Living Along the Appomattox
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A Sign of Spring
On Friday afternoon the first sign of spring showed its pretty little head and most welcome it was too. No, it wasn’t a flock of hungry robins feasting on earthworms or anything in bloom. It was the arrival of spring gardening stuff at the Farmville Voldemart (A.K.A. WalMart)!
Time Flies…
It’s really hard to believe that January is over a third gone already and we are staring down the throat of February. I’m afraid to blink, I may miss an entire month!
The Lake Effect
For about as long as I can remember I have heard about lake effect snow. Apparently Lake Erie dumps a lot of this peculiar type of snow on northwestern Pennsylvania and New York. After spending three full days driving in lake effect snow, I can assure you that snow is snow!
Protect Our Food Supply – STOP NAIS!
There is a new website up in honor of our President Elect, Barak Obama. He promised us CHANGE and the site is called www.change.org. If you discovered this site before January 1, you probably got in and voted for some Ideas or even posted one of your very own.
The Season of Mud
In our part of Virginia, along the Appomattox, we actually have five seasons, Spring, Summer, Fall, Mud, and Winter. Mud and Winter usually overlap some. If the mud is frozen it is Winter and if the mud is soft and all over everything, it is Mud.
We’ve Turned the Corner
By the time the Vernal Equinox rolls around in March, day and night will be of equal length. I have always considered the Solstice to be the true advent of spring. After all, when the sun comes back it is certainly cause for excitement and celebration. Most of our Christmas traditions are based on ancient rituals revolving around the return of the sun, chief among them being all the greenery we bring indoors at this time of year.
Snow Fell on Appomattox – And I Missed It!
The Richmond Museum of Natural History had a booth filled with wonders from around the world, including some beautiful little Yixing teapots. Dainty pots indeed, as nice as the ones I ordered online last week but more expensive. Nevertheless, the museum shop needs the profits from their gift shop to help their bottom line, I don’t begrudge them a bit and might have bought a pot had I not already splurged on six of them. Hey, they are small, each dedicated to one type of tea, six might not be enough! Time will tell…
A Little Courtesy Please?
Once upon a time, when I was a very wee Dragon, my Daddy taught me a lot about driving, neat stuff like when I’m being overtaken by another car or truck I should always flashed my lights to signal it was safe to pull back into the lane. This is still a very polite, not to mention safe, thing to do. When is the last time someone “flashed” you over? When is the last time you did the same?
Breaking the Food Chains
Bill and I recently experienced an epiphany regarding the food we put into our bodies and the bodies of our animals. It’s been coming for a long time now, but finally arrived with Michael Pollan’s books, The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food. We are now looking at our diet from an entirely different perspective.
Weekend in New England
Bill and I drove up to New England Friday morning. We got a late start, forgot the cell phone, and misinterpreted the Google map, but it was a good trip anyway. The company was excellent and the antiquing even better.
If You Didn’t Vote, Don’t Complain
November 4th was an Election day. And as opposed to off-year elections where we only get to vote for piddly things like some of the Congressmen, the odd Governor or Mayor, and stuff like Commissioner of Revenue or Commonwealth Attorney, this is the big enchilada, a Presidential election. If you were unaware of this you must have been on retreat in Nepal for the past two years.
And So We Decided to Drive…
Because I am loyal, hard-working, and dependable, a few years ago I was finagled onto the Board of Directors of our horse organization, Al Khamsa. One would assume this to be a great honor but one would be wrong. It is actually more like a red letter stitched to one’s chest, a blazing announcement that one is wiling to give many hours of one’s time, talent, and money to insure that AK functions.
The First Frost
Well, that dreaded but inevitable event occurred early Monday morning when Appomattoxians woke up to the unmistakable signs of the first frost. Because of the high humidity, most surfaces were covered with a good quarter-inch of fluffy ice crystals that soon melted when the sun touched them.
