Virginia Native Plants (3/27/2015)

I am completing the development of a class that will be titled "Plants for Erosion and Sediment Control & Stormwater Management".  I will start teaching this class next week and am looking forward to it.  Hopefully it will not bomb; from what I hear in the field, everybody is looking forward to it.  I have a huge responsibility resting on my shoulders.

In the process of doing research for this topic I ran into now three reference guides that I thought were very good:

1. A native plant guide for Virginia's Eastern Shore (click here)
2. A native plant guide for Virginia's Northern Neck (click here)
3. A native plant guide for northern Virginia (click here and you'll find it on this page)

All are really good and a lot of fun to browse through,  Yes my course will deal with native plants and alien invaders (as in plants).  The department I work in is spearheading the effort in creating these guides, and word is that the Hampton Roads will be next, maybe divided into the south side and north side.  

This division into the north and south side is so indicative of what is going on in our area politically and socially.  Everyone wants to make this the greater Hampton Roads area but the darn Hampton Roads and the tunnels divide us and it is hard not to see that as a barrier between us and them (who ever us and them are).  Oh well.

Back to my class.  I will let the readers know how it is going, these next two months of traveling will tell.  The photo below was taken two Sundays ago, and to me it is symbolic of a new beginning, a new class and more respect for nature in general and of native plants in particular.  Of course it was taken in Newport News Park just around sunrise.

Yorktown (4/13/2014)

It was absolutely beautiful on Sunday, and we decided to go for a walk with the dogs in Yorktown proper.  We parked up in the higher part and already when we opened the car door we were welcomed by the sound of bells ringing from the Baptist Church.  I assume it’s a large speaker system that puts the sound out over the village, but still it set a good atmosphere for Sunday morning.  When we got to the river (around 9:30), people were already staking their claim on the beach.  Also there were the guys with their metal detectors, looking for the things yesterday’s crowds had lost in the sand.  We had a great walk along the water and back up to the car.  In all we walked more than 7000 steps according to the fitbit that I wear, which is pretty darn good since my goal is 10,000 steps.  As I tell people, I am trying to get my girlish figure back, but it is a struggle, especially after a weekend of gluttony and wine tasting.

Yorktown is full with older buildings some of which are owned by the park service and others by individual.  There are also not so old homes, and even some older apartment buildings.  It is a nice combination, and a pleasure to walk.   The photo here is from the Nelson House, which dates from 1730 (here is another reference for the Nelson House).  It is a nice historic building that gives you a flavor of the importance of Yorktown in its hay days.  It’s amazing how fleeting some of these things such as fame and fortune can be, and only some will be kept in our memories forever.  People build monuments to themselves, such as ex-governor Nelson who seems to have built the largest house on Yorktown, or maybe the largest surviving house in Yorktown.  Guess we still do this in modern time, but I assume that most of the McMansions here in the US that are stick built, will eventually deteriorate, and few will remain as monument to their owners.  This is so very unlike the Europeans who built with brick and stones and where you still see many old buildings.

Now in modern time we have other means of leaving a legacy or our own monuments.  Some do it with the (non-biodegradable) trash they throw out of their car or fill the landfills with (my wife and I generate less than 2 bags of trash each week and compost all our food waste).  Others do it by writing, blogging or maybe even through things like facebook, twitter, or any other electronic way.  It should be interesting to see what will remain 100 or more years from now.  I personally hope that some of my writing (a few book chapters on scientific items), this blog, my photos on flickr or even facebook will give me some form of immortality.

Oh well, enough rambling.  We walked back by the beach an hour later, we were tired; the dogs had been swimming in the river and were wet.  Metal detector guys were gone and there was nothing left for future archeologists.  A lot more people were on the beach, ready to enjoy our first really warm day in the sun.

 

York River (1/17/2014)

Having a day off I got up early to take a few sunrise pictures along the Colonial Parkway.  Yes, the State Virginia gives off on the Friday before the Martin Luther King Holiday as Lee/Jackson Day.

This picture had not much to do with sun rise but I just loved the ice on the pole and the colors so close to sunup.  A second one show the sun rising behind the bridge.

Good Morning Yorktown (1/9/2014)

“Red in the morning, sailor’s warning.” This is an interesting saying and from what I can find on-line there may be some truth to it (http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/weather-sailor.html).  It seems that dust from an approaching storm is kicked up and that the sun light is refracted in it, with the red rays hitting our eyes.    

It was glorious this morning, and the sun came up right behind the Dominion Power Plant in York County.  Not sure if it is a good omen or not.  When we moved to the county in 2000 we read reports that this is the most polluting power plant on the east coast (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Yorktown_Power_Station).  I’m still not sure if that is correct, but there were reports last year that it is not very good (http://wydaily.com/2013/07/26/report-yorktown-power-station-as-operating-near-impaired-waterway/).  All I know is that when the wind is bad (maybe a few times in the year) you can smell the coal that is being burned at the power station.  Moreover, my sailboat is usually covered with ash from the power station.  Thanks goodness two of the three generating units at the plant will be shut down next year (maybe the rumors were not far off).  These are coal burning; the third is an oil burning unit which will remain operational.  Maybe it is a new day for pollution in the area.  Regardless it was a gorgeous sunrise.  I should really carry my good camera with me instead of just my phone.