Embraced (7/18/2024)

In the more recent posts, I have mentioned that we had a contractor install a fence around our backyard. It was finished a little more than a month ago and we are really enjoying it. I have always been somewhat against fencing the backyard; however, now I am a convert. Our dogs Jasper and Radar enjoy the freedom of being able to roam our albeit small back yard chasing squirrels, howling at the trees that the squirrels escape into, as any good treeing coonhound should, and at deer outside the fence. Radar dapperly joins in, although he does not howl. In addition, the dogs have rip-roaring wrestle matches. I think at least three or four per day.

Since part of the backyard is in the shade we had a lovely cover of moss instead of grass. Well, that was completely torn up and destroyed by our canines and their wrestling matches. Oh well, as they say; we all enjoy a good fight. Us watching it and the dogs performing it.

We built an additional fence with sticks that fell out of all the trees in our backyard. It serves somewhat as a divider in the yard and a place for birds to hide and hang out. We planted pollinator plants along a path that I put in along the stick fence in the hope that one day it might resemble something like an English cottage garden. The area is being overtaken by a gourd of some kind. It was in our compost and based on our dietary habit, I expect that it will be acorn squash. Our green tunnel is being colonized by tomatoes and green beans. We have been eating grape tomatoes and snacking on the miscellaneous green been. It is an experiment that we will repeat next year.

I have noticed that we spend a lot more time in our backyard, now that we have a fence. The major reason is that the dogs can be with us. Jasper the hound is a runner and hunter. Radar cannot be completely trusted, and we were afraid that would attack people and other dogs that wander by. Before the fence we would either put them on a running leash or leave them inside when we went out. Inside, they would be barking to let us know that they wanted to join us. Outside on the long leash they would constantly wrap themselves around our seats, shrubs or trees. Now they are free to roam and wrestle.

The other night I had decided to go outside to urinate and was struck by an epiphany. Like every other full-blooded man, there is nothing better than pee against a tree and ruminate at the same time. Yes, I announced recently that we had a powder room again and my forays into the backyard to micturate were over. However, I still enjoy going wee-wee in the natural environs. One evening while taking a leak against a tree I had a flying squirrel scamper down the tree to see what all the rustling noise was all about or maybe it was protesting my use of its tree as a urinal. We met eye-to-eye and after further inspection the squirrel climbed back up the oak.

Back to the subject at hand, the epiphany. So, what was that realization that I had? Sitting on the concrete garden bench in the dark in front of our Buddha statue, for the first time I felt like the garden was embracing me. While I could not even see the statue in the dark, I felt one with nature, the world, with the yard and everything in it. I suddenly realized that without a fence our backyard had no limits; there was no cohesion to it all. Somehow that night, the fence gave me a feeling of a hug, of keeping me in her bosom and not letting my mind and spirit wander all over the place.

Now you all know that I am a strong believer in and practitioner of “Forest Bathing.” I have given a sermon on the practice and written 54 posts on the subject. I love wandering in the woods behind our home and absorbing nature. In other words, this feeling of being embraced by the fence came as a surprise and I have not been able to shake it. Three of four times per day I enjoy walking a circle through the yard, inspecting things; pulling a weed or just sit on a bench or a chair to take it all in, fantasizing bout what to do next in the yard or just meditating. It is an amazing feeling and I guess it is still forest bathing since the yard has many trees and we still border the woods. I am enjoying it; let’s hope those feeling does not go away.

Our volunteer gourds

Night in the yard, it was at that time I had the feeling of being embraced!

Black-eyed suzan and the stick fence on the left.

Evening sail on the Chesapeake Bay (8/22/2015)

We had a great and interesting evening of sailing this past Saturday.  We took our daughter and significant other sailing in the area where the York River enters the lower Chesapeake Bay.  We had a couple of firsts and it was an interesting time.  Sara, our daughter’s girlfriend had never sailed in her life, so that was a first.  The week before there were reports in the newspaper about major algae blooms causing gorgeous bioluminescent events on the river.  The photographs in the newspaper were spectacular.  We had seen the same thing during the meteor shower when my wife and I walked along the York in the evening and aquamarine waves were crashing into the shore that night and we hoped we could replicate something similar for our guests. 

So we decided to make it an evening sail in the hope the algae were still going strong.  We made chicken-humus-spinach-sprout wraps for dinner and armed with some snacks and drinks we set sail at around 5 pm.  The wind was from the north at 10 to 12 knots.

Well, 10 to 12 knots does not sound too much, but coming from the north is fun sailing especially in the southern Bay.  Typically waves are the highest when the wind is from the north and northeast.  With wind from that direction, the waves do not encounter land for a long stretch and are able to build (this is also known as fetch); and even with just 10 knot wind the waves can easily build to 2 feet in height.  Maybe no big deal, but especially when it is dark you cannot see the few extra-large wave that sneak in from time to time; both my wife and Sara were surprised one of them and got thrown around and were slightly hurt and definitively shaken up.

But let’s start with the beginning.  We started out with a somewhat bad omen.  The head sail (jib) went up great, and when it came to raising the main, I had forgotten to connect the halyard to the main.  So I had to get on the cabin to connect the halyard.  A little screw up, no big deal.  Somehow, the main did not want to go up all the way, whatever I tried.  It was stuck, this dummy did not put on his sailing gloves and I am still bothered by a blister on my finger from trying to pull the main up.  Oh well, it might not have looked that pretty, but the boat sailed and I was not going to let it ruin our evening.  I just lowered the boom a bit and it worked.  Next problem, I was not able to pivot the outboard out of the water, oh well again, in hindsight, even with our little sea anchor we still averaged 4.5 knots over the ground that evening.

We were flying, but boy it shows that, now I have all the windows in, I need to pressure wash the boat.  Also the headsail is a little dirty, but there is little I can do about that, I understand.

About hour into our sail, “BANG”, and the boom flies down wind.  The shackle that holds the mainsheet block attached to the boom snapped.  What to do?  Start the motor.  Time to take the vang apart, and use the block and the shackle from the vang.  So while the crew holding on to the boom, I tried to get everything rigged up.  Here comes one of those larger waves and the pin goes overboard.  So let’s try the other end of the vang.  I am able to get that one installed without any additional incidents and we are off sailing again.

After the repair.  The admiral and me with the new block and shackle from the vang.

In the meantime the sky is getting absolutely gorgeous.  We are all clicking away, cell phones, go-pros, Olympus T-3, you name it.  After having dinner it was getting dark and it was time to get the lights up.  We still do not have electricity on out boat, so I bought a set of battery operated navigation lights.  Somehow I had not put them up before we left, so I gave the helm to my wife and crawled up front (without life preserver and two to three foot seas) to put the thing up.  Well, a screw came lose.  Miraculously, I was able to catch it but I needed to crawl back to get a screw driver and fasten it again.  Then crawl back to the front and attach it.  Finally back in the cockpit I checked the GPS for our position and had the shock of my life.  Because of all the time it had taken me to get the navigation lights up on the bow, we had gone too far and actually crossed an area that we usually would avoid at all cost.  The area we crossed has a sand bar with a depth of 4 to 6 feet and our boat draws 4 feet and having no electricity we have no depth finder.  Thanks goodness it was mid-tide, but with two foot seas, we could have hit bottom at the bottom of the waves.  With me up on the bow, trying to attach navigation lights, that would have been very interesting.  Nothing happened, but we learned an important lesson: situational awareness; make sure you know where you are and that you need to have enough wiggle room just in case you need it especially when working on something!

The sun is about to set in the west.

A nice head wind, waiting for darkness and the algae glow.

Shutterbugs.

The rest of the evening went great!  After it got completely dark the light show started.  The sail was absolutely spectacular.  Black seas with aquamarine streaks (the crest of the waves), and an aquamarine wake from the boat sometimes bright enough you could read a newspaper by.  Unbelievable.

The algae that are causing the bloom are Alexandrium monilatum.  The algae is somewhat toxic; not horribly toxic to humans, but this species does appear to be toxic to young fish, young oysters and young crab.  Older ones seem to be able to withstand it.  While the bioluminescence is a sight to behold, it is also an indication of too much pollution in the water.  The algae bloom are caused by the pollutants we generate on land and that runs off in our stormwater, in particular phosphorus and nitrogen in animal waste and fertilizer.  An interesting juxtaposition, my hobby (sailing) and my profession (sttormwater education), all together.

Newport News (1/29/2015)

Last night was a special evening, we went to see a concert of Zap Mama and Antibalas at the Ferguson on Newport News.  It was a great concert.  I could not help taking this classic picture during our walk from the parking garage to the concert hall:

The concert hall is on the campus of Christopher Newport University, and it was built not so long ago.  When we moved into the area in 2000 there was no Ferguson Center.

The concert was great!  It's a pity that it was not well advertised.  I never saw it announced in the newspaper or not even a small article on this wonderful lady.  Zap Mama has a interesting history.  She was born in the same country I was born (the Congo) in and I guess that gives me somewhat of an emotional alignment with her.  I have been following her music since the mid 1990 and like it a lot.  Hence my excitement of seeing her life.  It was absolutely fun.

Harrisonburg (2/10/2012)

I visited the Harrisonburg area this week to teach a class.  Harrisonburg was cold, and I got out just in time before the big snow showed up.  Actually the drive from Richmond to home was outright tortuous.   The class was very well received and that was definitely due to my fellow teacher who is great and fun to teach with.  We had great reviews; naturally my favorite was:” Jan is the best.”

Back to Harrisonburg.  It is a nice old town with a cute center.  There are some decent restaurants I ate at two of them and reviewed them on Yelp.  This photo was taken in the evening, and since JMU was playing a basketball game the town was pretty empty.