bird identification

Slabtown is sparsely populated. Walking the 6/10 mile tree loop my phone heard a Carolina Wren, Northern Cardinal, Canada Goose, Tufted Titmouse, American Crow, White-eyed Vireo, Northern Mockingbird, Blue Jay, American Goldfinch, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Fish Crow, Great Crested Flycatcher, Carolina Chickadee, House Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, Osprey, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Bobwhite, Indigo Bunting, House Wren, and a Great Blue Heron. It was not able to identify the mechanical bird. (I could hear that one)

Numbers $600,000

portable outhouses
Someone involved with the Charlottesville government decided it wasn’t a good idea to replace the portable toilets at Riverview park with a precast concrete unit.
The low bid for installing the deluxe bathroom came in somewhere above six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000).
World class city, assembly of geniuses. I am glad the City is holding back. The project was cancelled.

We have CATEC, we have UVA, we have thousands of hipsters. We can build a bathroom. Get people involved that know how to work with their hands. Dig a foundation, build with all the ash being cut down in the park. Make a composting unit or a vault system, using drinking water to transport human waste is insane.


stony prominence

power plant
The story of Charlottesville’s most famous mill complex is also the tale of a section of Albemarle County, specifically the plot of land approximately one mile east of Charlottesville’s original downtown. “At that point,” wrote Harry E. Poindexter, “Moore’s Creek empties into the [Rivanna] river from the southwest, forming a narrow triangle of land which rises rapidly to a rocky crest some one hundred feet high.”– Britton

3. Community Meeting – ZMA 202200013 Power Plant Residences
PROJECT: ZMA202200013 Power Plant Residences
MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT: Scottsville
TAX MAP/PARCEL(S): 07800-00-00-021B1
LOCATION: South side of E. Market Street, approximately 60 linear feet southeast of the municipal boundary between the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, VA
PETITION: Rezone 0.61 acres of Preserved Steep Slopes Overlay Zoning District to Managed Steep Slopes Overlay District on TMP 07800-00-00-021B1. No changes to the underlying primary R4 Zoning District are proposed with this application.

5th & Avon Community Advisory Committee

Date: 05/18/2023 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Location: 5th Street County Office Building, Room B
1600 5th Street Ext
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902

Application materials available

Arbor Day

catalpa McIntire Park
The Spanish village of Mondoñedo held the first documented arbor plantation festival in the world organized by its mayor in 1594. The place remains as Alameda de los Remedios and it is still planted with lime and horse-chestnut trees. A humble granite marker and a bronze plate recall the event. Additionally, the small Spanish village of Villanueva de la Sierra held the first modern Arbor Day, an initiative launched in 1805 by the local priest with the enthusiastic support of the entire population.–Wikipedia
stormwater
Every year for at least the last ten Charlottesville Parks and Rec staff, city leaders, Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards, Druids and others celebrate Arbor Day, often designating a Landmark Tree. Today the event was rained out (3 inches of precip before midday). Above, Parks and Rec staff clears out a stormwater drain in McIntire Park downhill from the catalpa.
branch of the Catalpa
I didn’t get the memo that the event had been rescheduled. Missed the people but the Catalpa was there.
tree dog man
Matilda and I took a self portrait with the Catalpa. Charlottesville is recognized as a “Tree City” by the Arbor Day Foundation. We are a tree city with a declining percentage of tree canopy. There is work to be done.

Arbor Day 2013
Arbor Day 2012
Arbor Day 2011