Maybe, just maybe a little relief from the miserable heat is in store for the next few days. I got to tell you, folks are getting MEAN. The various weather reporting services are all over the place. But as I write this, it’s 12:45pm and it’s not yet 80 degrees and the humidity is much lower. Kevin Myatt is predicting rain Sunday and Monday. Yesterday was so hot, George the groundhog lay on the foundation of the old chicken coop gasping for breath trying to catch a breeze. Anne is going to do her rain dance this afternoon…i.e. she’s going to spray the grapes. Keep your fingers crossed.

REMINDERS

So Friday, we met Joe Lucas, the man who plans to lease the land (nice alliteration, huh?) at the farm to go over the deal. It’s been over a year since we’ve seen the place. It’s a little more run down, and a little more overgrown, but still beautiful.

After we roughed out a deal with Joe, Anne and I headed down to Floyd to meet our friends Amy and Doug Thompson. We hooked up with Doug at the Floyd Country Store and spent a pleasant afternoon catching up. I had a light lunch of a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of pinto beans, both of which were some of the best I’ve ever had. I also purchased a copy of Rodale’s Organic Gardening, the bible for many organic gardeners.

Friday was Amy’s birthday and the four of us met for an early dinner at Mickey G’s. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Michael Gucciardo is the best chef in Southwest Virginia. I had a whole Red Snapper with Livornese Sauce (tomatoes, onions, capers, and black olives) topped with fresh mussels and clams. It was to die for. Anyone within driving distance of Floyd who hasn’t eaten at Mickey G’s is really missing something.

After a leisurely drive home, we spent a quiet evening with cocktails on the deck. Saturday morning, I headed to the Wytheville Farmer’s Market while Anne slept in. If I don’t stop eating the outstanding baked goods at the Market, I’m going to gain back the 40lbs I worked so hard to lose. Some of this stuff is positively addictive. Thanks to the hard work of Market Director Suzie Richert, this year’s Market is not only a great place to purchase quality products, it has become a fun place to hangout.

Next week, yours truly will be turning and burning starting at 9am, so be sure to stop by and say hello. I’ll be giving away free samples using products purchased from local vendors.

I made it back home in time for the afternoon thunderstorm. The brief storms and showers we’ve had for the past week have not only helped the garden, they’ve cooled things down in the evening. We’ve made it this far into the summer without the air conditioner. I grilled a whole chicken using Dave Richert’s Green Grillin’ small batch applewood charcoal and accompanied it with a mess of turnip and collard greens, blackeyed peas with chopped raw onion, dirty rice and some excellent sourdough rolls I purchased at the Market.

Just another couple of days in paradise.

**********

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.

**********

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.

**********

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

**********

**********

===============================================

Them Floydians

How ’bout them Floydians,

Ain’t they fun?

Bitchin’ like crazy, while suckin’ they thumb.

Trashin’ they neighbors on Ol’ Doug’s blog.

Pushin’ they causes like,

SAVE THE HOG!

Hippies and Yuppies and the Old Families too,

Livin’ they life in an internet zoo.

They all come together on a Friday night,

Pickin’ and dancin’ with ‘nary a fight.

How to be a Floydian?

Ain’t nuthin’ to it.

Just grab a firm opinion and hang on to it.

]]> http://www.wythenotes.com/wp/2010/05/27/them-floydians/feed/ 1 http://www.wythenotes.com/wp/2010/05/20/gas-war-in-wytheville/ http://www.wythenotes.com/wp/2010/05/20/gas-war-in-wytheville/#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 23:02:42 +0000 Ron Dees http://www.wythenotes.com/wp/?p=1473 There appears to be a gas war going on in Wytheville lately. For the last month or so, gas prices have steadily decreased by a little over 22% at three places in town. A spot check this morning found regular gas priced at $2.599 at the Sheetz and Kangaroo off exit 70 on I-81 near Walmart, and Go Mart on E. Main St. downtown. Other stations around town offered regular in the mid-$2.60 range.

For most of the last 6 years that I’ve been here, the Flying J Truck Stop in Ft. Chiswell has not only had the best price in the area, they’ve had one of the best prices in the whole state. But the Flying J chain has been sold to the Pilot Oil Corporation and for some reason there has been no customary price fluctuation. At both the Ft. Chiswell and the Flying J and Hess truck stops at exit 77, the price has been holding steady around $2.739 for weeks.

For any of you folks up north reading this who plan on passing thru the area, I suggest you take exit 73 off I-81 and gas up at the Go Mart. Skip the fast food joints and the national chains and head down the street to Smokey’s BBQ. As a former chef, who grew up outside Fayetteville, NC, I make the best damn cue anywhere, but his North Carolina-style chopped pork barbecue sandwich is pretty good. With cole slaw on top, of course.

Blog Roll Change

Speaking of the cheapest gas, I’ve changed the link that supplies the cheapest gas info for the Max Meadows/Ft. Chiswell area. The previous link required active participation by the suppliers, and Flying J was the only one participating. The new link gives much wider coverage. For instance, a Barren Springs independent station lists regular gas at $2.449 today. You can also check prices in Wytheville, Speedwell, and Rural Retreat. Check it out!

Long of leaf, tender of stalk, and beautifully of green,
I rinse your stems with reverent hands
Before chopping and adding to the steam.
A few cups of water, a chunk of country ham, bring it all to boil.
Add some honey and cider vinegar when the liquid starts to roil.
Louisiana Hot Sauce, good sea salt and cracked-black to your taste,
Twist a top, simmer them down, now’s not the time for haste.
From this point ’til they’re done, you’ve got three whole hours to waste.

Sassy Cat

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Watch the Stooges

Suddenly, an awful shrieking rends the night. My first thought is of a small, woeful animal dying violently. It’s over in mere seconds. At the moment of what should have been the coup de gras, a loud clanking drowns out the night. On Rt. 52, some 400 or 500 yards away, the rusty putt-putt of an elderly pickup truck chugs around the curve. As it sputters off into the distance, I feel cheated and slightly annoyed…..the night settles round me once again, wet and silent. Turning to leave the chill, I hear a brief, but terrible, shriek. Then another. Somewhat chagrined, I realize my mistake. It is the sound of a night bird I’m hearing…. possibly an owl?

Inside, while the laptop boots-up, I pour another cup of strong black coffee, a Louisiana brand made richer with chicory. I take a sip and savor the mildly bitter aftertaste. The combination of the coffee’s warmth and the lingering chill sends a pleasant shiver through me.  A google search lands me on the Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology’s website. Oh cool. They have pictures, videos and…. sounds! This is great!  A quick search tells me my initial choice is wrong. It wasn’t a screech owl I heard. Hmmm…maybe it’s this one. Yeah, I bet it is. I don’t know what kind of sound it makes, but I know one has a nest in the woods across the way. That’s it! That’s the sound I heard. A red-tailed hawk! And it’s a mating call. That awful shriek is from a nasty, avian predator trying to get lucky. A birdie booty call. Heh heh heh…I’ll be damned.

Quoting from Cornell’s page on the red-tail, Adults make a hoarse, screaming kee-eeeee-arr. It lasts 2-3 seconds and is usually given while soaring. During courtship, they also make a shrill chwirk, sometimes giving several of these calls in a row.

This is the most impressive website I’ve seen to date on birds. Another site you might want to check is published by the National Audubon Society. http://www.audubon.org/