The Toronto at CubanBurger in downtown Harrisonburg. A pretty, rye whiskey drink.

Stark or cozy? A winter’s dusk in downtown Harrisonburg.

A Mennonite doughnut truck (Strite’s) parked on Court Square early New Year’s Eve in downtown Harrisonburg.

Larkin Arts in downtown Harrisonburg asked 54 artists to paint one “card” to make up a deck. Their really cool work -- the Deck Show -- is on display at the gallery on Court Square. The 4 of diamonds (top) is an acrylic piece by Jake McIntyre (who grew up in Annandale, attended James Madison University and now leaves in Harrisonburg); the jack of diamonds is also an acrylic, by Jauan Brooks (another JMU person who now lives in the Burg). 

A skateboarding kid in downtown Harrisonburg today asked me to take his picture, and -- as always -- I obliged. He said he’s from Puerto Rico but lives in the Burg now. Fascinating face if you check out the details. (And if the guy is reading this, sorry I didn’t get more photos of you and your friend -- they didn’t come out very good!)

A small demonstration took place outside the Bank of America building in downtown Harrisonburg today (well, it started indoors, but the protesters said they were asked to leave). It was part of a day of action by a group called We Are Cove Point that is trying to prevent Dominion Resources from building a liquified fracked gas terminal along the Chesapeake Bay in Lusby, Maryland. According to the protesters, Bank of America is a major lender to Dominion Resources. The point of the demonstration, of course, was to attract attention -- and both the local newspaper and TV station showed up (the guy with the camera is WHSV’s Greg Master, a meteorologist). I like the kid in the middle because 1) his Marilyn Monroe T-Shirt is capitalism at its best, 2) a cop is staring at the protesters from inside the bank, and 3) the kid asked me to take his photo (which I did in another post).

Delusions of grandeur -- Federal Street in downtown Harrisonburg.

Looking in Wonder, the skateboard/vinyl record store on East Water Street in downtown Harrisonburg, on Halloween night.

You didn’t have to be a kid to get into the hip-hop music at Park Jam outside the Ice House in downtown Harrisonburg on Saturday.

Park Jam outside the Ice House in downtown Harrisonburg on Saturday.

Ryan Slocum (top) DJs at Park Jam -- his celebration of hip hop culture -- on Saturday. In the photo below, Drew gets into the music with another DJ, Luke Holloran.

A guy dancing at Ryan Slocum’s Park Jam, a celebration of hip hop culture, outside the Ice House on a chilly and cloudy (but not rainy) Saturday afternoon.

The Spooky Season 2015, Harrisonburg

Inside Downtown Books, the used books/music/movie store off of Water Street in Harrisonburg. 

The Spooky Season 2015, Harrisonburg

Like needles?

The Spooky Season 2015, Harrisonburg

I wonder if lady justice ever drops those scales on people. Oh, yeah, only if you’re poor.

The Spooky Season 2015, Harrisonburg

OK, El Sol on East Elizabeth Street went more cute than spooky. But who knows what this thing turns into when the sun vanishes behind the mountains, the air turns chill and the sky morphs into blackness.

As the world slides into the death of winter, a Halloween take on Harrisonburg’s courthouse.

“The threadbare trees, so poor and thin   /   They are no wealthier than I;   /   But with as brave a core within   /   They rear their boughs to the October sky.” -- Henry David Thoreau