20 or More Every Day

     Next to the Larchmont Library here in Norfolk is a temporary memorial that aims to bring attention to the high rate of suicide among American vets. It is estimated that 20 or more take their own lives every day. That's 140 each week, 7280 each year. This number is likely an indication of inadequate treatment for PTSD and traumatic brain injury. The memorial was created by Mission 22, a group which aims to increase awareness of the crisis.

Chilly Bike Ride to Portsmouth

     On Friday the weather man told me that if I had any outdoor plans for the weekend, that I should make them for Saturday, as a nor'easter would be rolling in on Sunday. So I got up Saturday morning, had my coffee, found my Felcos, and headed outside to tend to my neglected back garden, only to feel rain. I may do wet, and I may do cold, but I don't do wet and cold. I went back inside intending to wait out the rain, but started watching Babylon Berlin on Netflix, and didn't stop watching until it was time for bed. If you don't mind subtitles this is an excellent series set in late 20's, pre-Nazi Berlin, a time and place that intrigues me. I have since read that Babylon Berlin is the most expensive German TV series ever produced, and I can see why. They spent a lot of time recreating the look and feel of the era. However, I think they could have saved a ton of money by cutting back on the number of cigarettes the characters smoke, and they smoke constantly. With cigarettes running about 6.00 € currently, and with at least an entire pack consumed every 5 minutes, in a multi-episode series, that's a lot of Euros.

     Pardon the digression. When I woke up on Sunday, and saw that it was not raining, I decided to ride my bike to Olde Towne Portsmouth before gardening. This blog has been to Olde Towne several times before. To get there I rode to downtown Norfolk, and there got on the ferry to Portsmouth. There were so few people out and about, that both city centers looked as if they may be under evacuation orders. Given the cold dank weather, it was no surprise.

     Waiting for the ferry, I had time to ponder gulls, as well as The Hotel of Unresolved Issues, a place I was twice employed. 

     Once in Olde Towne I found much in bloom. Crabapples planted around the old Norfolk County courthouse nicely framed the building, as well as the adjacent Confederate memorial. One of these days I may share my thoughts on such memorials, but I haven't figured out how to say what I want to say without coming across as someone I am not. Besides, my thoughts are still fluid on the matter.

    Unfortunately, there are a lot of Callery pears in Olde Towne. I guess Portsmouth hasn't gotten the invasive species memo yet. One was blooming next to one of my favorite houses in Olde Towne, which currently happens to be for sale. According to Zillow, it has been in the same family for four generations.

     Speaking of invasive species, English ivy looks very nice here, but it is a scourge in many local woodlands.

     Next to St. John's Episcopal, one of Olde Towne's many churches, I saw a quince blooming. I think it is one of the new Double Take series (Chaenomeles speciosa Double Take™ Scarlet).

     I have always wanted to see what the inside of St. John's looks like, but have never had the chance. So I googled it, and had to borrow a photo from the church's web site to share. I hope they don't mind; it is lovely.

     Another Olde Towne church, Monumental United Methodist, recently made the news when its steeple caught fire. As a lapsed Methodist, I am glad the rest of the church was spared, and that the steeple is being restored. It was a local landmark, and one of the taller structures in downtown Portsmouth.

     Don't you love robust columns and a strong pediment?

     I lived in Olde Towne Portsmouth right out of college in the apartment building below. Built in 1851, it began life as part of the Macon Hotel, ironic for me at the time because I was working at the Hotel of Unresolved Issues across the river in Norfolk. During the Civil War it was one of the city's many hospitals, so it is no wonder I thought the place was haunted. 

     Thanks for riding with me! If you would like to walk with me, my 2018 Winter Walk-Off continues, with entries accepted through March 19th.

Winter Walk-Off 2018

      Since 2011 I have held my Winter Walk-Off, and though I don't blog like I once did (real life taking away from on-line life), I still wanted to continue with this meme. This has been a mixed winter here. We had extreme cold, kissing the single digits, in January with a good amount of snow. We have also had temperatures in the 70's, and the forecast for Wednesday of this week is calling for 80. The only real constant this winter has been the wet, everything is soggy, including my attitude. So I take advantage of what dry days we have, and try to spend them outside; it is good for the soul. I hope you will do the same thing.

     As always, the rules are simple, the rules are flexible:

     On your own two feet, leave the house, and share what can be seen within walking (or biking) distance of your home (if you want to drive to your walk destination that's OK too). Your post does not have to be about gardening or a travelogue (though I do like both), unless you want it to be. Maybe instead you will find some unusual patterns, interesting shadows, signs of spring, a favorite restaurant or shop, questionable landscaping, or local eyesores. Whatever, just keep your eyes and mind open, be creative, and have fun, but don't show anything from your own garden.

     Post your own Winter Walk-Off on your blog, and link it back to this post. Also, please leave me a link and comment here when your post is up. If you have recently written something similar, you are welcome to recycle.

     I will keep the challenge open until midnight on March 19th, the last day of winter (or summer for those of you below the equator, who are welcome to join in).

     Normally everyone who participates has a chance to win one of two prizes. Last year, one of the winners graciously declined the prize, so instead I donated $25 to her state's chapter of the Nature Conservancy, an organization I believe in. They have done great work here in coastal Virginia. For 2018 I am going to randomly draw one name from all the participants, and I will donate $50 to their state's chapter of the Nature Conservancy. If for some reason they live somewhere without a chapter, I will find a similarly worthy organization. The winner's name will be announced in my wrap-up.

     I hope these guidelines are simple enough to sway you to join in, because the more the merrier.

*****

     For my on walk-off, I actually walked this year, instead of participating on my bike. I am now armed with a $600 knee brace (or should that be legged?), which has made getting around much less painful. I headed to Sarah Constant Beach Park in Norfolk's Ocean View neighborhood. Ocean View is sort of a misnomer, as it actually faces the Chesapeake Bay. I suppose if you crooked your head to the right, and it was a very clear day, you could indeed glimpse the Atlantic. Regardless, Ocean View is one of Norfolk's most colorful neighborhoods. It was once home to shingle-clad vacation cottages, a famous amusement park, and affordable hotels, all a pleasant trolley ride from downtown. Times change as they are wont to do, and Ocean View fell on hard times. Today it is making a comeback with new houses, condos, restaurants, and retail, while still keeping its color.

     One casualty of all this development are many of the area's live oaks (Quercus virginiana). When I was a child we would regularly travel from our home in Richmond to the Eastern Shore, and before the interstate was finished we had to take Ocean View Ave. to get through Norfolk. We didn't have live oaks in Richmond, and there were very few on the Eastern Shore. Even as a kid I marveled at their massive trunks, and at the way those in Ocean View all grew facing away from the shore and its north winds. Those old cottages were built up to the edge of the dunes on long skinny lots, with live oaks growing between the house and Ocean View Ave. With many of the cottages gone, and lots split up or consolidated, the oaks have not fared well. However, there is still a nice grove of them at Sarah Constant Beach Park.

     This is a harsh environment for anything to grow, but Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii) actually does better here in the sandy soil, than it would in something richer.

     No problem for our native yucca (Yucca filamentosa) either.

     The Ocean View Fishing Pier is very popular in-season. I enjoy having beverages there, watching the sunset, and spotting for dolphins when the weather is warm. Good people watching too.

     Right next to the pier is another Ocean View institution, the Thirsty Camel. January was hard on the palmettos (Sabal palmetto) next door. With rare exceptions, and despite no lack of trying, I think these palms are just really expensive annuals here.

     Thanks for walking with me. I hope I will be able to look over your shoulder when you take your own Winter Walk-Off.

NEON District

     Earlier in the month on a gray wet day I participated in planting a rain garden in the NEON District of Norfolk. NEON has little to do with electrified gasses, rather it stands for New Energy of Norfolk, and the powers-that-be have designated this area as the city's arts district. As clunky as the name is, I do applaud the city for promoting the arts, especially in a part of town where the nearby downtown economic boom has been slow to catch hold. A little support, and a little prodding from the city, and now there are galleries, theater spaces, a comedy club, restaurants, and a vacant lot called The Plot which has become a community gathering place. On the day we were there, we planted several pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens), and a couple of grasses. Throughout the district plants have been tucked here and there, mostly through the efforts of volunteer groups, like the Master Gardeners.

     Along an otherwise boring chain-link fence, a colorful garden had been sown, or maybe sewn.

     Many of the walls in the NEON Distract are painted with murals and sanctioned graffiti. My favorite is by artist, Christopher Revels, whose normal medium is sidewalk chalk, which he uses to draw his Walking Houses. Revels' houses are always drawn on stilts above water, an appropriate image for a city second only to New Orleans under threat due to sea level rise. These images speak to me personally. Since I was a teen, a recurring theme in many of my dreams has been water and waves washing under stilted beach houses, taking carefree beach-goers out to sea, only to return them on the next wave unharmed, back on the beach.

          Thankfully downtown Norfolk is a much different place then the ghost town it was when I first lived here 40 years ago, but it would not have happened without a great deal of push and effort. Gritty has always come naturally here, but edgy and hip has taken work.