Heat Wave...sort of

I know this borders on being evil, but I can't resist.

The southern states and east coast have been suffering under a series of oppressive heat waves. Temperatures today in New York, Philly, D.C. and points south were headed towards triple digits. Up here in the mountains we've been feeling the heat as well with temperatures reaching well into the 80's. What to do?!!!

A couple of days ago Deb, Tucker and I invited another family to join us on a hike along Otter Creek. As we trudged along the trail under a canopy of oaks, maples and birches listening to

the creek running alongside the trail we found ourselves drawn to the stream on several occasions to simply sit on a cool rock or take off our shoes and splash around in a small pool.

That evening another friend called and asked if I'd like to go for an bike ride in the morning. So, I dragged myself out of bed early enough to join him on a morning ride through the Wildlife Refuge in the north end of the Valley. We endured the humid morning air, occasional stream crossing, and open areas where we had to battle the soft morning breezes. More than one occasion we were forced to lay our bikes down in the damp dew and pick handfuls of plumb sweet blueberries in and effort to lift our spirits.

If you look back to my Feb. 14 post you'll find a similar view across the Refuge under somewhat different weather conditions.

Yet another friend called me this past evening looking for a means to escape this terrible weather we've been having; so this morning he, Tucker, and I headed up the Red Creek Trail in the Dolly Sods Wilderness to find some relief. More hiking and cool stream pools to endure.

I sure hope this weather breaks soon. I'm not sure how much more of this I can stand!

Blueberries

Our recent spell of hot and dry weather has negatively impacted this year's blueberry crop. Where we typically find bushes dripping with berries, this year the picking is noticeably sparser.

No matter... It just allows more time for gazing at the scenery and enjoying the sunshine.

35th Wedding Anniversary

It is hard for me to grasp the fact that we have been married thirty-five years. It truly seems like - well maybe not yesterday - but certainly not like we're in our 4th decade together! Living in Canaan this past year has allowed us more time together on a daily basis than probably any other period in our marriage - and it is proving to be a fabulous experience.

Admittedly there are certain shortcomings to living in a remote rural area. For example, the local stores do not have the broadest selection of cards and due to poor planning on my part (Be nice, I've only had 35 years of practice) I ended up purchasing an anniversary card at the local Dollar General. What a deal! I got the card and an ice cream bar for the grand total of $2.08.

According to an Internet reference, the traditional 35th wedding anniversary gift used to be coral. Of course, in this day and age giving gifts made of out of coral is considered inappropriate because of the damage it promotes to precious coral reefs; however in honor of that tradition we did the next best thing - we went for a riverside picnic.

The weather was hot (almost 90 degrees!) and dry, but the Dry Fork still had a nice flow. We chose the spot where the cold waters of Otter Creek blend with the Fork allowing for wading between cool and warm zones (kind of like most suburban pools - but without the kids). Just upstream from this location the stream flows through a sandstone cobble bar before flowing over a ledge of Mississippian Greenbrier limestone which was deposited some 350 million years ago (kind makes the 35th anniversary pale by comparison, eh?). The following images capture a few moments from our visit (clicking an image should expand it).

Downstream view showing suspension walking bridge.

Greenbrier Limestone. Potholes are formed by pebbles being swirled around in the river currents.

Tucker explores the unique geometric limestone patterns on river bottom.

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Rusty the Wonder Dog.

Debbie. She wears her 35 years of marriage well, no?

Follow the link for a bit of river magic. The Dry Fork

Artsy Fartsy Photography & Post-processing

A few images of the abstract variety. Post-processing accomplished with Adobe Lightroom.

Summer!

With the solstice days away the Valley and surrounding region is reaching the peak of the summer season.

Spring newborns are everywhere. A mother turkey has a brood of 6 or more in the woods near our home. Young ravens are screeching as they soar along the ridge tops. Young groundhogs are moving into their own burrows. Chipmunks and red squirrels are busy in the duff on the ground and in the branches above. Butterflies abound. Lighting bugs are beginning to light up the evening woods. Sparrows, wrens and finches are exploring the grasses that are just going to seed. Snapping turtles are on the move. And, although we have not seen any just yet, fawns should be venturing from the woods and into the fields.

Deb and I took the occasion of fantastic weather to take a walk on the Sods with Tucker. The mountain laurel are in full bloom. We were continuously accompanied by pink-edged sulfur butterflies. A small covey of pheasants or woodcocks spring out of the trail ahead of us. A young finch landed on in a bush along our path and its mother quickly responded by darting at us trying to distract our attention.

I managed a few photos in an attempt at capturing a bit of what we saw.

Deb resting on her laurels.

Aaron's Graduation

Deb and I traveled to Seattle this past week to attend Aaron's graduation from the Univ. of Washington. We stayed with our son Greg and daughter-in-law Brooke.

A day or so before the commencement ceremonies Deb and Brooke combined efforts to make a cake. I suppose a fitting caption to this image might be, 'A Bride's Worse Nightmare,' but Brooke took Deb's help in the kitchen right in stride. After raising 2 sons Deb loves having another female in the family. It's fun watching the two of them (although I worry what is discussed out of earshot of us guys).

Graduation Day was bright and sunny. In Seattle! Amazing, yes? The Computer Science ceremony was held inside with a pleasant reception afterwards. The official commencement was held in Husky Stadium with 5,000+ graduates (Ph.D., M.S., and B.S.) marching up to collect their 'memento.' Actually diplomas will be sent later.

Thanks to Brooke, we have this fine family photo of the happy graduate, Greg, and Deb & me.

Before leaving for home Aaron took us on a short hike in the hills outside of Seattle where I captured the following images.

Memorial Day Weekend

Summer has arrived complete with muggy afternoons and thundershowers, deer flies, and vacationers. Deb has planted her gardens and now is learning about fungus infections and evening slug-fests. What a difference a few months makes! Below are two pictures - one taken back in February and the other today.

It has been fascinating watching the grass grow. Okay, well fascinating is perhaps a bit too strong, but interesting none the less. The poverty grasses that cover the meadows have grown at a rate of up to an inch a day - some are already starting to go to seed. All this accomplished in about 6 weeks. With a growing season of about 90 days there is no time to waste. The milkweed plants are about 18 inches tall - on a par with their cousins in southern Canada. Various butterflies have been witnessed - but no Monarchs - these guys probably won't show until late July.

There are hummingbirds about, several varieties of sparrows and warblers, and the occasional hawk. Turkey Vultures float on the currents and ever so often one catches a glimpse of a falcon. The eagles still frequent the ponds below our house, but are seen less frequently now.

Frogs fill the quite pools and crawfish can be found in the larger, colder, faster moving streams. Snapping turtles cruise the ponds as do geese, beaver and muskrats.

As something of an experiment and learning experience I've begun to play with a variety of camera filters. The following two shots (compositionally not particularly interesting) were taken alongside the Blackwater River. The color one using a polarizing filter. The black & white one using an infrared filter. Interesting highlights can be seen in the infrared shot. I'm thinking this technique might prove worth exploring when the landscape is once again coated with white snow and I find it challenging to capture differentiation in the subtle highlights.

If I loaded them correctly, double-clicking the images above should expand them.