*bump*

One can only hope.


Made me laugh.


Coolness. Owl in flight.


Bullseye. (see what I did there?)


Relax, this is for politicians.


Another cool picture. Rain from up in the air.


An alternative to stocks in our shaky economy.


Gramps always said that the newfangled technology weren't no good for kids.



Ah yes, good ol' school days.


Finishing up with the most badass thing you will ever see.

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Dirt Watch - Quickie Edition

Just two photos. The first is misty because my camera lens fogged from being brought out into the humid mid-90's from the relatively cool house. It was too hot to stand there and let it acclimate. It's also sideways because I'm friggin' lazy.



So if you pretend you're squinting, you'll notice the many, many, many cherry tomatoes on this bush. A smut, or rust, or whatever the hell you call anti-tomato plant disease, is destroying this plant from the ground up, but damned if there aren't about 40 little tomatoes left with more popping out every day. I've been eating them every day with lunch for a week now.



Now this was today's harvest. Two Beefsteak tomatoes, five Roma (good for making sauce) and a handfull of those luscious little cherry tomatoes. The limp basil was cut yesterday.

Maybe more pictures this weekend. You should see the cucumbers!

Randomness from Left Field

Remember the song, "Oh Babe, What Would You Say" by Hurricane Smith? He was a one hit wonder to most of us, but quite well known and respected in the music industry.

Besides his hit song*, Hurricane (aka Norman) was a recording engineer and later producer for all of the Beatles albums up to Rubber Soul. Later he produced the early Pink Floyd albums, amongst others.



Now you have something to ponder while that song plays over and over in your head.

* which was written for another artist but the producer liked the demo so much they released it as is.

Dirt Watch - Confessional Edition

Let's get the bad news out of the way immediately, shall we?

There has been some clamor for a reprise of Nog Watch, and this Dirt Watch is a pale imitation. Long time readers were used to fine brandy, and now I regularly serve up flat Tab. I regret your disappointment.

A couple of weeks ago, Rachael's boyfriend was coming over for dinner, and we decided on home cooked Chinese: Beef and Broccoli, snow peas, homemade wontons, the works. While whooping up the filling for wontons, Liz asked if we had any teriyaki marinade in the fridge.

Understand now, we hadn't made Chinese in a long time, kinda fell outta the habit, you know? So imagine my surprise when I did, indeed find a bottle of teriyaki marinade in the fridge. It was even unopened, seals intact.

The "use by" date was 2008.

I immediately tossed it into the trash and we improvised for the wontons, they were yummy. Liz is a master at the fillings, and I'm the fry-cook who turns them out by the piping hot bowlfull.

During dinner, Rachael remarked that I could've used the teriyaki marinade as a new Nog Watch. I considered it, but rejected the idea on a couple of points. First, it was still sealed. That seemed to violate the spirit of the concept. Second, it had already been thrown away, and fishing it out to put it back in the fridge rubbed my inner-artist wrong. I think I made the right choice.

Whew! It feels *good* to get that off my chest!

Anyway, onward and dirtward. Last night I picked some basil and our first two ripe tomatoes and made a tomato, basil and mozzerella salad. Delish was the verdict.

Tonight we feast on fresh-picked green beans (first of the season) with dinner. I did a quick inventory and there are now a dozen Roma tomatoes in various stages of ripening, no less than 30 cherry tomatoes on that plant, and eight beautiful beefsteak tomatoes that we'll be munching on in the next few weeks. If you've toured the produce section of the supermarket in the last year, maybe you've had the same little heart-lurch as I when you see the prices on tomatoes. Tomatoes may be the only vegggie (fruit, I know) that's actually going to save you money by growing your own.

The cucumbers are starting to appear, ten or fifteen about an inch long at this point. I nibbled the last snow pea from the vine yesterday and pulled the peas from the garden and tossed them into the compost pile. Peas were a huge disappointment this year, as were radishes.

I expect the harvests will start getting better and better since I'm growing plants I've grown before and know (kinda) what I'm doing. Still though, I've really enjoyed having the garden this year. I seriously suggest it for everyone, even if nothing more than a cherry tomato plant in a big ol' pot on your porch.

It's good for the soul. And lately, I've felt the need for more of that kind of thing.

So Far, It Hasn't Collapsed

Daughter Robyn and granddaughter Lorelei came to visit last week, so we took a morning to hike out to the bridge I helped build on National Trail Day. As bridges go, it's on the small end of the scale, but I invested sweat in its construction, so it's special to me.





We went early enough to beat the worst of the heat, and only did a mile or two in all. Lorelei enjoyed the birds and pointing out the berries popping out on the various bushes, and as she rode on my shoulders (part of the time) she quickly learned to spot the webs that enterprising spiders weave overnight from one side of the trail to the other. A quick wave of the hand usually clears the way, and we stopped a few times to watch spiders do their little spider morning chores.



When I pointed out the trail blazes* to Lorelei, she quickly got into the game of looking ahead for the next one. This trail is blazed with an odd aqua color, which I think is supposed to be blue (see the tree above her).



On the way back we had to road walk a fair distance because the county had a crew trimming trees along the trail. We did a little bushwacking to get around them on the way out, but coming back it was just easier and safer to use the road. The flagmen even held up traffic in both directions for us as we walked a narrow part of the road.

All in all, a good time. Tick free too, which is always a bonus.

* A "blaze" is a small rectangle of paint, about 2 inches by 3 inches (I think), painted on trees along a trail to help you stay on course. Different trails have different color blazes. For instance, the Appalachian Trail is blazed in white for its entire length, whereas all of the intersecting trails along the way are blazed with anothe color (ofeten blue or yellow) to avoid confusion. In areas without a lot of trees, i.e. above the treeline or in a desert, a rock cairn is sometimes used instead.

Dear Product Container Designer

If the product in question is *chunky* bleu cheese dressing, putting it in an "easy squeeze" bottle with an opening the size of a sparrow's sphincter is just going to piss off the consumer, no?

Travelling Light

Just for fun during this long weekend, I decided to see if I could put together a super-lightweight overnighter gear list. For Fall through Spring, I have a decent set of gear, but I was wondering just how light I could go for Summer. As an added challenge, I wanted to try to fit the whole kit into a smallish day-hike backpack I bought at Wally World - the Outdoor Products Skyline 8.

By the way, I really like that pack, even if it's just a little too small for my gear setup. Big features for a stunningly reasonable price.

As I was saying, how light could I get it? I do have a specific trip in mind, something like that overnighter to the Chopawamsic backcountry area I did a while back. You may remember, I drove straight there from work and hiked in. Camped and then hiked out before lunch the next day. Short and sweet.

If you were planning for an all-day hike, then you can go lighter because you walk until dinner, then go to sleep. Not much need for comfort or luxuries. This is a little different, in that there's more camping and not so much hiking, although weight matters because you do have to backpack in to the campsites.

The old adage says that you pack for your fears. Some people are afraid of the dark, so they carry two or more flashlights (just in case) and multiple methods of making a fire (lighter, matches, another lighter, etc).

As you get more experience in the great outdoors, you learn what you need to feel safe and secure, but more importantly, what you *don't* need to still feel comfortable.

I managed to get my gear weight down to 16 pounds, not including water. That does include my tent, sleeping pad and flannel blanket, rain gear, food, and even a couple of goodies like a pillow and camp chair. I'm pretty happy about that, but like I said, it'll have to go into my regular backpack, because the Skyline is just a wee bit small to hold everything. Dang.

While I was playing, Liz asked me if I wanted to go out tonight and camp. Did I want to? Hell yeah! Was I going to? No way, Jose. Much too hot and humid, and right now I'm listening to mucho thunder as a line of strong storms moves through to clobber us.

I do have a couple few weekend trips planned over the next several months though, and I'm sure y'all are dreading my trip reports.

Evolution of the Idiot Light

Maybe one of my lovely readers can enlighten me, one that owns or drives a Honda automobile.

Is there a dashboard light that stays *on* until you're behaving like a complete asshole in traffic?

Review - Clif Bars

Clif Bars are a brand of energy bar that seems to be popular with hikers and outdoorsy types. In the local stores, all I ever see are peanut butter and chocolate chip. I've never bought one because although I like those flavors, I already have trail mix that has those, and I wanted something different as a snack.

After having talked to several people that liked them, I added two bars to a recent Amazon order - a Carrot Cake and a Blueberry Crisp. Both were highly recommended, even among those who don't normally like Clif Bars.

I just tried them and have to say, no thanks! The flavors weren't horrible, but they were nothing to write home about, but the killer to me was the texture. They're sticky and flexible as a bar, but individual bites are uber-dense and chewy. Not pleasant.

There's a half of each left. I offered them to my son and his first comment was, "tastes like week-old oatmeal."

Yeah, I don't think I'll be spending any more money on these things.

Dirt Watch - Continuing the Micro-Harvests

I just harvested the two largest carrots and two largest radishes from the garden. They were all very, very tiny. But tasty! Bonus because the rabbits are going to love the fresh, fresh carrot greens and get to try radish greens for the first time.

I'm pretty convinced that I need a drip irrigation setup for next year and will need to add fertilizer too, because most of the early crops are running really late and not thriving.

Gardening is not an instant-satisfaction activity.

Tomatoes and cucumbers are going great guns, there's already fruit started on all three varieties of tomatoes (Roma vine, cherry and beefsteak). The cukes are starting to climb the trellis now and have tons of the little yellow flowers that mean it's ready to start putting out edibles.

Sky Go Boom Boom

You know a story is going to be interesting when it begins:

First there was this gun ....

Oh fine, you need more than that to follow the link?

How's this?



Thanks to Ace for the pointer, and I saw it in other places but I forgot where.

From Deep in the ol' Photo Folder

Lightening the load, so to speak.

Needs no introduction:


*snerk*


I have no doubt that the Japanese can top this.


Well, duh.


True dat.


Fantasy.


All right, you caught me. By the way, I'm looking for models...


Nothing like a bit of the ol' Ludwig Von, eh?


Not quite Motivational material, but still...


Amazing photo.

Dirt Watch - Attack! Edition

During last week's lunches, I packed a few snap peas picked from my garden. Yum.

Then one evening I went out to water and discovered that the garden was under attack by vicious things. One thing was certain, they loved broccoli, to the tune of completely deforesting one plant, damn near the entirety of a second, and were well on their way to devouring a third. I referred to them as "Broccoli Worms", for lack of any better name, but later found out they're called Cabbage Worms*. Go figure.



Normally, I'd be upset at the carnage, but the broccoli was doing nothing this year. Two of the plants pretty much bolted and went to seed almost immediately and the third was only just beginning to develop the edible head - way late and probably too bitter to eat. So I figured I'd live and let live.

Then this happened.



You can tell how quickly it happened by the blur, he was moving so quickly the camera could barely catch it!

That's right, the little peckerhead attacked me! He went from slow munch-machine on auto-pilot to bloodthirsty and life threatening in the wink of an hourglass.

I pulled the broccoli plants, death spawn and all, and tossed them into the compost heap.

And here's the rest of the garden beds.



In the two bottom left squares you can see the damage those worms did. Those stalky green things are the main stems of all the leaves they ate - overnight! Yowza!

Right above them are parsley and basil, then eight bush bean plants. Those bean seedlings are like two weeks old. I'm not a green bean fan, but the rest of the family loves them, so they're worth planting (have I said that before? Deja vu.) At the top are two green pepper plants. On the right, next to the broc-stalks are two Roma tomato plants. They're doing well and just starting to climb the netting. North of them are my snow peas. This hasn't been a good year for peas, and I'm not sure why. On the other side of the tomatos and peas are some spinach and lettuce, neither of which are doing so hot. I have theories to test.



In the top right sqare of this one are some lettuce, not doing great but getting there. To the left of them are two thriving cucumber plants, next to them are two squares of Swiss Chard I re-planted after the first did nothing. Bad seeds? Bugs? Dunno. Top left are two squares of carrots that are doing well. At the bottom are two squares of radishes that are doing good, and then finally snap peas. They look raggedy but have been producing ok.

Not pictured are two large pots with a cherry tomato plant and a beefsteak tomato. They're doing great, but they're getting more sun where they are.

So now you're caught up on... Dirt Watch, 2011!

* I originally called them Anthonys, because they're camoflaged, vaguely penis-shaped, and no one can identify them with any certitude. Topical! Git yer hot Topical right here!

Home Is Where The Heart Is

I've bragged many times about my home county - Prince William County in Virginia. My oldest daughter graduated from the #1 High School in the nation. A few years ago the county passed a tough anti-illegal alien law. A lot of neighboring counties predicted huge increases in law enforcement costs and proclaimed themselves "immigrant friendly." Instead, expenses dropped in both education and medical as classrooms and emergency rooms saw significant decreases in numbers as undocumented families left for, you guessed it, those "friendly" counties. Crime is down 30% too (not a direct result, but it had an impact).

Today we got the "County Report", and I read that the Board of County Supervisors reduced the real estate tax rate again to keep a promise that our tax bill would stay below 2007 levels.

What do we get for our money? Three new schools. Ten new full-time police officers. Needed road projects. Park and library expansion and improvements.

How can they do that when our taxes are 30% - 50% lower than surrounding counties? Well, for the last four years the Board of Supervisors has bit the bullet and cut spending. Painful reforms were undertaken. Priorities were set (schools, roads and public safety.) The county has 10 high schools, all were ranked in the top 6% in national rankings. I mentioned the drop in crime above. I recently participated in that event where a whole bunch of us volunteers worked to build some new hiking trails in coordination with the Parks Authority.

If you ever read the news and wonder when everyone went bat-shit crazy, I can honestly tell you that not *everyone* has. At least, not around here they haven't.

As A Parent, I Heartily Approve - Part 2

When I was growing up, my family spent a lot of time camping, hunting and fishing. One of my biggest regrets as a parent was not being able to pass along my love of the outdoors to my own kids.

This guy knows how to spend quality time with his kids. The photos at that link are from a hiking trip they took last year along the John Muir Trail in the California Sierras. The kids were ten years old (twins, I think) and hiked over 200 miles with Dad. They finished up by summitting Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous US.

I suspect the title of their first homework assignment in September was "What I Did During My Summer Vacation, Bitch."

As A Parent, I Heartily Approve

Once, while in a store with my daughters, there was a situation where I did something I thought was funny yet my daughters were horrified. I don't remember details, but this conversation is etched, etched I tell you, into my memory:

Daughter: You are so embarrassing.

Me: Embarrassing you is the second best part of being a parent!

Daughter: What's the first?

Me: Telling you 'No!'

The adults within earshort cracked up.

So you can imagine how much I love this guy, who stood in front of his house every day of his son's sophomore year in high school, waving to his bus as it drove by. In costume.

Check out the blog, documenting each and every day, and how Dad never repeated a costume. The man is a freaking genius.

Good for the Soul

I have so many alternate titles for this one, but the above sums it up nicely.

Today was National Trails Day, and I spent the morning as a volunteer helping to build a connecting trail on the Potomac Heritage Trail system.

In fact, I helped build a footbridge. I'm feeling every posthole I dug, every bolt I wrenched and every footboard I levered into place before screwing and nailing it down. It's a good feeling to be tired and a little bit sore for something like this.

In Prince William County (and I've mentioned before how much I love living here), they've made parks and trails a priority because of the rapid growth of the last decade. Right now*, about 65% of the Potomac Heritage Trail through our county is complete, with about 90% scheduled to be complete within the next five years or so. The trail will run along the eastern edge of the county, following the Potomac River. At this point, they're connecting already completed sections, which is what we were doing today.

The group I was part of (maybe 40 of us?), tied together the trail system in the Julie Metz wetlands bank (pdf) with the trails in Leesylvania State Park**, completing another link in the chain.

I'll get pictures of the bridge and the area and post them in the next day or two.

* All these percentages and estimates were given to me as very rough estimates by a member of the County Parks Authority, who was on-site.
** Leesylvania - named for the Lee family, who's members included "Light Horse" Harry and Robert E. There's a lot of history in this area.

Hallmark Is Dead To Me

The cartoon is bad enough, but when the official Hallmark forum moderator starts deleting veteran's families posts, yet leaves up others calling them "inbred hicks", well...

Adios Hallmark. I won't miss you a bit.

But I will be spreading the word. Hallmark hates veterans.

Garden Buddy

This little lady is a Venusta Garden Spider, and we've been co-existing out in the garden for a couple of weeks now. I first spotted her orb web after a drizzle, when it was holding water droplets like strings of pearls along its entire structure. Very pretty. I finally spotted her hunkered down under cover, waiting for the rain to end.

When I go out to the garden, I usually glance over to make sure everything is ok with her. She's usually sitting under the center of her web (the business part of the web is about 8" across, but the structure itself is about twice that), waiting for dinner.

After our big big rain the other day, I went out back and spent a quiet little while watching her rebuild her tattered home.

The truce holds as long as she doesn't startle me.