Friday, May 27, 2011

My application to VOF was not approved. With a Republican governor, the board is much more conservative and my plan to protect 120 acres forever won’t fly. Josh is going to contact the Western Virginia Land Trust and see if they can work with me. He said he was pretty sure they would be able to do what I wanted, but it would cost 7000 extra. That is a big blow and will wipe out a third of the tax break I hoped to get but I don’t have a choice. I wish Josh had told me earlier and moved me toward a group that would be more likely to support my goals for the property. I am not going to rush anything right now so I will attend to this in August when I return from my second trip.
Fresh lettuce and sugar snap pea pods every morning from the greenhouse.
I hurt my stomach real bad last week from too much shoveling, walking, golf and biking, but it is now feeling better and I even fished a little yesterday in the New right by the Dedmon center. I got four fish and many hits and nobody else was fishing there. My new combo rod worked very well.
My Maymester class is going well but I will be very glad when it finishes on Friday. I do have a three day weekend to recover and that should help me for the final four classes.
I have been cleaning up the cabin and I have gotten rid of at least 300 books, putting them on the free book shelves at RU. I vacuumed a little today and cleaned out the old newspapers and it is really looking much better. I still have a lot of books in the house and the cabin, certainly over a thousand.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

I beat up my stomach with all my shoveling, biking, golfing and hiking so today I am resting. I did go for a walk with Rob this morning and that was fun. We caught up on things and had some laughs. After that I went to visit Lou and Cathy because of a crisis with Cathy’s sister and that was helpful I think. We also had some laughs and I do think it cheered Cathy up a bit.
I hope that Irv can find the Addison’s Leather flower since that would make it easier to protect the property in the way I want. I should know by Wednesday if VOF will accept the changed proposal.
I am almost done with my grading for my Maymester course so tomorrow should be pretty easy.
I dropped off ten copies of my chapbook at Tracy’s along with the magazine article which she figures prominently in. She thanked me for it in an e-mail and wished me well. I wish her the same.
I have turned the vent free heater pilot off and I don’t think I will need any heat again. It was a bit chilly at night for a couple of days.

Friday, May 20, 2011

I am feeling much more optimistic, and I think my getting off the Colchicine was a big factor in my feeling down. Two days after I stopped the drug, my hands were very stiff and I was feeling rather depressed. That lasted for a few more days and now I am feeling better.
Teaching has been my main concern and I had to do a lot of grading already. The class is going well and I have the second poems to read this weekend. That shouldn’t be too bad.
The idiots at Finishing Line press sent me an unbelievable e-mail which was a standard announcement which had no relevance to the address I am having the books sent to. They have done this all along and it is very frustrating and time wasting. If Marina’s artwork wasn’t on the cover, I would never have finished this project. Even worse is that they don’t care about wasting people’s time. That is sad and unprofessional.
I have done some pruning on the road and up to the cherry tree in my orchard and it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The culvert that I cleared has filled in again and I will have to shovel it out this weekend.
I have been eating some strawberries, many pea pods and some lettuce. I should have good organic greens until I leave on my trip.
I have set up a photo session with the DEC for my disabled article and that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
I have been playing golf regularly and shooting pretty well. It is a nice break from teaching.
I looked at the deed for the VOF conservation easement and it allowed much too much to be done to the property. Josh didn’t seem to understand what “forever wild” means but today I cleared things up and I think I will get what I want (at least 120 acres that are not touched at all). If they can’t help me Josh said that there are other groups who are more amenable to wilder tracts.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

On Saturday, I drove toward Accomac, crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel, always an interesting sight. I wanted to play golf so I called Bay Creek Resort and they had room so I went there and played the front nine of the more difficult Nicklaus course and did reasonably well with a 51. Many, many sand traps and very tight fairways made it quite challenging. After that I went into Cape Charles to have dinner at Kelly’s Gingernut Pub and watch the Kentucky Derby. My horse lost but it was a close race. I drove back to Kiptopeke State Park and got a camping site and then went on a long bike ride before returning to Kelly’s to watch the Miami/Boston game.
Sunday looked menacing in the morning but I figured I’d best get up to Chincoteague so I could hike the beach before my knee gave out and the long wild beach at Assateague was stunning. I walked in about a mile, sat and meditated for about twenty minutes and then walked back. There were only a few people and none bothered me with their noise. The weather was getting better so I decided to go bike riding and found a wonderful trail that looped away from the road and offered beach access. I rode about 5 miles of it, stopping at a bench to meditate some more and to watch the herons, geese and red-winged blackbirds. I drove back to my room to watch the first half of the Dallas game (that was all I needed to watch) and then I went off to play nine holes on a tight water laced course that I shot a 48 on because I really played well at the end. Dinner was fair and then I watched Atlanta beat Chicago.



Monday brought a return to the bike trail at Assateague and I rode in and then to the beach access. It was perhaps 100 yards away and I walked to it and sat down for a few minutes. On my return I rode the trail all the way around the marsh and it was grand. I saw white egrets, snowy egrets, Louisiana herons, glossy ibis and heard common yellowthroats and prairie warblers. I saw blue-eyed grass
And when I stopped at the visitor’s center on the way out I saw that there is water oak, bayberry, sweet bay, dogwood, wax myrtle and of the birds, there were northern shovelers, green winged teal and plovers along with the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel.
After a fine lunch at Bill’s I drove out to Captain’s Cove and played that course again. I met Ken and Sandy for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays and then we drove back to the house to watch the end of the Miami/Boston game and saw the Heat win in overtime.
My breathing was bad and I had to use my spray and that caused me to wake up at 4 and I had to take half a valium to fall back asleep. I got up after 7 and had breakfast with Ken and Sandy and tried to help Sandy with her porch project but hurt my knee pretty badly. She felt bad but I should have told her I couldn’t do anything were I had to deeply bend my knee.
We then packed up and went fishing on the ocean side and caught 8 fish, the biggest being some rays and 5 flounders, all too small to keep.
Ken and Sandy prepared dinner and Ken’s perch fillets from Gilman Pond were delicious. We had Ben and Jerry’s ice cream (Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia) and blueberries for dessert then watched the yankee game. I had to use my spray but I slept till 7:30 and that was good.
Ken and I went off to fish on the bay side and after checking out Half Moon island (which had been recommended) we headed to another island which ken had fished before and after we fished the northern end (again recommended) we fished the southern end where the current was pretty strong and there as we drifted again and again in the current I landed 4 15 inch stripers and Ken landed one, mainly because he was in charge of the boat. It was a lot of fun and we stopped one more time by one of the channel markers but had no luck. The wind picked up quickly and the ride back was pretty rough.
Ken and Sandy took me out to pasta night at a local restaurant and the food was first rate.
When we returned we watched the end of the Miami/Boston game and Lebron scored the last ten points on some sensational shooting.
After breakfast and some chatting on Thursday morning, I decided to head out since my breathing was getting bad and I bid my friends goodbye, hoping to see them in October to fish for some big stripers.
I drove for an hour then took a long nap then drove on to the Royal New Kent golf course where I played the front nine with two balls and shot a 97. I was hungry so I drove back to Carrabba’s for a decent dinner and then went to the KOA for a nap and a bike ride. After the ride I went back to Carrabba’s to watch the Chicago/Atlanta game.

Friday found me driving back from Williamsburg and I decided to fish the Maury on the way back. I saw a section south of Buena Vista that looked promising on the map and when I got there I did find a spot close to the river—if I had driven a few more miles I would have found much easier spots, but perhaps that explained how productive the spot was. I struggled down and my knees really felt it and it was tough even getting into the water, but once I did, the fishing was terrific. I must have caught 20 fish, mainly small redeye bass, on the rooster tail and the dressed mepps. I didn’t even wade 100 yards downstream to catch that many fish. It was sensational and I have to get back to see if it is always as good.
I cleaned out the truck when I got home and then did some yoga and weights. I had some lettuce and snow peas from the green house, and then I drove into town to see Memphis upset the Thunder and force a seventh game.
This morning looked grim but when I looked at the weather forecast (rain for the next four days), I decided I should cut the grass. I finished everything but the cabin area when the mower stalled so I went back to the house, did twenty minutes of practicing, fixed up a few things there and went back to the lawn tractor, which started up and allowed me to get right to the shed before it stalled out. I was able to restart it and just get it in the shed. I have two trees full of apples and one cherry with a lot of fruit. I had some broccoli from the green house along with some sugar snap pea pods. Very good.
After that I drove in to see Thor and it was pretty entertaining.
I am spending a lot of time thinking about my spiritual state and I know the thing I fear is eternal damnation. This of course comes from my catholic upbringing but it is a real concern and it is why I went to confession before I had my colon resection. I would like to partake of a more gentle religion, like Unitarianism, but that wouldn’t address the eternal damnation question. I don’t want to do anything because I am fearful or lonely so I am not sure what to do. Perhaps I will call the Catholic priest to talk.

Monday, May 9, 2011

On Saturday, I drove toward Accomac, crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel, always an interesting sight. I wanted to play golf so I called Bay Creek Resort and they had room so I went there and played the front nine of the more difficult Nicklaus course and did reasonably well with a 51. Many, many sand traps and very tight fairways made it quite challenging. After that I went into Cape Charles to have dinner at Kelly’s Gingernut Pub and watch the Kentucky Derby. My horse lost but it was a close race. I drove back to Kiptopeke State Park and got a camping site and then went on a long bike ride before returning to Kelly’s to watch the Miami/Boston game.
Sunday looked menacing in the morning but I figured I’d best get up to Chincoteague so I could hike the beach before my knee gave out and the long wild beach at Assateague was stunning. I walked in about a mile, sat and meditated for about twenty minutes and then walked back. There were only a few people and none bothered me with their noise. The weather was getting better so I decided to go bike riding and found a wonderful trail that looped away from the road and offered beach access. I rode about 5 miles of it, stopping at a bench to meditate some more and to watch the herons, geese and red-winged blackbirds. I drove back to my room to watch the first half of the Dallas game (that was all I needed to watch) and then I went off to play nine holes on a tight water laced course that I shot a 48 on because I really played well at the end. Dinner was fair and then I watched Atlanta beat Chicago.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

My trip out to Accomac has started very well. I got off early and by noon I was in Richmond. I couldn’t fix my Amtrak ticket but I did a nice bike ride by the canal and then I walked up to the state capitol and it was rather interesting. The governor’s mansion was large enough and the statues and other buildings were scenic.
I drove on toward Williamsburg and then stopped to play nine at Royal New Kent, where I played the back nine, which I had played before, and shot a 50, not bad for a course with a hundred sandtraps.
I decided to go to a campground and the place was quiet enough and clean if a little expensive. After a nap I went to Starbucks and did my grades and caught up on my e-mails.
Then I went to Carraba’s for dinner (excellent sea bass) and watched Chicago destroy Atlanta. I was tired but it was only nine so I went to Chili’s to watch the LA game and met a pretty and intense married woman who was trying to convert me to her form of Christianity (where there are three levels of hell, the top one total silence). I listened to her because I am searching for more spiritual comfort in my life. Jeff thinks more meditation will help but I am not sure. I am very skeptical of organized religion and I remain an agnostic, though I would like to believe in something eternal. Nature is still a great comfort to me but my Catholic background (judgment day and everlasting perdition) still resonates. I don’t want to commit to a belief system just because I am getting old and things like the gout make my mortality increasingly evident. I am truly not sure what to do.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

I had Josh Gibson out from Virginia Outdoor Foundation and the conservation easement process is very much underway. He was very pleasant and I gave him some asparagus and he thought my plans reasonable.
I went back to yoga and weights this morning after riding the stationary bike at a lower level. My knees hurt a little but feel pretty good. I am planning to play golf this afternoon if the weather stays nice.
With the sawzall, I cut the small tree which had fallen near the culvert, ten minutes of work, and brought the new treated gas up to the lawn tractor.
I graded some this morning and I don’t have much left to do. I should be done by the time my truck is finished with its servicing.
I redid my finances this morning because I was again unrealistic with how much I am spending. My new plan is much more realistic and really doesn’t change my retirement age, still looking solid at 64, with 63 possible with a buyout.
I had Dodson exterminators out and I have signed up for a borax treatment to protect the wood in the crawlspace and a power vent to get the humidity down. There are no signs of termites so that is good news. They are also going to treat the outside and the crawlspace for mice and ants, but I told them not to do anything inside. The debris below the ridgeline up in the attic is just from the wind, no insect activity going on there, more good news.
Still nothing on Match but I will keep checking.

Monday, May 2, 2011

The semester is almost over and I am ready for a break. I have to grade the two 202 finals and that’s about it.
On Saturday, I over did it, hiking, biking, and playing golf and I paid on Sunday. Both my knees hurt but I decided to ride the bike in the pasture so by the time I went up to see Jeff, Rachel and Benjamin, I was in sorry shape. Anyway, the Heat won and I hope it will be a good series.
Today I felt better and my jaw is recovering from last week’s tooth cleaning and my knees feel slightly better. I hope my knees aren’t going to interfere with my visit to Ken and Sandy. I am taking it very easy for the next few days.
I have finished my outline and rules for Maymester and I don’t expect any problems with that course.
Still no prospects on Match. The woman I e-mailed didn’t respond.