The "Wild West" (5/20/2018)

During the past five weeks I had three trips to the western part of the state.  Truth be told, I really enjoy going out there, were it not for the long drive.  Folks in my office joke about it, how I supposedly like it out there.

First it was a drive to Christiansburg for a meeting, followed by a trip to the Roanoke area to teach two days.  This past week I spent four days in the Abingdon and Bristol area of the State, in other words the far western part.  This was again to teach, but since it is such a long drive I need to have a day of travel before and after the classes.

My visit to Christiansburg included some field demonstrations like this hydroseeder.  It was a cold day and I thin I ended up catching laryngitis that day.

It was particularly this last trip that I enjoyed a lot.  For one I was not in a hurry to get in the car and drive back.  I could therefore take my time to enjoy my surroundings.  I did my obligatory microbrewery visits, one I have visited a few times, in Abingdon, the Wolfhill Brewing Company; and a new one, Studio Brew in Bristol, Virginia.  Studio Brew might be the far western brewery in Virginia.

In addition to having the corporate party, it was open mic night at Wolhill brewery.  This guy was actually pretty good. 

At Wolfhill I was kind of lonely.  I just sat on a bench had a beer, ate my tacos for dinner and watched people.  Nothing wrong with that; being an introvert it can be nice to people watch.  There was an office party and whether she was the organizer, the office butterfly or more, I don't know, but this one lady was hugging all the men and being very nice.  Just interesting to see. It was also obvious who the boss was.  My guess it was either a law or an engineering firm.

At Studio Brew I had a great talk with the the owner brew master.  They make great food and some really interesting beers.  I just had a wonderful relaxing time after teaching a whole day.

This is the interior of Studio Brew.  These guys make some interesting high alcohol brews, and being so close to bourbon country a few barrel aged ones.  I was impressed!

Actually, when done teaching I did not run out to the bar.  Abingdon is such a great place!  It is situated at one end of the Virginia Creeper Trail.  This trail is a rails to trail park and the first thing I did after teaching was to get out on the trail, walk to mile marker 1 and then back to the car.  Most of the walk is through nature and fields.  It is nice and relaxing 2 mile walk.  It is a great way to come down after being up for 6+ hours or so.  At this time of the year the native cherry trees were in bloom and it rained cherry petals (something we don't have in coastal Virginia and I miss from living in the mid-west).  It was so nice to walk on the trail, look at the plants and trees growing along the trail, breathing in nature, after being cooped up in a class room all day.  Please don't misunderstand me, my students were great.  It was great to interact with them and it was so rewarding when they came up to me after the class to shake my hand and thank me for traveling all the way out there to give them the workshops.

Just a picture of a tree on the Creeper trail.  I really enjoyed the walk and some of the views, although there seems to be a huge construction project going on right next to the trail.

On the way home I could not help myself and stop over in Draper to go for a brief walk on the New River Trail.  This is an other rails to trail park that I have written about in the past.  It is one of my favorite and I quickly went for a 1.8 mile walk.  So nice to be out in nature, in the mountains.  In summary, three nights, four days, two microbreweries and three walks in nature.  The fringe benifits from being on the road; let my colleagues think I am partial to the mountains.  It is really not that bad there in the "Wild West."

Last but not least a miscellaneous picture from the New River Trail.  Very lush and green, although sections of the trail are invaded by Chinese privet, which is not really not a good thing!

New River Trail (5/5/2015)

I have been on parts of the New River Trail for the past two years.  I have biked it three times in the summer (pre-blog) and walked parts of it in the late fall, winter, and in early and late spring.  It is such a pleasure being there and it really sweetens my visit to this part of the state.  But what I want to do today is continue the discussion I had on my blog the time before.

While the Dolly Sods were evidence of human influence on nature it maintained a absolute beauty.  The New River Trail area is not that different; it is an old abandoned railroad bed that runs through a gorgeous area.  The New River was altered by a dam and I am sure the country side was wooded.  But still, even now it is beautiful out there.

The railroad was built in the 1800s to transport iron ore from the Galax area to Pulaski where the smelter was.  Pulaski was situated between the coal supply and the ore.  The problem was that the coal had a high sulfur content with the result that the smelters also produced sulfuric acid.  The acid was exported, but it also contaminated a large area in Pulaski.  All together again a sign of man's fooling with the environment without really knowing what the consequences would be.  

Some of the blooming plants on the trail are introduced from other parts of the world and are considered invasive; humans with good intentions imported many of these plants to prevent soil erosion, doing things they did not know the consequences of.  In all these cases it was too late to reverse the process once we found out that there was major issues.  We are still doing the same things; whether it is global warming or as I learned today from the news fracking which now seems to be contaminating our drinking water.  When we notice it, it's often too late to reverse it. 

Even if you ignore the obvious signs of human use of the area like this:

the trail and its surroundings are absolutely delightful.   Below is a native plant that was blooming.

Native choke cherry 

Draper (4/1/2015)

Whenever I am in the Wytheville area I try to visit the New River Trail for a walk.  I truly love this area and enjoyed the article on Pulaski and Draper in the Washington Post magazine this past Sunday.   Today I needed a walk to decompress.

Regular readers know that today was the first day of the new course on native plants that I have been developing.   And yes (dear diary) I personally think that it was a success.   But 6 hours teaching  (alone) left me exhausted and wired.  It was therefore what the doctor ordered, a nice walk on the trail to clear my head.  I walked approximately 2 miles and it did not clear my exhaustion but it did clear my mind and allowed me to be more alert on the highway.

Anyway, this is a great area that is fun to hang out in.  During my walk I met an older couple (who were to shy to even return my greetings) and two guys on bikes.  Being a road biker I was amazed to see that they were both on their road bikes with skinny tires. I have biked the trail, but only with my mountain bike.  Anyway, a successful day all around.  The photos below were taken on the trail, and as you can see spring is about to pop.

Draper (3/4/2015)

On the road again! After a month and a half hiatus I am on the road teaching again. Actually two weeks ago it was Fairfax, but I really had not much to say. But it are days like today that I have to vent, after four to five hours in a car, listening to the radio. It is amazing what you get to hear while trying to stay entertained and allert while driving. I really needed to decompress in Draper and walk a piece of the New River Trail.

What got me upset? Don't get me wrong, I love the mountains of Virginia and the people that live here. Yes, the number of tea party license plates are higher here in them hills, but to each there own. What upset me was listening to the radio. There were programs that were all over the place. I understand religeous broadcasts and money shows etc, but some more conservative radio hosts were absolutely virulent and vitreous. Now I am from European stock, and my father spent time in a German concentration camp; and from what I understand from stories have heard and read, this is very remeniscant of what Germany went through. The hatred of liberals and the name calling was absolutely amazing. Hopefully only a small minority listen and or agree with these demagogues, but yes it is remeniscant of some of the Hitler news reals I have seen; although it is not anti Jewish, but anti Muslim and anti liberal. It was absolutely flabbergasting, and I needed to decompress; like showering after getting really dirty.

Walking the New River Trail I saw trees covered with lichen and it symbolizes my feelings after the name calling and hatred. I wrote about lichens in a previous post, but I need to bring it back.

While lichen may look like moss, they actually consists of two different lifeforms. They are algae that live on (together with) a fungus. These two lifeforms live in a symbiotic relationship (they scratch each other's back and don't live separately) something that these bizarre fashist radio hosts cannot do with people that don't agree with them or when they are Muslim. In addition to helping each other, lichen are also food to animals and the may protect trees and soil from temperature extremes.

We are such a self destructive species that hates and kills our own species, something that most other species do not do, let alone live in a truly symbiotic relationship with others. It really amazes me how much hate there is in this world.

New River Trail (10/10.2014)

On the way back from my trip all the way out west I decided to stop in Draper and take a short walk on the New River Trail.  The "short" walk turned out to be an hour and a half long, but it was just what the doctor ordered.  Granted I saw very little of the "Creeper" (see my post of two days ago), but the New River trail is still my favorite.  The Creeper took me 2 miles from downtown Abingdon and back.  So it was a bit of suburbia with some nice pasture land mixed in.  The New River Train from Draper starts in a very rural area, and before you know it you are outside the village in nature.  I am such a strong believer in Nature Deficit Disorder (I previously wrote about that and you can find more in the labels section of my blog).  However, yes it is either nature or sailing where I can clear my mind and think clearly.  Then coming home, I hear that my brother-in-law gave a lecture at Princeton where among other he talked about the philosopher Heidegger needing nature as well to think clearly.  Naturally no comparison here, but yes I need my nature fix.

Fall was gearing up in this area.  Leaves were starting to turn and seeds were ripening.  Birds were all over the seed heads along the trail.  The pictures below show the flowers of a New England Aster, a fall flower that has found a niche flowering this time of the year.  There is a photo of the fruit of a spice bush.  Spice bush is one of my my more favorite plants.  The leaves are very fragrant, and serve as host for many butterflies.  I harvested a few fruits to try to germinate and grow some plants here in my yard.

The bench is something I have done for years now, ever since I got into photography as a 16 or 17 year old.  Back then I represented a certain loneliness that felt after having been transplanted from a tropical island to the Netherlands at the age of 16.  At that time my parents decided to relocate after some 1960s riots on the island.  Here in the peak of puberty, having my first girlfriend, I found myself transplanted in a completely new surrounding.  I became the class clown, in the hope to get accepted and to be noticed in a high school class that had been together for a long time.  I was lonely and depressed back then and started taking pictures of empty park benches (the tears of a clown?).  But, it is something that has stuck with me, and even now (see even my New Kent picture from a while back), I enjoy taking pictures like that; although I do not consider myself lonely or depressed.  I'm happy and content, but it is something that I'll always be interested in.

 

On the road (3/27/2014)

I drove back from Wytheville to Yorktown on Thursday.  When I got to Lexington I needed gas and decided that instead of just taking the highway I wanted to take a less speedy road (as also recommended by a friend, who told me to enjoy my travails through this beautiful state instead of just trying to get to point B from point A as fast as possible).  So I took Highway 11 to 340 all the way to Waynesboro.  The picture of the wood cabin was taken in McCormick, an interesting little village that seems to be undergoing a lot of renovations.  It has a lot of character and I hope it is maintained and becomes an interesting place to explore.

The scenery picture was taken just outside Draper, one of the stops on the New River Trail.  I previously took pictures there.  Being someone who grew up on an island in the middle of sea; who now live in Yorktown, I often miss the horizon or at least the ability to see further than the trees.  I remember living in Durham (NC) 30 years ago and I felt claustrophobic.  I like being able to see far, probably one of those reasons I love to be on the water and sail.

In all it is fun to see these little treasures while spending so much time on the road.

New River Trail (2/26/2014)

Since I have not been posting much here a treat (two pictures).  On the 26th of February I needed to travel to Wytheville to give a class.

On the way I stopped in Draper to walk a piece of the New River Trail.  It was late in the afternoon and freezing.  I got back after the sun went down, but it was beautiful.  I walked approximately 4 miles, from Draper to the river and back.  Here are two pictures of the walk.  Absolutely worth doing.