I voted absentee (10/31/2014)

Having to travel on election day I voted absentee today!
I urge everyone to vote, no matter what political party you vote for.  Only then is it legitimate that you complain!
Vote!

Richmond (10/29/2014)

The one nice thing about working downtown in a larger city is often the sheer choice of places to eat lunch; although, there seemed to have been less choice when I started working in Richmond 5 years ago.  Yes you still have your Wendy’s, Hardy’s, Subways and Quiznos, but I think I have seen other places open, and then also, there has been an explosion of food carts.  Your choice is amazing, from an Indian food cart, to authentic Mexican tacos, to a Thai cart, a cart with more gourmet-like tacos, to carts that serve all kinds of wraps and salads.  It is really neat.  Contrast this with recent fights they had in Newport News about the placement of food cart placement.  I really wish there were more, as long as they are safe; but that is probably self regulating at least when they don’t kill their customers.

Regular readers of this blog know that I love to go for a walk during lunch time and I am always amazed by some of the big lines at these carts.  It is the social place to be; every so now and then on my walks I run into people I know.  They are patiently standing in a line at a cart and it is fun to talk to them for a bit.  Other times, the people standing in line take up more than half the sidewalk and it is difficult to walk.  But then on the sidewalk on the other side of the street are all the smokers and that’s a pain as well.   Breathing in secondhand smoke has been moved from the work/office environment to the environment where people do their lunch-time exercise or wait in line at food carts.  Somewhat ironic I would think, and it is the reason why I often escape to the park along the James River, or I walk around capitol square.  I need my walk and very often my Starbucks fix. 

Finally, another thing that is fairly common on the streets around lunch time are the beggars.  It is a shame that we still have people that need to collect money on the streets.  There is a lady who sells wilted roses, a guy without legs and your assortment of beggars that sit on the curb smoking cigarettes.  Being an ex-smoker, I do not think I would give to smokers in support of their habit, over food.  Others may say that giving them money support their begging habit and makes them lazy (see the article by Robert Reich that I reference below).  But so be it.  It is just sad to see that in a country as this there is still such a discrepancy in income or maybe a lack of income for some that people still need to beg.  It is a harsh reality, and it still makes me feel uncomfortable seeing them.  It amazes me too that there is such a lack of compassion and empathy (see also the article by Robert Reich).

Anyway, this is my entry to the weekly challenge by Cee Neuner.  This week’s challenge was to photograph feet.  Maybe not the best picture, but all these people are waiting at one of the favorite food carts in the area.  I like to take a picture at the time the challenge comes out.  This is not my best, but it shows what I meant when writing about the carts.  Actually amazing that everyone has their own space in this photograph and that there is obviously very little interaction going on in line.  To me everyone appears to be lonely in a crowd.

Newport News Park (10/26/2014)

Some fall we are having; blue skies and delightful temperatures.  Who needs more reasons for a nice walk in Newport News Park around our drinking water reservoir.  The reservoir is an interesting place.  It is a dammed off section of the Warwick River, and it actually has a lot of significance.  Picture more than 100 years ago this area was the site of a civil war battle between the Union and Confederate Forces.  They were dug in on both sides of the river and gunning for each other.  I understand there were much fewer trees around and it must have been an interesting sight; not something I would want to experience.  But now it is all water under the bridge, or should I say into the reservoir.

The reservoir is fed by a few stream, but mostly by a pipe line that brings water from 40 or so miles away.  From here it goes into the water treatment plant and comes out of our faucets.  While these pictures show the lake and it's surroundings in full glory, it is actually the areas far away from the dam that are the most fun.  We can reach these areas from our home as well as from the regular parking area, and we have spent a lot of time in those swamps looking at red-headed woodpeckers, herons, gannets, wood ducks, Canada gees, bald eagles and even at various plants like lizard's tails.  We have been standing in the swamp in February doing the great back yard bird count ankle deep in mud and chilled, but thrilled at all the birds.  That bird count is always on president's day weekend and it is so appropriate to count in a park where George Washington hung out at one time to make the life of the Britts miserable.

At one point the swamp/lake is fed by a spring that is located in the Yorktown Battle Field National Historic Park, a place I have written a lot about.  This spring is actually located need the encampment that George Washington used during the revolutionary war.  I am sure he drank from the spring.  This is another subject I wrote about in a post called George Washington's shovel.  The area is full of remnants of these two major wars that were fought on the Peninsula.  It is really a neat place to live and experience.

It is actually amazing knowing that drops of water that we drink and molecules of air that we breath have all passed through the body and lungs of people like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Hitler and people alike.  We are such a closed system, that we better take care of it.

Chesapeake Bay (10/25/2014)

We had an absolutely delightful sail today.  The weather was great, sunny and even forgetting our sunscreen, we did not burn to a crisp as you would in summer.

The yacht club had a wedding, so we made sure we were not in the way and we took off around 12:15 after picking up two subs at Wawa.  The wind was out of a direction that was not predicted by the weather service, so we had a half hour motor out before raising the sails and drifting for a while (the winds were very calm).  It was a great time to eat our lunch and flush it down with a beer.  After a while the wind picked up and we had a great sail with the wind coming from the south east right abeam.

At the point we were planning to turn around we encountered a pod of porpoises; they dove under the boat and one chased the boat for a while, almost touching the rudder.  Great to see that there are still many left, after last year's die off. Eventually we had to turn back, and the wind picked up to 10 knots or more and we had a great sail. Being pushed a bit of course by the current we decided to tack and, right on the dot, the wind started shifting to the west, as was initially predicted for the day.  This required that we changed plans all the sudden and we had to drop the sails to get back into the creek.  Google tells me we did 17.6 miles today or 15+ nautical miles; great for a four hour sail.

Below are two pictures one of our course.  I use a great app on my tablet called MX Mariner that allows me to record track and download them to Google Earth.  It is a great app, that helps me a lot.  I strongly recommend that app.  On the way we saw a heron on one of the channel markers.  Usually there are ospreys all over the place, but in the winter the herons appear to take over.  In general though there are so many birds on the Bay this time of year, including cormorants, pelicans, diving ducks, and we even saw two bald eagle circling overhead.  A magnificent day indeed.

York River (10/20/2014)

I’m running about two days behind in posting my pictures, but the sunrise on the York River was absolutely spectacular on Monday.  A combination of the clouds and the right timing (in going to work) made it almost unforgettable.  Add to it the sailboat that was moored at anchor balls helped in the composition and pulled at this sailor’s heart strings.

The lower part of the York and the Chesapeake are great for sailing.  You can always tie up for an hour or even for an overnight at the floating docks in Yorktown.  I am always amazed by the tidal current that clips by the docks, but boats seem to weather it well.  The advantage is that there are some pretty decent restaurants in the little town, which particularly helps with overnight travelers.  Breakfast is another story; that may be difficult to find in particular on Mondays and Tuesdays.  The mooring balls are also nice, I know the county charges for them; although I have no idea how they collect their money.  Regretfully, there does not seem to be a water taxi to bring people on shore to the restaurants and I am not sure if I would be comfortable leaving a dingy on the beach, considering how busy this beachfront is.

Of all the marinas in the area, York River Yacht Haven is your best bet for overnight visitors.  This marina has a nice restaurant and a good marine store.  The York Haven Marina and White House Cove Marina in Poquoson are pretty darn good too; White House Cove has restaurant on the premises as well.  Crown Point Marina might be another destination.  I do not think Wormley Creek Marina takes transients, but they have a great service shop.  Our Yacht Club will also allow transients, but getting to a store or a restaurant will be difficult.  However, our club has a lot of friendly helpful members so that issue could be solved (in particular if you are buying). 

Sailing in the area is great, the York is fun and so is the Mobjack Bay.  A lot of us sail year round, although the winters can be chilly at times.  I find February to be the toughest month in the area, but to each his/her own.  All together we enjoy being on the York and lower Chesapeake Bay.  It is a great place to visit and to sail.