Faces of Summer

I have had a theme for each of my last few blogs....like people at TJMAXX etc. I have a couple of other blogs in the mix for the future with themes, but looking around at all of the interesting people on the streets, in parking lots, in stores, at the park etc I decided to just take a group of miscellaneous shots and publish them. It has been quite interesting and a lot of fun. Let's check out a few.

This is a great way to start. You just have to love the bright colors Mindy Elliott is wearing, not to mention those incredible eyes! It is hard to not like this woman! I ran into her at Famous Footwear and she came close to selling me the entire store. She agreed to be photographed but after each shot, she had a different deal to tell me about....and they were all great deals! I went in for a pair of casual shoes which I bought and I ended up buying my grandson a pair of shoes half price!! He wasn't even with me and is only one year old. I would have been way out of my league if my wife ha not been with me. Talk about a super saleswoman!!!!!! She has been with FF for 14 years.

How about this hot green jeep?????   Maureen Watts is exactly the right woman to own it.  She was so full of life.  If you look very closely you can see that she has a bandage around her right elbow.  She had just had blood taken before I met her because she wants to do volunteer work. She studied nutrition at the University of Northern Colorado.  Her husband is a Veterinarian Doctor at the clinic located at Clevenger Corner.  She chatted with my wife and I and was a delight!

Oh, wow!  I still get a bit of a knot in my stomach just looking at this picture.  I was driving on North Main and saw Gregor Giesmann pruning his tree from the top step of his ladder.  I whipped around because I wanted to take this very picture, or I would have settled for a action shot of him falling.....just kidding.  That was the last thing I wanted and so I did my shooting in a hurry.  Here is one of the really fun things about doing this blog....you get to meet the most interesting people.  Gregor is originally from Berlin, Germany and is a retired teacher of art.  He taught at the University of Massachusetts....pretty cool. 

I just love this face shot.  This is Katelyn Astete.

Left to right are Brayden, Amanda and Allison.

This lady just simply made my day.  She knew about my blog (in fact she is an official follower)  and about Rich Crowley's Snapshots of Culpeper that is published weekly in the Culpeper Times.  This is Amanda Martin and she is an assistant project manager for Hitt Contracting.  They are building Terremark.  She is also a blogger and is shortly going to send her blog address to me so I can check it out.  I might even hook back up with her and her sister to get a picture of a tattoo they share for a later blog.  We had a great time talking.   BTW...does she remind anyone else just a bit of Merisa Tomei?

My kind of woman!!!  I was keeping my eyes open for good pictures for this "Summer Faces" blog and who do I run into but Jeanette Tigney.  Those who know me or follow me on this blog know that I am a regular at 7-11 with the Super Big Gulp being my drink of choice.  I looked over at the next machine and there was this attractive young lady getting a giant Slurpee.  Man, I would have a headache for an hour if I drank that.  After checking in with her boyfriend, we went outside where she demonstrated perfect Slurpee form for me.  Jeanette was a good sport.  She is a stylist at "Fantastic Sam's" hair salon.

This isn't exactly a traditional picture of a face, but let me digress for a minute.  In the 1980's I was an administrator at Fairfax High School in Fairfax City, VA.  At that time there was a young man named Chuck Shewbridge who was a student there.  Most boys want to be remembered as a bit of a problem in high school and he is no different, but Chuck really was a great kid.  So was his sister for that matter, and his parents were neat people too.  When my son moved here, Chuck was one of the first people he met at his ice cream stand near Safeway.  Anyway.....Chuck (CJ whatever) is one of the very few people that I have a history with in Culpeper. He has opened a second stand on North Main or Rixieville Road just down from the high school...this is it.  Here's hoping it is a great success!

Stopping by for a nice treat was this international family.  The dad is Mario Rink from Germany; the mom is Mireya Mironoz who is from Puerto Rico; and their children are Sebastinon  and Fabian.  Mario is in heating and air conditioning.  I do believe that Culpeper is changing and that we are richer for it.

These two brothers are characters....talking to them was like being in the middle of a comedy routine and they are funny.  It doesn't look like it here, but they both have the same twinkle in their eyes. They are Chris and Josh Alan and they work construction for SW Rogers. They are darn proud of that 87 Mustang that they are in front of and they should be.  I hope they catch this when it shows up in the newspaper.

This man is a fixture at Yowell Park early in the morning.  He is Rick Robey and he is an avid bird watcher.  When I asked him what birds he had seen, he reeled off a list that was pretty long and included some that I had never heard of.  Rick is also the minister of a local church, Kingdom Hall on Rixeyville.  He and his wife moved here a couple of years ago from Brooklyn, New York.  She came to the United States from Japan just eight years ago.  Rick is currently talking with the Culpeper authorities to see if he can sponsor some birdwatching walks through the park.  I think it is a great idea.

WE HAVE HAD A LONG STRETCH OF REALLY HOT WEATHER AND I WANTED TO CRUISE AROUND THE PEPPER AND SEE JUST WHAT PEOPLE WERE DOING ON A 100 DEGREE DAY. 

This is Tim Betton and he is new to the Pepper as of February.  He came to us from Pittsburgh by way of Maryland.  He is in absolute direct sunlight; is sopping wet; and just as happy as he can be.  He is polishing his car!  Man, it is almost 100!  He says he doesn't mind the heat so much!  I guess not, but I quickly headed back to my air conditioned car.  Tim is a pharmacologist who is a patent examiner. 

Shirley Racy went out on a 100 degree day to get gas.  Hmmmm, we do all need gasoline come rain or shine I guess. She is retired from working at the Early Learning Center for 12 years.  She is a true native and was born right here.  I have to admit that she looks like it is about 70 degrees.

Katlyn Wright is the first person I ran into who was doing what I think is something normal on a 100 degree day.  Of course it helps that she is 18 and just graduated from Eastern High and is not employed right now.  Be that as it may.... she is headed to the swimming pool!  Ta Dah!

As I expected......no one went to Mountain Run Lake Park when the temperature is so high. 

Good jobs, guys!

One thing I knew for sure was that some people had to work outside regardless of the heat.  This is Todd Kinsin on the tractor.  He said that he liked to work outdoors best because it gives him a sense of accomplishment.   He works for Premier Sports Fields Maintenence which is a subcontractor to the Culpeper Parks system and maintains the sports complex next to Eastern View.  Exactly 12 noon for this picture.  Whew!

I thought about what other business are going regardless of heat or cold or storm or anything else.  I decided it was selling used cars.  I pass the Priced Right Car Sales all the time and so I went over to see if they were selling.  You bet your boots they were.  Here is Claude Whited all ready to sell me a primo used Cadillac. He has owned this lot for the last 12 years.

Let's see.....Neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night ....nope that is the US Postal Service and I found out that I cannot take pictures of mailmen in their uniforms.....hmmmm.....I think I had a fast one pulled on me with that one.  Anyway, UPS doesn't let those things stop them either.   Did I say it is 100 degrees?

These guys are incredible.  I found them out in front of Chili's about 4 pm and they had been there since 11am!  It was so hot and these guys were selling raffle tickets to support the Brandy Station Vol. Fire Dept.  They had more big things planned on into the night.  Most of them are still smiling....quite a dedicated group.  We have J.D. Bailey, Savannah Smith, Peggy Bailey and in back, Jeff Bailey.  They have my respect.....and since I bought some raffle tickets from them I have been sitting by the phone planning how I am going to spend the $3000 prize money.

THE BIG FINISH

There was not the slightest doubt in my mind that a 100 degree day would not deter men from being out on the golf course at Culpeper Country Club.  These guys were participating in a seniors tournament and they were a great bunch....a lot of fun and very cooperative, especially considering the heat.  Left to right, Ross Taplett, Red Jenkins, Jim Ruffner and Pokey Buchanan.  Heat or no, these guys were enjoying themselves.  When you've got guys named "Red" and "Pokey"  you know you have some lively bunch.

This has been a particularly interesting group of people.  I always ask the people I am shooting if they  grew up in Culpeper and the majority did not.  However, many are from Orange, Remington, Spotsylvania or somewhere close, but this time we had two people from Germany, one from Puerto Rico and a man whose wife had fairly recently come from Japan.  Interesting! 

That is it for now.   Comments can be sent to:

facesofculpeper@gmail.com

Be sure to watch for Rich Crowley's Snapshots of Culpeper which appears weekly in the Culpeper Times.

T.J.MAXX comes to town

Well.......it happened.  T.J.MAXX finally opened right here in the Pepper. I don't know about anyone else's household, but there was clearly excitement in mine.  For years when we lived in Fairfax my wife would come home from shopping at T.J.MAXX and would announce: "Crowley, you don't know how much money I just saved you!"  I like saving money and imagined my bank account growing larger and larger with each shopping visit.  Meanwhile her closet began to fill to the brim and nice decorative pieces were added to our home.  Then we moved to the Pepper with no T.J.MAXX..... Flash forward four years and here we are with T.J.MAXX in Culpeper and my bank account started growing and growing again.....or so I thought.  All of those years of saving and I was pretty sure that I was ready to buy a new car...I have kind of liked the new Ford Taurus and I knew I could get a nice one for about $30,000... so I headed to the bank to withdraw the money we had saved from shopping at T.J.MAXX.  Much to my surprise...well you can see the rest of the story below.  On a serious note....my wife looks great in the clothes she finds at this store.  As my granddaughter says, "Grandma is always so put together."  There is no doubt that it is nice to not have that empty building staring at you everytime you go to that shopping center AND there are people there.......all the time.

I have not spent any time inside a TJMAXX store and so I thought I would blog about it and see what the fuss is about.  So let's see which Faces of Culpeper can be found at this store.

The first shopper I ran into was Lori Spencer.  Lori has been a swimming instructor for the last thirteen years.  She is happy that this store is now in our town.... heck, just look at her face. 

Just to prove that shopping at TJs is not limited to women, I took a shot of these two good looking young men getting some duds.  Ben May just graduated from Easter View High School and is working this summer at the hospital.  His friend, Eric Hilt just graduated Culpeper County High School and he is working at Ledo's this summer.  Both of these guys are going to continue their studies at Germanna Community College.

This is the almost famous Capri Brown.  Just kidding about the famous part, but she might be someday....she has that special pizazz!  She has a daughter who is just seven months old and she is engaged.  If I understood correctly, she has been working for T.J. MAXX for 5 years.

On my second visit to the store I ran into this cute and fun size lady in the parking lot.  She is Michelle Finchan and she is a stay at home mom who has two kids...both girls.  She had stopped by just to look around.

I discovered that T.J.MAXX is not just a clothing store like I had previously thought.  In fact they have just about everything except that Ford that I want.  Her are Elycia Clifford who's is visiting from Germany where her husband is stationed, her son Brandon and her friend and local resident (at least for now) Brooke Durbin.  They were perusing the jewelry counters.

This lady is very happy about the new store in town even though she is from Orange.  That's a suburb of Culpeper anyway, isn't it?  She is Pam Shilling and she was just a tad shy about having her picture taken, but I don't know why....this is a great picture!  She has a son and two daughters at home.

 

This is Kathy Caole looking all summery and spiffy.  She is looking for clothes for her little one.

This happy looking lady is Brittany Jenkins and she is checking out the shoes.  She is a mom, attends Germanna and works at Ledo's.....whew!

There are more things to look at and buy than just clothes.  Here Valerie Jessup is checking out some stylish purses.  She is a mom of three.

Here are some people shopping for a princess.  If you could only see the eyes on this baby you would be amazed at how beautiful they are.  Her name is Hannah and she is being held by her mom, Shannon.  Their friend is Brandy who is a police officer in Fairfax County....uhhhh, yes ma'am!

These folks came from Orange specifically to visit T.J.MAXX.  They are grandparents and are with their granddaughter.  They are Dale Leonard, McKenna and Terra Devine which is one of the more interesting names that I have run into.  Terra volunteered that, "Getting T.J.MAXX is the best thing that has ever happened to Culper."  She is not alone in that opinion.  Dale is in construction and Terra owns the "Gypsy Willow" in Orange.  She described it as a store that sales collectibles, antiques, bath oils and soap, and gypsy clothes.  She also has a tanning salon attached.  Must be quite a place.

On my last visit to T.J.MAXX for this blog I ran into this couple and I am glad I did.  Not only are they attractive, they were interesting and fun.  I think I will release special info and note that she is expecting in January.  These nice people are Noah and Rachel Lester.  What is really cool is that they are celebrating their second anniversary right near here.  They are from Woodbridge and are celebrating at the Inn at Meander and so they are on vacation and decided to stop at T.J.MAXX. They learned about the Inn where they are staying through a website called Living Social.com.  They are getting their vacation at half price and it includes some cooking lessons plus a special five course meal that will be served tonight!  They were pretty pleased and it sounds to me like the deal of the century!

You can just tell that this lady is a bundle of fun.  She is Maureen McLoughlin and she moved here one year ago from Ocean City, New Jersey to be a full time grandma.  She is enjoying the kids. 

I took one look at this lady and knew she was a school person.... and I was right...she is a school psychologist for Culpeper County Public Schools.  There is just something special about people who have given their lives to helping kids.  She is obviously making good use of a little time off this summer.  Her arms were getting pretty full.  She is Cindy Scott and what a sweetheart she is.   She performed a little quick therapy on me and sent me on my way a happier man.

Pregnancy seemed to be the order of the day.  This little woman is due in the next few days and she is out shopping.  I bet she is looking for new post pregnancy clothes.  She is Deborah Pica and she moved to the Pepper a year ago from Maryland.  She and her husband already have a little girl and this time it is going to be a boy!  Not every woman would let me photograph them in this condition, but Deborah knew that she looks darn cute. 

NOW.....LET'S PRETEND

For the big finish let's pretend for a minute.  Given the way I started this blog I was going to end it with my cute wife staggering out of T.J.MAXX with arms loaded with bags and barely able to stand.  Do you have that image?  Good....because that is the only image you are going to get.  That would have been too much effort and no doubt would not have looked half as good as you imagined.  

That's it for now.  

 Send comments to  facesofculpeper@gmail.com  

Be sure to look for "Rich Crowley's Snapshots of Culpeper"  weekly in the Culpeper Times.



My Walk With Lauren

This is my lovely granddaughter Lauren.  She visited here a couple of weeks ago to spend her spring break with her father and her Virginia family.  Luckily my wife and I (Grandma and Grandpa) got to spend time with her.  She lives in the West and so our time with her is limited and that is hard because she truly is the sunshine in our hearts and we love being with her.  We so look forward to her visits.  She also loves to spend time with us.  Lauren is 14, just weeks away from 15.  This visit she had matured so much and we talked like we never had before.  She spent one overnighter  at our home and lots of other assorted time, but that night she told me that she just wanted to talk to me.......and so we did.....way into the night.  Shortly after she was born I wrote a song for her just called, "Lauren."  One verse goes:

Lauren my child

Lauren my beautiful child

Oh how I long to be

The shoulder that you lean on

When you're hurtin

The one you tell your secrets to

And share your joys with

Cause you know, Lauren

I love you

This late night conversation was as close as I have ever come to being that special guy and she did share things for just me and her.  It was great.

Lauren told me early in the week, and then reminded me over and over again, (no doubt afraid that I would forget) that she wanted to take a walk with me in downtown Culpeper and take pictures. Well... we did and below are some of the results. 

First I took her to East Street and the historic homes that are there.  Honestly, we spent most of the time we had right there.  The first six pictures were taken by Lauren.

Here is a historic house photographed by Lauren.  She loved to shoot these homes accenting angles and framing with trees or bushes.  I think this is very interesting. 

Here is a picture of her grandfather (me) with an address that not only shows where we are, but also one of the dates one historic house was built. 

Here is one of the cooler and most unique houses we saw.  I am impressed that she used the flowering bush to give perspective on the house in her photograph. 

Interesting angle!

Here is a picture of   Bob.  He owns a very cool historic house.  He and his wife were doing spring yard cleaning.  He chatted with us and told us about the history of the town and the civil war.  Right across the street from his home is an ice house.  He said it is the last remaining ice house in Culpeper.  Before refrigeration was invented, people had special buildings or sheds where the floor was dug fairly deep and where ice could be kept year round with minimal melting.  Amazingly, neither one of us took a picture of the ice house.  

Now.....this is a great picture.  Notice how she controlled depth of field in order to get  Rich  who owns this property  and the house all in focus.  Plus she got a great expression on his face and the composition is perfect.  I wish I had taken this one.  This house is called "Wysteria" and was built in 1868.  Rich and his wife, Jacki have lived in this house for twenty years.  They had come from Elko, Nevada a lot of years ago and moved to a farm outside the Pepper.  When this house became available they jumped on it. Before they owned it, Wysteria was owned and occupied for 44 years by a very special single woman.  They told me that at that time Culpeper had no kindergarten so this lady voluntarily taught kindergarten in this house.  She must have been something.  Rich told me that such luminaries as Butch Davies and Jim Swann attended preschool right here.
 As I watched my fourteen year old granddaughter talk with Rich and earlier with Bob,  I realized that she should become a news or entertainment reporter some day.  People respond exceptionally well to her; she is comfortable with adults who readily talk with her and share; plus she is intelligent and extremely articulate.  Diane Sawyer watch out.....or maybe one of the hosts of "Access Hollywood" or someone similar!!  I have no doubt that would be a terrific career for her.

We drove to near Davis Street, parked and walked along the old stores and over to the Courthouse where her Dad often practices law.  After a few more pictures I dropped her off with her Dad at his law office where he is a partner in the firm of Davies, Barrell, Will, Lewellyn and Edwards PLC.  What a great morning....it had been a dream 24 hours for a grandpa. I left them walked back to my car a few blocks away.  

On the way I ran into this lady on the way to her office.  She is Rachelle Hill and she is the co-owner of Real Estate Magnates LLC.  She has been involved in that business since 2007.

I saw this handsome couple accross the street at It's About Thyme having lunch.  I took my life in my hands and dashed through the traffic (well, maybe that is a slight exaggeration....more like I strolled) over to take their picture.  Notice that there is a reflection of a very handsome man in the window.  :)  It looks like he is taking a picture.  This is Kate Bradley who is and HR Asst. at RRCSB (Rappahanock-Rapidan Community Resource Board....small wonder that she just gave me the initials and I had to look it up) and Jonathan Krawchuk who is the Manager of the Culpeper Media Network.  I think they are a bit more than friends. 

And finally for today, this is Amanda Veasey.... I know her.  If I did not I would have to find out who she is because I see her everywhere, usually doing something physical.  I swear this woman knows how to cram more into a 24 hour day than anyone else I am acquainted with.  She has five kids and she is not even thirty yet.....she is everywhere!


That's it for now.  This was very fun for me because I got to collaborate with my granddaughter, Lauren on the pictures and to  spend special time with her while we did it.  It is hard only seeing her a couple of times a year.  Maybe someday........

Remember, I will be posting second blog on tattoos later this summer.  If you want to be in that one or know someone who should, you can contact me at:  facesofculpeper@gmail.com

 

Tattoos

Yep, here I am.  After researching local tattoos, it occurred to me that you are never too old to get your first tattoo.  Here I am at "Steve's Tattoo Shop" with Steve himself doing the honors.  His shop is the only licensed tattoo business in the area.  I thought I deserved the best.   As usual I approached this task with undaunted courage.  There will be more about Steve later.  Find out about my tattoo at the end of the blog.



My son has been encouraging me for several months to do a blog on the tattoos in Culpeper.  It seemed like a good choice because you see them everywhere you go and everywhere you look....... that is until you go out looking for them for photographs and then there a none, nada....zero!   One day I even walked in Walmart for 20 minutes without seeing a single tattoo!  I can hear you saying, "no way," but let me assure you it is a fact.  That must be a world record!!!!  The task to photograph this blog became somewhat harder because right after I decided to pursue a tattoo blog, the weather turned unseasonably cold and all obvious tattoos were covered up.  Anyway, I persevered and here we go.......  This is such a rich subject that this will be Part I and will be continued at a later date. 

I became interested, no curious, about tattoos at the tender age of 12 in my home state of Idaho.  That year I had the privilege of participating in Boy Scouts with a great leader named Rasmussen.  His first name has become lost in time, but it doesn't matter because everybody, including the boys, called him "Rass."  He had been a sailor in World War II  and had a rather large tattoo.  His tattoo was a young Hawaiian hula girl who lived on his chest from his collar bone to the bottom of his diaphragm.  I remember her well....... she wore a grass skirt and that is all!!!  When we went swimming and Rass was bare chested, we were all in little boy heaven.....his tattoo was as close to the real thing as we would get for years.

A well known axiom of my Idaho boyhood was that you could get a girl with a tattoo to do anything.  That was somehow pretty exciting except for the fact that I had never seen a girl with a tattoo and I wasn't sure exactly what I would get her to do.  My young mind pondered having her do my homework or mowing our lawn.......  ah youth!

In about 1994 I was working at Robinson Secondary School when another tattoo event occurred. A rather high profile senior girl and her well known mother got matching tattoos on their shoulders.  That was a bit of a scandal and signaled that things had changed for good!  There was a time when it seemed only warriors returning from war, waitresses in Honky Tonks or bikers had tattoos.  Now everybody has them from all occupations, ages and walks of life.

Let's look at some people with tattoos in the Pepper.

I went to the Haymarket Cleaners which is located in the strip mall just behind Chili's restaurant to pick up clothes.  As I pulled in I saw this big young man get out of his Jeep and go into a store.  I could see from about 50 yards away that he had a significant tattoo on his arm so I grabbed my camera.  This is Travis Blake and he had this pink ribbon put on his arm in the memory of his grandmother who died of breast cancer.  He has lived in the Pepper for about 10 years.

Travis helped me realize how personal most tattoos are.

Jessica Lohr obviously works for Lowes.  When I am preparing for a blog I just keep my camera with me and I was lucky to have it with me this day.  I found this very interesting and asked her if she would explain the tattoo.  She was happy to.  She told me that she and her husband are both Christians and that she loves tattoos.  However, he hates them, but he was willing to support her with this particular one because it fits their family philosophy.  This is the Greek work for rebirth.  Jessica was the first person I would meet with a religiously oriented tattoo, but certainly not the last.  In fact I found lots of them and I have been told that religious expressions are probably the most common of tattoos.

I was walking by the Mountain Kim Martial Arts and noticed an instructor working with a couple of young boys inside.  I just dropped in to watch and see if there was anything there to photograph.  This gentleman came out of the office to see if he could help me.  He is Dennis Byrne and co owner of the school.  His wife is Gabby Byrne and she is the Master and head of the school.  They have two boys and a baby on the way.  I told Dennis that I was looking for tattoos and he volunteered that he had a couple.  Here they are and  they have a religious theme.  The clover on his left wrist represents the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The work on his right arm he called "Holy Knots" and are again a Christian symbol representing the Trinity. 

I guess the word got around that I was tattoo hunting because this young lady called me to tell me that she had tattoos that she was willing to share.  She works at Buffalo Wild Wings and I made an appointment to meet her there.  However, I falsely assumed that she would be the only waitress there with tattoos and so I did not take her name.  When I got to the BWW a lady approached to ask if she could help me.  I told her that I was looking for "a tattooed waitress."  She replied that everyone who works there has tattoos.  Sooo...she and I had a conversation.  She told me that she had nine and while generally happy, she wished that she could get rid of a couple because at age 42 they were fading and/or losing their shape.  She did confirm what I had heard about tattoos and that is that they are addictive.....like the Lays Potato Chips ad that says "nobody can eat just one"..... it seems that no one can stop at just one of these pieces of art.

Anyway,  Jada Turner and  her tattoos found me.  She had one on her wrist that is shown above and a pair of angel wings on her upper back.  Many tattoos are not where people can see them.  They are personal and sometimes private (think of Tom Arnold and Roseanne Barr...I would rather not, but you can....come to think of it, theirs may have been the most public private tattoos, ever!).  I was not looking for those although I am sure they are interesting.  Jada has worked at Buffalo Wild Wings for the past three years.  Her tattoo is unique (check above) because if you look at it one way it spells her name, Jada; turned upside down and you have her boyfriend, Dave's name.  Pretty clever I think.  

This is Steve Schroeder and he is the owner of Steve's Tattoo Shop which is the only licensed establishment of its kind in Culpeper.  I first met him at Culpeper Days and told him that someday I would be doing a blog on tattoos.  Of course he was all for it.  With all that skin art he can look tough, but trust me....this is a nice guy with a great sense of humor.  He has been around the business for 20 years....the last four right here in the Pepper. His shop is on Montanus behind Target.  This guy has stories.........

On a couple of occasions Steve had invited me to drop by his shop.  So I knew if I wanted tattoos, that is where I would find them.  When I walked in for the first time I found them busy at work.  This lady is Jackie Kommes.  She is not only an office manager, but also a mom and a grandma!  I have to tell you that this is not her only tattoo, just her latest.  She is celebrating her survival over breast cancer with a pink ribbon.   She had a lot to say about tattoos.  She loves hers.  The best analogy that I can make is that some people seem to love their tattoos with the same intensity that others do their dogs.  She confirmed that this is an addictive activity and opined that this was likely not her last.

The artist here is Blaine Heath.  He has worked at this shop the last two years.  He told me that he has worked on teachers, lawyers, accountants, and just about every kind of person you can name with one notable exception.  He said, at least in Culpeper, he has not tattooed a doctor....physician, that is.  I found that for every person who openly displays their tattoos, there is at least one who has them where they can be covered up for work.  I have personally seen them at church, on bank tellers, nurses, teachers, counselors, and a plethora of others.  They are everywhere.....unless as I noted earlier....you are looking for them.

By the way, legitimate skin artists serve an apprenticeship with a licensed practitioner to prepare them for the work.  There is a lot to know before you jump into this occupation.

This is Ricky May who is a lifetime resident of Culpeper.  He owns a landscaping business.  His tattoo is rather small and tasteful.  It celebrates his fiance, Virginia Carter. 

Tim Canton was just recently finished his time in the army and came to Culpeper to visit with his family.  He plans to settle in California.  His tattoo is, as you can see, a dragon.  He had the outline done in Santa Barbara, California and the shading in Warrenton, Va. 

Jen recently moved to our area from Canada.  She has pretty extensive tattooing on her body she tells me.  This particular tattoo is of a glass broken heart that symbolizes when she was going through a tough time.  Things are excellent for her now.

As I drove past Yowell Park on one of the recent nice days, I could see the tattoos on a skateboarder who was practicing his skills and so I pulled in to see what he was about.  He is Danny Griffen and it turns out that he is a cook at Buffalo Wild Wings.  He has two tattoos.  The first is shown above and features a Fender Stratocaster guitar with wings.  Danny is a player and loves to jam with his friends.  He used the strat because it is an iconic guitar and much like the one he plays.  He added wings to signify that he intends to play forever.  On his forearm is a rather large word, following the faith theme of so many others, the word is "Blessed."

At Logan's Hair Salon I found Joey who describes himself as a "coworker."  I have heard he actually is a bit of a star!  He has been at that salon for 15 years.  His tattoo speaks for itself.

A now for the big finish.....this is a tale of two tattoos.  First let me introduce the players who are both my neighbors.  On the left is Shantelle Brausen who moved to Virginia from Minnesota four years ago.  Seven months ago she moved into my neighborhood, two houses away from me.  Shantelle is a stay-at-home mom.  On the right is Angelica Sapp who is a Sales Manager for ADP Security Systems.  She is a life long Virginia native and also lives on my street.....two houses away also, but on the other side of the street.  That means that Angelica and Shantelle live right across the street from each other.  When I decided to blog about tattoos I immediately thought about Shantelle's Micky Mouse.  Then a friend told me that Angelica had a Mickey on her ankle too.  What a coincidence!  Women from different parts of the country and both end up neighbors in the Pepper and both have a Mickey Mouse tattoo on their ankle!  Shantelle originally wanted a Celtic religious symbol on her ankle, but it was too big and too complex.  She said that going to her second choice, "was easy" since she had always loved Mickey. ( Note, on the back of her heel  is a Mickey Mouse bandaid. )  Angelica had a much more serious reason for hers.  She loved Mickey Mouse and so did her special grandfather.  One day he went to the store and came back with  Mickey Mouse as a gift for Angelica.  Later that day he passed away.  This Mickey celebrates her grandfather.  You may note that Angelica's Mickey has a halo.  These neighbors are both crazy about their tattoos...I am truly amazed at the coincidence.

OK, OK.... it's me again with a true confession.  I really didn't get a tattoo, but you have to admit that Steve and I deserve Oscars for our performances.

That's it for now.  However, there will be a "Tattoos pt 2"  in the future.  If you want to be part of it let me know at:

facesofculpeper@gmail.com

Be sure to watch for,  "Snapshots of Culpeper by Rich Crowley"  in the Culpeper Times.