York River (11/22/2014)

This may not be the most flattering picture, but Saturday was fun.  I helped a friend with sailing his boat over from the York River Yacht Haven to our marina.  His Catalina 30 had been on the hard for some major maintenance and repairs and this was the boat’s maiden voyage after that.  It was cold (when we got to the boat there was still ice on the hull) but the wind was great (10 to 15 knots) and with a slick hull we were making more than 6.5 knots; flying down the York River.  I was actually disappointed that we got there so early.  Although the temperatures were in the low to mid 40s, if you dress right, it was doable.  Yes my face was very cold and I had to put the hoody up after a while.  What surprised me was that we were the only sail boat out at the time.  We saw a number of recreational fishing boats (power boats).

Winter sailing is apparently something for the hardy people in our part of the Bay.  Friends of mine will not go sailing when the temperature goes below 50 or so, and when asked they say something like “been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.”  Yes, it is not something I want to do every weekend; that might get old.  I much more prefer a leisurely trip followed by throwing out the hook (anchor), a swim, a beer and a hardy lunch.  But this was fun too; we had a blast!

I took this selfie and almost every selfie I take really makes my double chin stand out and causes me to grimace.  I see that many people have selfies that do that to them; you contort your face and always smile at the wrong time.  I’ll be happy when I get my new Christmas present; a new camera that uses my phone as a remote control and as remote view finder.  It should be fun to play with.

Richmond (11/19/2014)

Working in the center of Richmond can always result into some excitement, especially during my lunch-time walks.  On Wednesday their was a climate/clean energy rally on capital square and I took these photos while looking at the proceedings.

It was kind of ironic that is was about the coldest day of the current fall, temperatures were 10 to 20 degrees below normal, and I am sure it probably fueled to fire of some of the climate change deniers.  Yes it was cold, and that is exactly what is predicted by researchers on climate change.  I've seen right wing pundits on TV telling me we are going into an ice age and all kinds of other propaganda.  The Washington Post has an interesting article on what's going on (see my link above), and during my dentist visit, I found an article in Scientific American (December 2014 issue) that describes the Polar Vortex in great detail.

I am sure that others will try to find fault with discussions on climate change/global warming, but so be it.  I do not think there is one climate scientist who would be be upset if they are proven wrong; who would want to see/experience global warming.  These same people that question global warming are constantly talking about the economy and want to protect those same children and grand children from the mounting debt (which is not proven either), but then turn around and question global warming.  I rather be safe than sorry.  I am just amazed that people are willing to play chicken with their future and the future of their children and grand children in both cases.

I really think this is a sign of the times.  We have liberals and conservatives and they are so entrenched that a compromise is not possible any longer.  We have a bunch of congress men/women and senators in Washington who's mission it was "to make Obama a one term president", and when that did not work, they are fighting everything the democrats propose.  This is followed up with a push back from the democratic party, and compromise is gone.  It has become of fight of principals instead of a fight for what is good for the country and the people living in it.  I really think this lack of compromise; the disrespect for education and educated people (educated elite) or rich people; the rise in college costs; and the shrinking of the middle class are going the be the downfall of our country and turn it into a third world country that much like Russia is only noticed when it flexes its  military muscle.

Oh well, enough politics for today.  If you are a regular reader, you I do not politic that often.  But if you are interested, just open the labels tab and look for the keyword politics and you'll find a few more posts).  Guess the energy demonstration did that to me.  This group consisted on people against the proposed pipeline, clean energy people, people for sustainable energy, global warming people etc.  A diverse group, and hopefully a group with a variety of political leanings, a true compromise; although I doubt it.

Newport News Park (11/18/2014)

Have not written much lately and not sure how long I'll be able to keep this up without making it sound like too much of a diary.  Moreover, I've been asked to write a (text) book and I assume that when you start writing for a living your armature writing languish.  We'll see.

Fall is definitively here.  Tonight we get a major frost (early for this time of the year) courtesy of another year with a polar vortex.  I expect that all or most of the leaves will start raining down tomorrow after a night time temperature in the mid 20s.  Taking the dogs for a walk this morning I was struck (as most falls) by the variety of leaves on the forest floor and all the different colors.  An absolute gorgeous sight, made even better by the fact that I don't have the rake these leaves.  Leaves that I saw included those of the sassafras, sour wood, maple, sweet gun and some of the oaks (all shown in the picture below) on top of pine needles.  Further down the trail you see black gum leaves, persimmon and the sycamore.  Naturally in the woods behind our home there are a great number of oaks: red, white, water, post, laurel, overcup, and swamp chestnut oak.  I probably miss a few.  To me a great publication is booklet by the Virginia Department of Forestry on our common Virginia trees (click here for the link).

Of all these trees I mention I have a sweet spot in my heart for the sassafras and the overcup oak.  I like the trident leaves of the sassafras, it delicate yellow flowers in spring and its yellow leaves in the fall.  On top of that, when crushed, the leaves smell like root beer.  Not my favorite drink, but the smell is indicative of the plant's assumed medicinal value.  I've read somewhere that, in the deep south, the roots were ground up and drank as a tea.  Tradition tells us that the tea makes it easier for you to tolerate the southern heat and humidity.  The leaves are also used in Creole cooking.  I like the overcup oak just because the acorn is almost completely covered by the cup, and because it grows in the wettest locations.  They have been fruiting copiously, and I am sure the deer just love it.

Chesapeake Bay (11/11/2014)

I found a quote from L.A. Meyer in an article by Lisa Frost in the recent Old Boat magazine that also applies to me: "We clear the harbor and the wind catches her sails and my beautiful ship leans over ever so gracefully, and her elegant bow cuts clearly into the increasing chop of the waves.  I take a deep breath and my chest expands and my heart starts thumping so strongly i fear others might see it beat through the cloth of my jacket.  I face the wind and my lips peel back from my teeth in a grin of pure joy."

I think that most sailors feel that way.  There is something magical in sailing a boat.  For me it is when I shut off the outboard and the boat keeps going propelled by the wind.  It is an amazing thing, the silence and the feel of the boat underneath you.  I simply love it.

This was the feeling I had going out on Tuesday.  It was misty and the winds were light.  But despite all that it was still exhilarating to be out, to shut off the motor, pull it up and settle in at the helm for a few hours sail with a friend.  During our sail trip we saw lots of overwintering water fowl, a few recreational fishing boats and one of the scallop boats (pictured below).  We got a little wet but felt sad when we had to start the engine and return to port.

Virginia Wines (3) (11/10/2014)

This past weekend we spent a day tasting some Virginia wines.  We traveled to a Blue/Green resort in the Gordonsville area (near Charlottesville) and on the way we visited some wineries and bought some wines to drink that evening.  We drank wines from wines from the Rockbridge winery, Ox-eye winery (and no we did not visit either of these two wineries), Grayhaven winery and Cooper Vineyards.  It is a pity that we visited the Weston Farm Vineyards website too late, otherwise we would have noticed their announcement that Google maps cannot find them (we searched for 15 minutes and gave up).

This does not even make a dent in all the wineries in Virginia.  My understanding is that Virginia is the third or so wine producing state in the U.S, and the latest winery map touts that there are 250+ wineries in the state.  As I mentioned before, 10 years ago I was skeptical about Virginia's ability to make red wine, but they have come a long way.  I actually like a lot of the reds they produce at this time (granted I am a red kind of guy).

As with anything, I believe that education is essential in life, and that is also important when drinking wine.  I read the wine spectator and a nice assortment of books on  wines and wine making although in no way am I a wine expert of a wine snob.  The only wine I can pick out of a line up of blind taste testing is the Merlot by Boogle, but that is also because my father-in-law brings it over very frequently when he comes over for dinner.  But yes education is important even in this period of anti-intellectualism.  Why drink the same bud-dry or a cheap box wine, when with a little education and adventure you can drink something better or more interesting for about the same price?

Today's post is not a winery review, I will do one again in the near future.  In the past I reviewed the wineries and wines I have visited and tasted from the Tidewater (click here) and the wines from northern Virginia (click here).  But below are some of the Virginia wines that we still have in our collection.  It is a pity that Virginia wines are so expensive, compared with their counterparts for California or even from France, Spain or Italy; otherwise I would definitively want to drink more Virginia wines and visit more wineries.  Now I have to limit it to two or three wineries every year, and limited consumption; Virginia wines are not for the people that live on a budget, that is for sure.

The Virginia wines we still have in our collection (some date from 2006 and one from 2004)

Yorktown (2011)

Another trip to the archives, courtesy of  Cee Neuner.  I often participate in a challenge that she post on line and here is my entry for the week.  This week's challenge was bark and leaves.

Trees are amazing things.  As you can see here this tree actually appears to have grown into/over the wall.  This is not uncommon, a search on Google gives you this.  However, we have one right here in Yorktown at Grace Episcopal Church.  The church itself claims to be the oldest existing church in the US, and as you can see this eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) has done the job.  I have no idea how old it is but it is getting up there in age.  It really is a magnificent tree.  I am sure this is a combination of growing over the wall and good craftsmanship by the mason.

A lot of people don't realize that trees grow from the outside.  The bark is what is alive in a tree and the inside wood is more or less dead.  Not that the inside wood does not do anything.  This is where water and nutrients are transported up the trunk to the leaves, but all the thickening of the trunk comes from the bark and that is how it grows over and into things as we see here.  Nature is magnificent and powerful.  We humans used to be just a small part of it, although we are more and more taking over.  It was said that nature used to be in control, but we humans have gotten so far that we can control nature.  This seems scary to me, as a biologist I have found that nature is parsimonious (it does not waste anything), humans are the opposite.  Nature is efficient and very adaptable, and history will bear out how we as humans do.  A scary thought say the least, maybe not for me, but for my daughter and grand children.

Highland County (11/3/2014)

Monday was the last morning of a long weekend in Highland County.  It was fun to see our daughter, who drove over from Morgantown and to visit with friends who had decided to move away from the Tidewater of Virginia and settle in the mountains.

The morning started out nice.  We had rented a cabin in the B&B and the sun was just coming above the horizon when I walked over to the main house for a cup of coffee.  Low sun angles make amazing pictures. so I quickly walked over to a cabin that is known as the "Bird house" and shot the picture below.  The orange glow of the sun on the foreground and the distant mountains created a great picture.

Before leaving we decided to go for a walk.  The road we took was past the B&B towards what I assume is Sounding Knob, since we were walking on Sounding Knob Road.  The knob is in the Highland County Wildlife Management area and according to the map, the knob is close to 4300 ft high.  We only walked for an hour, but it was nice to be out and about.  I could not help taking the picture of the lone tree in the pasture along the road.

We ended the morning with a drive to Bridgewater Virginia and a visit to the Bluestone vineyard.  This is another winery that I have to add to an up coming Virginia wine review that I write so now and then on this blog.  But suffice it to say the wines were decent; the place is pet friendly, and it was a great place for a pick-nick lunch with a glass of cold rose wine.  Regretfully, after arriving home at 6 pm, I was back into the car to drive to Fredericksburg for two days of teaching.  I need to retire!

Bath County (11/02/2014)

It was an interesting weekend to spend in the high country of Virginia.  We stayed in Highland County but also visited Bath County for dinner, visit with friends and for a hike in Hidden Valley.

Hidden valley is a great place for a hike.  The trail we took straddles the Jackson River, which is one of the headwaters of the James River.  We hiked it in late afternoon; the weather was cold (it snowed in Monterrey), most of the trees had lost their leaves, with the exception of the red oaks.  The trail is great; it is an easy walk with the exception of crossing the suspension bridge over the river with dogs.  one of our dogs freaked out when the bridge moved.

Bath County is famous for the small towns of Warm Springs and Hot Springs, which are aptly named after the springs (and associated bath houses) found in the area.  Unlike Highland County, which seems depressed, Bath County is opulent, with resorts and a wonderful restaurant in Warm Springs that is part of the Grist Mill.  Hidden Valley also has a wonderful looking B&B associated with it.

Attached are a few photos from our trip to Warm Springs and Hidden Valley.

The Inn at Grist Mill

Highland County (11/1/2014)

We visited Highland County in far western Virginia this past weekend.  The county seat for Highland County is Monterey, but unlike the famous Monterey, this one is a small sleepy town, with absolutely very little going on.  Some statistics, it is supposed to be the highest (in average elevation) county in the eastern U.S.  It is cool in summer and in winter outright cold.

Highland County is known locally for it's Maple Festival and the Mountain Mama (a 100 mile bike ride through the mountains.  One year we did a shortened ride of 25 miles and that kicked our old low country butts.  The Bluegrass Valley (the valley west of Monterey, is the location where both the Potomac River and one of the tributaries of the James River (Jackson River) originate (less than 30 feet apart).

The photo below was taken at our favorite Bed and Breakfast, the Laurel Point Inn and Retreat.  Inn keepers Lorraine and Jim are amazing people and make you feel welcome.  They are pioneers, having a great Inn and a farm.  The photo below was taken of their Highland Cows (what else would you raise in Highland).  Absolutely a great place to visit.