Civil War @ Your Library

To help celebrate the Sesquicentennial (150th) Anniversary of the American Civil War, Massanutten Regional Library is hosting several events at some of our branches this summer. First up, come see a Civil War Camp at our North River Library in Bridgewater on Saturday June 2nd from 1 pm. to 3 pm. Next, bring any original family documents to the Main Library in Harrisonburg on Monday June 4th from 9:30 am to 5 pm.

Florigraphy: The Language of Flowers

A few months ago I read Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s novel The Language of Flowers. I was entranced. Emotionally dark in many places, the light and grace of the floral communication kept me clinging to the story. All is not a “rose garden” in the end, but the novel scattered many seeds of thought. To express the book in florigraphy, I would carry a tussie-mussie, a word posy, of an outer ring of vetch, a ring of pansies, coriander sprinkled throughout, and a clematis in the center. To translate: clinging to the thoughts of hidden worth of mental beauty. Close enough—florigraphy, the study of flower meaning, is not an exact science, nor was it intended to describe a book.

Foxhall Alexander Daingerfield in Virginia Part II

The Kentucky Years – A Summary

In Kentucky, Daingerfield bred for Keene a “galaxy” of great racers who wore the white and blue spots of Castleton Farm. Many of the horses earned over $100,000. A few of their hall-of-fame horses were Domino, Colin, Commando, and Sysonby. Daingerfield’s reputation was such, that in 1902 a “sensational” three year-old black colt owned by McLewee & Co. bore the name Major Daingerfield.[1] The Governor appointed the Major a member of the Kentucky State Racing Commission. In 1907, Keene’s total winnings were more than $397,000, which at the time was the greatest amount ever won by any one man in the world history of racing. Just before his death, Daingerfield compiled statistics that in the years 1905 through 1910, Keene’s winnings from his Kentucky horses aggregated over $1.2 million.[2]