Shenandoah Burning…

March 28, 2008 | 8:04 PM

I’m sitting in a pretty sketchy Ramada Inn in Roanoke, Virginia wishing I were back in Annapolis, or in New Orleans, or somewhere that isn’t Roanoke, Virginia. It might not be the lost colony, but it’s definitely lost in… somewhere.

Today I decided to skip the majority of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia to see Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. They were interesting, but I’m not a Civil War buff. In Chancellorsville a sign said that 17,500 people were killed or wounded in that battle. The phrase that ran through my mind was, “why are we so badly bent?” (which was inspired by a Jars of Clay song). I’ve never fought in a war, but I’m already so weary of the death and meaninglessness of life we see all around us. God cannot be happy with us.

While I was headed south on I-81, I came across a large forest fire (which you see pictured). Since I had plenty of daylight left and I wasn’t in a hurry, I got off the main road to get closer and find a better shot of it. A few others had the same idea, and I met a local in a Presbyterian church’s parking lot. Here’s what the locals are saying: (The News Leader, WHSV ABC 3).

I’ll be in North Carolina and Tennessee tomorrow, and I’ll take the last leg of my journey home on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Posted in Environment, Life, Photography, Travel