We’re in the sweet spot of the growing season right now. For the next two months, the land will be giving up its bounty. Each week will bring us something new. This past week at the Farmers Market, zucchini, yellow squash, and carrots made an appearance. One vendor had fingerling potatoes. Cucumbers, new potatoes, and summer squash will soon be arriving. The spotlight this week, though, is on blackberries.

The blackberries this year are spectacular. The weather this spring was perfect for this gift from Mother Nature. The bushes are loaded with plump, juicy fruit. Some of the clusters are so ripe and sweet that all it takes is a little shake and they fall into the basket. No picking necessary. Blackberry cobbler and syrup, maybe even another attempt at making jam, is in our near future.

Wild blackberries abound in Wythe County. Find a spot and pick yours before the birds do.

When I first moved to Wythe County, I was determined to become studiously ignorant. My friend Liza Fields says it’s the only way to avoid pain. Living in the Metro DC area, regardless of what you do, will eventually turn you into an information junkie. After all, DC is the political center of the universe, and information is political heroin. You just gotta have it; first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Withdrawal is painful. Losing access to the Washington Post is like losing a member of your family. Not having 24 hour nonstop news radio? Fuggedaboutit.

When I started coming down here seven years ago to work on Our Humble Little Cottage, I went cold turkey. I had no television or internet. Because of the relationship of Cottage to mountains, we still don’t have decent radio reception. It was just me, the Cottage, and my CD collection. Life was good. Then I started chipping. I figured what the hell; buying a little TV to watch DVDs on wouldn’t hurt. Then, like most addicts, I had a relapse. I was heavily invested in the stock market at the time and really needed my info. Enter Direct TV, followed closely by satellite internet and the monkey was back. CNN and CNBC became my drugs of choice.

The thing about the news is that it’s mostly depressing. The who, what, where, when, why, and how will make you nuts. Particularly since it’s mostly about the who and the why. The steady assault of personality-driven news and comment has led this country down the slippery slope. We’ve lost all civility and become a nation of me firsters because the constant demand for content rewards assholes. Everybody and his fuckin’ brother are demanding their fifteen minutes of fame, and I’m sick of it.

Not only that, I’m tired of being judged. Some time when I wasn’t paying attention, the source of your news became an issue. Apparently, watching CNN instead of Fox News makes me an anti-Christian communist. What’s that all about?

I’m tired of starting my day depressed. Despite the fact that I’ll miss Robin’s legs and Bonnie’s hooters, I’m going with YouTube. I guaran-damn-tee that watching a fifteen minute excerpt of Ron White’s You Can’t Fix Stupid will put you in a much better frame of mind than a report on Sarah Palin’s magical mystery tour.

All I have to do to figure out what’s going on in the world is watch the gas prices at the Flying J. If prices are up, the news is bad. If they’re down, things aren’t necessarily good, but they aren’t disastrous. So until Sarah’s sex tape hits the internet, I don’t want to hear about it. When it does, call me.

P.S. Would someone please make a comment so the rest of the world won’t think I’m Linda Myers’ bitch?

Historians credit the Mexican victory with stalling Napolean III’s plan to establish a second French Empire in Mexico to use as a base to supply The Confederacy with guns, money, and equipment. His goal was the breakup of the American Union. Had the victory not occurred, the Union would not have had enough time to raise and train the army that defeated General Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, thus bringing about the beginning of the end of the Recent Unpleasantness.

In this country there are more than 150 official Cinco de Mayo celebrations in 26 states; many more than the number in Mexico. It is a day that includes proclamations, parades, and parties. We’re fortunate in Wythe County to have three pretty darn good Mexican restaurants. My personal favorite is Casa Mexicana Mexican Grill in Ft. Chiswell. Stop by one of them today for a cerveza and a meal. Join the celebration!

For instance: if you Google the phrase “mickey g’s,” the 13th option is a post I did February 5, 2010, entitled “serendipity at mickey g’s.” This post has been accessed hundreds of times since then by folks looking for information about the restaurant. There have been two comments left about the food and restaurant, the last one a negative review received this morning:

Not happy. // Nov 9, 2010 at 6:17 am (Edit)
The pricing was a high average. Our waitress was fantastic, punctual, polite, and very professional. There is where the nice things to say end. Our 16″ pizza took up the table and even though there was an elevated pizza rack you were eating under a shelf of pizza. Our pizza came out dripping “water?”, we got the supreme with portabella and as you are eating only one thing stood out as an individual, the crust. With sausage, pepperoni, 2 mushrooms, green pepper and onion you expect some flavor, you may as well get bread sticks. Was not worth the gas to drive from my home to the “Bistro”, much less the 32$ we dropped on it. I have read a couple scathing articles and thought maybe was do to busy times or people not liking being put on patio etc. Now I see there is valid reason to not eat there, The interior is cramped, and at a slow time the pizza was fast, but speed does not mask poor quality ingredients and skimpy toppings. You could not even tell it had sauce aside from red tinged bread. I am annoyed by the pizza’s quality and utter lack of flavor. I suggest if you want a place to dine in floyd to try somewhere else as there are several far better choices.

I invite those of you who have an experience with mickey g’s bistro and pizzeria, good or bad, especially those who have eaten there on my recommendation, to click on the link above and share it with the rest of us. Your comment will then be part of the record.

A Little Housekeeping

Because of the number of hits I get looking for information, I’ve added a link to the Wythe County Government website to the blog roll in my continuing effort to make Wythe Notes your one stop shopping site for all things Wythe County.

Chestnut Ridge behind our Humble Little Cottage

I’m declaring peak color day today for the trees on Chestnut Ridge. Some of the other areas in the county are either past peak color or a few days away. I’ve been toodling around the town and county the last few days collecting specimens. Herewith is my collection:

It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. What words come to mind when you view this picture? Loneliness? Abandonment? Despair? What story does this picture tell?

How about these?

commonwealth of virginia
PETITION OF QUALIFIED
VOTERS
FOR REFERENDUM

We the qualified voters of Fort Chiswell Magisterial District of Wythe County, Virginia signed hereunder do hereby petition the circuit court to enter an order, pursuant to 4.1-124 & 24.2-684.1 of the Code of Virginia for a Special Election on Election Day, on the question listed below:

Shall the sale of mixed alcoholic beverages by restaurants licensed by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board be permitted in the Fort Chiswell Magisterial District of Wythe County, Virginia?

It was sometime in early April when I heard that my local Supervisor, Maggie Poole, was circulating a petition to place a referendum on the November ballot to allow restaurants in our District to serve mixed beverages. Like many people I subsequently met, I thought they already could. I had never given it much thought. There are so few restaurants in the 4th district anyway, I just figured they chose not to offer mixed drinks. A liquor license is more expensive and boosts liability insurance premiums.

What’s the big deal?, I thought. After all, beer and wine are widely available throughout the county. They are sold in all the grocery stores and most of the convenience and general stores. There are three wineries in the county, and most restaurants in Wytheville offer cocktails. If someone is going to have too much to drink and get behind the wheel of a car, wouldn’t it be better, I reasoned, to knock 10 miles off their dangerous journey home? It certainly would lessen the chances of being killed or injured by a drunk driver for the rest of us.

I did a little checking and found that a local businessman was interested in opening a Texas Roadhouse franchise in Fort Chiswell. As a condition of the franchise, he had to be able to serve mixed drinks. Sounded reasonable to me. Such a restaurant would mean more decent food, permanent jobs, and increased tax revenues for the two schools in this district. I decided to give Maggie a call and offer to help.

4th District Supervisor Maggie Poole

Prior to training as a chef in 1986, I spent most of the previous decade and a half working in government and politics. I was experienced in the ballot initiative and referendum procedures, having worked on a number of them in several states. I figured this would be a piece of cake. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

After I spent more than 30 hours of knocking on doors (Maggie spent an equal number or more), standing in Casa Mexicana, the New River General Store, and outside Food Country attempting to gather signatures just to give voters the RIGHT to vote yes or no on the question, I’m sad to say we failed to garner the 276 signatures necessary to put the referendum on the ballot.

During this process I met a number of people on both sides of the issue who were in favor of allowing the voters to decide. They understood that signing the petition was not an endorsement, but merely an opportunity to allow voters to exercise their constitutional rights.

The ignorance and skepticism of the way our county government works by the majority of people I came in contact with though was disheartening. Some people were down right nasty and rude. I was treated badly, lied to, ignored, preached to and lectured by people who could barely read and write. I was shocked at the number of people who announced they couldn’t vote because they were convicted felons and seemed proud of that fact. In one day, I encountered 11 people in that category, 9 of whom were women under 40. All in all, it was a very negative experience.

The organizers of the petition drive realize now that they made a mistake by limiting the referendum to just the Fort Chiswell District. If the measure had been county wide, we would have plenty of signatures. Almost half of the ones I gathered were from people who live in the adjoining District. They thought they were helping by not being truthful about their polling place, not realizing that the Registrar would strike their names from the petition.

This issue is not going away. It will be back next year, but next time the whole county will have a voice.