instapundit.

Check out Fishersville Mike's award-winning link ...

... and Bob at The Journey's link for North Slope Jobs for Virginia.

Way to go, guys!

Around the SWAC blogosphere

There's still lots of snow on the ground at my house, Christmas decorations are twinkling on these cold winter nights, the forecast calls for a possibility of more of the white stuff on New Year's, and the SWAC bloggers are still turning out the news with some interesting reads.

David writes over at Augusta Conservative that Augusta County is searching for a new director of community development to replace the retiring Dale Cobb ...

... Second Amendment protector Jason at Augusta Water Cooler posts a video about guns ... Fishersville Mike reminds us of The Pina Colada Song ...

... owner Bob at The Journey is celebrating his 25th anniversary as a design artist at his Kirchman Studio in Staunton ... and Yankee Phil has a variety of posts including his Christmas trip to visit familiar stomping grounds.

We're ready for 2010....

Nominations for the Demmy Awards

Bob over at The Journey has been inspired by recent Democrat strong-arming of the American public ... and has come up with a new ... ahem ... award.

As Bob so eloquently presented it:

It is time to remember those spineless public servants in the US Senate. The 2009 Demmys are open for nominations. There are some so obvious that I've already created the... er... award.

Others may come to mind so please nominate as many as you wish [limit 60]. ... Write a brief reason why the Senator is deserving... example: "Joe Leiberman, predictably unpredictable... look at his voting record and forget what he says."

I'll have some more from the 'official' Joe Leiberman criticizer, Binyamin Jolkovski, but please go for the creative gold here.

This should be fun and will provide some chuckles and entertainment for New Year's.

Christmas with the SWAC bloggers in a Winter Wonderland

I've taken a longer-than-I-should break from the kitchen but got caught up in the Democrat porkulus and health care bills. So ... decided while at the computer to check out the SWAC bloggers, those fellow conservatives who hold the line against liberal erosion of our freedoms, and see what they are up to on this Christmas Eve.

Jason has come out of his long winter's nap to follow Santa's trek around the world leading up to his Christmas Eve deliveries tonight. Good to hear from you, Jason! And a Merry Christmas to you!

Mike has noticed my "Health Care Bribe" posts that have been going up hourly since 5:00 this morning listing the bribes offered by Harry Reid to Democrat senators to vote for his socialized health care bill. But other than that, it looks as if sports will play a large part of his holiday weekend.

Phil has left us with a little "Silent Night" from Olivia Newton John. David and Bob are on a Christmas break from blogging.

I wish them all a blessed Christmas and a joyous New Year when, God willing, we will all continue to work together, blogging and watching out for the best interests of the country we love.

"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." --Luke 2

Snowy wonderland for SWAC bloggers

Saturday morning at 9:00 ... heavy snowfall continues. It's difficult to measure with drifting snow but it is now about 2 feet deep.

A snowy view from the dining room table.

Drifting snow is piling against door to deck.

What a winter wonderland!

As heavy snowfall continues and snow drifts pile up, I decided to check out my fellow SWAC bloggers to see what their yards looked like this morning.

Bob at The Journey has been out taking photos this morning ... and so has Fishersville Mike, whose bench is now completely buried in snow. No morning reports in yet from Yankee Phil or Jason or David.

Mike reminds us of those working throughout the storm, people we are thankful for ... and that includes SWAC bloggers Jason who is a deputy, and David who is a cardiac RN at the local hospital.

It's 23 degrees and the snow continues to fall....

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
19 December 2009

The Other McCain: "Yes, Virginia ... there is a Fishersville Mike"

SWAC bloggers talk in Depot Grille entry before departing after an evening of good food and good fellowship.
Train picture above mirror is SWAC blogger Bob's creation. The Depot is unique ... tables are covered with brown butcher paper and crayons are provided for entertaining young and old alike. The SWAC bloggers left their URLs and Bob sketched a vision of a Village at Afton complete with snow. A number of his artistic sketches hang at the Depot.

More artwork from guests.

Not only do the SWAC bloggers keep up to date about local, state, and national politics ... but they also play together on occasion, and Thursday everyone except David (who was on "dad duty") got together at the Depot Grille in Staunton for dinner, lively conversation, and bantering back and forth with each other and the waiter. Our plans had been scuttled earlier by bad weather so we rescheduled Thursday (and, thus, David not being able to join us).

Most of us have posted about out night out on the town. Today Mike's friend, Robert Stacy McCain (aka The Other McCain) picked up on it and posted about Mike and his friends ... Yes, Virginia, there is a Fishersville Mike.

See Mike's commentary along with Phil, Bob, and right here at SWAC Girl (aka "Upper Valley Girl" to the Other McCain).

From the SWAC bloggers ... Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
10 December 2009

SWACers out and about at historic Depot Grille in Staunton

SWAC "StrictlyVa" bloggers paused in the middle of animated conversation during dinner Thursday night at the Depot Grille as our waiter, Bill, snapped this photo.

Christmas tree welcomes guests inside the door.

Wine cellear tree was a festive touch.

Waiter Bill with his handy-dandy battery-operated pepper mill that caused everyone to roar with laughter as Jason quipped, "Brookstone?" Here Bill adds pepper to Bob's dinner.

Photos by SWAC Girl except where noted
Lynn Mitchell
10 December 2009

SWAC news roundup

It's an overcast chilly day in the SWAC area so I decided to check out all the hot topics being discussed by my friends in the SWAC blogosphere....

Who knows better the feelings of New Yorkers about the trial of terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed being moved to their city than a native New Yorker? Yankee Phil noted that New York Gov. David Paterson thought it was a stupid idea. Meanwhile, Obama's bowing has been the topic of many while Phil wonders if this was what he meant by hope and change.

Check out the latest issue of THYME Magazine at The Journey as Bob looks into the controversy of whether the Ft. Hood shooting was an act of terrorism and media bashing of conservative types. Then we follow Bob out Rt. 250 west to Shenandoah Mountain on the border between Augusta and Highland Counties as he checks out the Confederate Breastworks and takes us back to an experience none of us can imagine because we have not walked in the shoes of those who lived through the Civil War. His post brings out the history geek in me....

Fishersville Mike is going "Rogue" as he celebrates Sarah Palin's new runaway best seller book that was released today ... and takes particular delight in a passage from page 271. Then he takes a look at the media frenzy and National Review's separate Sarah blog and then wonders what's up for Palin in 2012.

Jason wants to know why so many insist on being politically correct concerning Christmas (and great to see you, Augusta Water Cooler!).

With Obama batting 0-7, David points out that the president is failing in his campaign promises. As an emergency cardiac nurse, the Augusta Conservative also keeps us educated about the health care issue which is helpful when there are hundreds of pages of government double-speak to read. We'll stay tuned for more....