Month: July 2021

quercus macrocarpa

new leaves in April
Bur oaks primarily grow in a temperate climate on the western oak–hickory forested regions in the United States and into Canada. It commonly grows in the open, away from dense forest canopy. For this reason, it is an important tree on the eastern prairies, often found near waterways in otherwise more forested areas, where there is a break in the canopy. It is drought resistant, possibly because of its long taproot. At the end of the growing season, a one-year sapling may have a taproot 1.37 m (4 ft 6 in) deep and a lateral root spread of 76 cm (2 ft 6 in). The West Virginia state champion bur oak has a trunk diameter of almost 3 m–Wikipedia (10 ft).

If you are only going to plant one tree in this life, make it a quercus macrocarpa.

Excited

Tilly KAH
The dog likes people. Good things come from people. Sometimes multiple inoculations come from these people, but still, she likes them. Excited with a touch of worry.

Woolen Mills Road

Charlottesville Albemarle smokestack
Eastern view from the Rivanna Turnpike aka Woolen Mills Road aka Market Street. Millhouse in the foreground, Charlottesville Albemarle smokestack in the near distance, north shoulder of Monticello Mountain far distance.

Valor and Faith

executed by Lloyd Brothers Memorials
Keck portrayed Jackson, riding into battle on Little Sorrel, in bronze, led by the allegorical figures of Faith and Valor carved on the front of the pink granite pedestal. The bronze figures were cast at the Roman Bronze Works, of Brooklyn, New York, and the pedestal was executed by Lloyd Brothers Memorials, of Washington, D. C. When the art work was completed in 1921, it was considered by many to be among the finest equestrian sculptures in the nation.–NRHP Registration Form

hottest month

Tilly chest deep
Tilly runs a mile, she swims, she runs another mile, enjoying the hottest month of the year.
On the other end of the neighborhood the City’s four million dollar regional swimming facility is closed for the season because Parks and Recreation are not able to employ an adequate number of lifeguards. Could the water park be leased to the private sector? Could it be opened and folk allowed to swim at their own risk? What would Leslie Knope do?

Ozymandias

remains
The monument’s trapezoidal base is made of rectangular-shaped blocks of polished pink granite set on top of each other. The stone is coarse grained with striations and imperfections that give it a rustic appearance in character with the frontier scene above. The base is unornamented, carrying only the inscription:
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
CONQUEROR OF THE NORTHWEST
on the north facade facing University Avenue. -National Park Service

Crew at the remains of monument, July 12, 2021.

sky pigs

pigeons
Owing to their abilities to create large amounts of excrement and be an occasional disease vector to humans combined with crop and property damage, pigeons are largely considered a nuisance and an invasive species, with steps being taken in many municipalities to lower their numbers or completely eradicate them.–Wikipedia

there goes the neighborhood

LHS Red Devil cafeteria
slide presenting a fraction of the 1000’s of acres of habitat to be destroyed for solar “farms” on the Northern Neck of Virginia.

“We must recognize the serious nature of the industrial solar farm threat and strongly urge that our local planning commissions and boards of supervisors reject proposals for solar farms in zoning districts that are intended to preserve farmland and forestland​.” Essex County Conservation Alliance