A few months ago, I thought the choices facing us in the upcoming election were pretty simple. “Anybody But Bucky” and “Throw the Bastards Out” seemed to be all county voters needed to consider. And to a certain extent, that’s still true. The one conclusion I’ve come to though, is that each candidate must be considered on his or her individual merits. Party affiliation should play no part in anyone’s decision. It is the political parties, Democrat and Republican/Tea Party, that have led us down the primrose path. In the coming days and weeks, we’ll talk about it.

little kids

Proving them wrong since 1969

After, we bought a basic feeder and hung it from a cane on the edge of the bamboo grove. To one side of the bamboo is the Dead Tree, and to the other side is a row of hemlocks and a couple of large chinkapin (chinquapin) oaks. This inadvertently turned out to be the ideal arrangement for every type of bird found in southeastern Wythe County.

This page is intended to be the beginning of a pictorial reference of many of those birds, broken down by season. They were taken at different times of the day with two different cameras. I will continue to add to and refine the page as I get new and better pictures. For detailed information about the birds shown on this page, I recommend the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website.

Spring Birds

the view from the front porch

brown-headed cowbird (pair)

downy woodpecker (male)

downy woodpecker (female)

mourning dove

northern cardinal (female)

northern cardinal (male)

house finch (pair)

american goldfinch (male)

american goldfinch (female)

tufted titmouse and american gold finch

Granted, the storms we have been experiencing are no where near the size of the ones the Midwest are experiencing, but if a tree lands on your house and destroys it, it really doesn’t matter the force of the storm. Your house is still gone.

NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, oversees the National Weather Service (NWS,) which is the organization that collects and disseminates information and issues weather advisories. For those of you who have trouble remembering the differences, here are NOAA’s definitions of WARNING and WATCH:

WATCH — Issued by the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma. The center monitors conditions favorable to thunderstorms and then alerts the public when those conditions are present.
WARNING — Issued by local NWS offices, based on radar signs or a storm seen by a trained spotter. It is a message to the public to take precautionary actions because a storm is likely to occur.

Here’s how I do it:

WATCH – Shit’s getting’ deep. Somebody could die.
WARNING – We’re in deep shit. I could die.

If you don’t have an emergency radio, you should get one. Ours can be operated with a hand crank and can be used to charge a cell phone. We listened last night while the tornado warning was in effect for Wythe County. The NOAA broadcast was very specific as it tracked the storms, mentioning specific roads and ridges.

“This storm cell is tracking roughly parallel to I-81 traveling south along the service road approaching the town of Wytheville. . .winds of 80-90 miles per hour are hitting the outskirts of town traveling west along E. Main Street…..the storm has now made a 90 degree turn into…

ATTENTION K-MART SHOPPERS! THERE’S A FUCKIN’ TORNADO IN ISLE 4!”

Well, you get the idea. The current forecast calls for good weather today and tomorrow, with more thunderstorms Friday and Saturday. Stay safe.

One of the things on my bucket list is to learn about the edible mushrooms that grow in Southwest Virginia. Having once suffered a near death experience from eating wild mushrooms as a child, I don’t put much stock in field guides. The only one I’m confident about is the morel, whose season is over, and I have yet to find one. Maybe next year….sigh.

I took the following photographs in about 20 minutes walking around the yard this morning. I don’t know the proper names of any of them. If you do, please let me know.

Anne catching up with our friend Suzanne Capone

Not only were there a dozen or so new vendors, but last year’s vendors are back with more and better products. Check out the gi-normous eggs we got from Matty Holder of Lazy Bee Farm.

Don had to cut the lid from the carton. It's just resting on top.

One of the most exciting things for me personally was the new products offered by a couple of the new vendors. Maybe ramps and broccoli rabe don’t blow your hair back, but this ol’ chef came home and did his happy dance.

Crystal Gillan of Mule Hell Trading Co. who offers wild foods (ramps) and handmade olive oil soaps among other things

Sara Fennell, the mother of our arugula, operates Groundswell Farm and is also the broccoli rabe source.

I have a lot more pictures and more to write about, but I’m out of time today. I’ll post more this week. Let me close this out with a picture of hands down, the Market’s most satisfied customer that day.