Two Hearts Beat as One

SmugMug Daily Post

I'm never one to leave my holiday posts until the last minute:-)  We have our Valentine's Day decorations up, not that there are that many, and Johnny and I have been enjoying these gel clings on our family room window.

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I used those clings in combination with this rusty texture to create today's card.  The window was dirty and had water spots on the original, so really, I just about had to add a texture.

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With Donnie in my life, it's easy to be motivated to create images like this...

Original:

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Donnie and I went to Smithfield yesterday and walked about 3 miles along where the Neuse River flows through town on the Buffalo Creek Greenway.

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We saw some very interesting things on the walk including a historic bridge crossing.  The Neuse River is a major waterway in North Carolina, and getting across 100 or more years ago would not have been trivial.  Donnie enjoyed wondering about the engineering of a crossing that large over the years and how it went from a covered bridge to the modern day bridge that now stands just a few yards away.  I liked the waterfall noise of the runoff coming down off the road and flowing into the river over the rocky terrain.

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We also saw the Hastings House which was General Johnston's headquarters during the Civil War as well as the town's time capsule to be opened on the tricentennial in 2077.  Yep, this town, Smithfield, was founded in 1777.  Not obvious to those who don't live in central NC is that Smithfield is in Johnston  Country:-)  Everything has a history...  Now I know.  Of course Donnie already new that.

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Donnie pointed out this vanishing point under the new bridge and we saw that when it floods water can get up to 30' under the bridge before hitting the new bridge trusses.

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And views along the Neuse River...

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Contech makes these really nice bridges that are installed throughout the greenway, and we enjoyed studying them too.

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There was a cemetery, pigeons, and cool spider webs along the walk too.  A real treat to enjoy on a 60+ degree January day.  We heard frogs and crickets and saw many families out enjoying the day too.  Informative, calm, peaceful, and relaxing...

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