Drayden African American School House

We visited the Drayden African American School House on Cherryfield Road in Drayden, MD. It was built around 1890 and used until around 1944. We were greeted by two pleasant docents on one of the Saturdays it was scheduled to be open, September 7th, 2024. The next opening is September 21st (the first and 3rd Saturday's April-October I believe, but check before you go. It was still in the original location and was used during segregation in the 40s. (Although I am not sure some schools are not still somewhat segregated) The building and contents were nicely preserved. The teachers were underfunded, the children's supplies were less than caucasian students received and school started late, so the children could work on the farm earlier in the day. About 30-40 students were cared for in grades 1-7. See also my blog post on July 26, 2022. For more information: https://www.stmaryscountymd.gov/Recreate/Museums/Drayden

Nice children's desks

Lunch boxes

Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass are on the blackboard.

Bowling pins and toys

Pretty Sunset

Just another recent pretty sunset in St.Mary’s County.

Happy National Dog Day!

Gilbert Run Park in July 2024

 On another trip to Waldorf, we stopped at Gilbert Run for a visit on the return home.  I like seeing the varied bird life and the pleasant water view.  Most of the birds I saw were hybrid geese.  They have unusual coloring

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Local Photos

Here’s a few fun recent photos from my local area.  Birds and sunsets.
Loved the circles!

Great view!

Three

Here’s lookin at you kid.

Crises Week

I sort of forgot to make a post this week, with good reason!  My 1998 very reliable Toyota Corolla breathed its last near one of the busiest intersections in St. Mary’s County (route 235 and gate 1 for the base.). The oil light didn’t come on, but it ran out of oil after only 2 months and burned up the old engine.  I was just happy that no one hit my car in the heavy traffic without a shoulder.   He/She served me well for 25 years and was looking beat.  We traveled through rain, snow, sleet and hail, to mountains, cities and beaches.  There were several flat tires, and some maintenance issues, a drooping headliner and failing trim, but never a new engine after 272,082 miles.  I hadn’t yet researched what car to buy soon, but I have some money saved up to help.  It is keeping me busy!

And that wasn’t the only thing that happened this week!  My husband decided to rebuild our PC computer.  It needed a boost and was crawling.  My photo editing software didn’t work well.  Unfortunately, the new parts were not all good.  He replaced the new motherboard only to find out the new power supply wasn’t good.  Now we have to wait for that too.  In the meantime, the wifi and the Internet kept shutting off.

Most of my phone calls stopped working too.  After a call to Verizon (on my husband’s phone!) and a successful visit to Best Buy, it was fixed by switching off a single setting. 

Farewell my faithful vehicle.  You served me well and even posed a few times.

Smallwood Village Lake, Waldorf MD

I had to visit Waldorf for several doctor's appointments, so I took a pleasant break at Smallwood Village Lake/Post Office Lake during my lunch time.  The easy flat walk around the small lake is less than a mile and includes some different sights during various season of the year.  It's a little oasis in the middle of a bustling city.  I saw several different birds, floating vegetation islands, a small bridge and a little children's playground.  During other visits, there were fishermen as well.  The parking is a little difficult, since it is on a divided highway, and only easily accessible from one direction.

                          

The whole lake
                  

The bridge is just out of the photo on the far right.

Great Blue Heron

Possibly black ducks

Red winged blackbird

The floating islands in the lake had a few flowers.  I didn't notice that they were moving around at first, but when I started photographing them, I noticed they had shifted to new places.  They seem to be made of some type of floating plastic sections hitched together, so they move around easily.  

Some people refer to the lake as Post Office lake, so it confused me a little.