Early Fall on the Lower Chickahominy

     This past Saturday I took my kayak to the Chickahominy River, close to where it meets the James. This was not my first time here. When I was a child my father belonged to a rod and gun club with a cabin on a bluff overlooking one of the river's tributaries, and visits there are some of my fondest place memories. The water here is brackish, more fresh than salt, but still subject to the tides. This mix of different waters allows for an abundant diversity of animal and plant species, which made hunger a little less threatening to the native Americans who once called this place home. It was here that Capt. John Smith was captured, and taken to the chief of the Powhatans. As the flawed story goes, Smith's life was eventually spared by Pocahontas, the chief's daughter. Today the river and its tributaries remain relatively free from development, and save for a few houses and a bridge or two, it is easy to imagine what the Chickahominy may have looked liked centuries ago.

     The Chickahominy has become one of my favorite places to paddle, and after any time spent there I always come away renewed. Part of the allure for me are the trees, specifically bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), and the opportunity to paddle between their knees and underneath their canopies. At the moment this species is tied for first place with live oak (Quercus virginiana) as my favorite tree. This weekend they were just beginning to sport their fall orange color. As I rounded one clump of cypress I could hear a loud commotion created by a pair of belted kingfishers, whose calls always sound like bitching to me. They were upset by a wake of vultures and a juvenile bald eagle perched in the trees along their part of the river. The kingfishers would not rest until the intruders were gone, and the presence of a lumbering middle-aged man in a bright red kayak was enough to push the raptors on their way, quieting the kingfishers. The lone eagle joined several others further down the shoreline; the place is thick with them, almost like pigeons.

     In one area of the river some of the cypresses looked as if they had been frosted. While it made for interesting photos, the "frost" was actually a coating of guano, probably from cormorants, or egrets.

     The cypress were not the only trees with fall color. A few red maples (Acer rubrum) right next to the shore were starting to turn, as were a few sweetgums (Liquidambar styraciflua), both a little further along, color-wise, then their kin on drier land. In many of the trees poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) climbed in shades of red, orange, and yellow, proving that even one of our most reviled plants can have its moment. All over the coast here, not just along the Chickahominy, the white blooms of saltbush let you know what time of year it is.

     Eventually I had to leave the river, and as I neared the campground where the landing was, I was brought back to reality. One camper at a site right on the river was busy hanging his oversized American flag on a pop-up tent, right next to his oversized "Make America Great Again" flag so, all the other campers and everyone on the water would have no doubt as to where he stood. Who does this on a camping trip? My gut response was to yell adjectives, but that would have been just as bad as waving oversized flags in other people's faces, and I didn't want to find out if he was exercising robust second amendment rights as well. I feel like we are living in a land of multiple realities these days, with collisions an ever present danger. I think I prefer a reality full of birds, paddling on mixed waters under bald cypress.

Women's March on Norfolk

     I spent most of yesterday on the couch, my eyes glazed over from the inauguration spectacle. It left me with a feeling of despair for this country and its future, especially after hearing that carnage of an address. Today I feel better. I rode my bike downtown to take part in a Sister March of the Women's March on Washington. The turnout was like no other I have ever seen in Norfolk, and the best part about it was the absolute diversity that made up the crowd. I left with a renewed pride in my country, and with a sliver of hope for it's future.

     I ran into many people I know, including Jessica and her sons.

     This dad brought his small son and daughter to the March. I got the impression that the mother in the family was not there; perhaps she had to work.

     I love that this woman wore our normally staid state flag around her shoulders. The flag includes our state motto, Sic Semper Tyrannis, on it, and her sign translated it for the non-Latin speakers in the crowd.

     You can see my complete photo set on Flickr.

Addendum 1/22/2017 - Before I published this post, I knew that it would likely offend some of the people who regularly read my blog. In fact, one of you took the time to tell me so, and have since unsubscribed. I will not apologize. However, I will let you know my intent is never to offend. Hopefully, if what you see does bother you, then you will move past it, only to return another time; most of what you will find is not overtly political. I blog for many reasons, but primarily it is an extension of my voice, and a personal undertaking. In this current age of divisiveness, we need to remember that everyone is entitled to their political opinions if given respectfully, and these opinions are only part of what makes a person. In the past year I have I needed to remind myself of this in the face of family and friends who disagree with me politically. Doing so makes it easier to continue with love and respect. Peace!

Little Fish and Big Whales

This morning a friend and I ventured onto the foggy cold Atlantic for a whale watching excursion. During the winter months several species of whales can be seen off the coast of Virginia, and reasonably priced trips are sponsored by the Virginia Aquarium.  The most common whales here are humpbacks and fin whales, and what draws them is food in the form of a small oily fish called menhaden.

Atlantic menhaden travel in large, slow moving schools with their mouths open wide, and along the way filter a remarkable amount of microscopic plants and animals, including algae, from the water as their food. People no longer eat menhaden, at least not in any recognizable form. However, this little fish is big business here in Virginia where 80% of the total Atlantic catch is brought ashore. In sheer tonnage, more menhaden are caught then all other Atlantic and Gulf fish combined. They are harvested on an industrial scale using a combination of spotter plains, refrigerated ships, huge nets and vacuum pumps. They are then processed into pet food, livestock feed, fish oil supplements and bait for crabs and other fish. They are also reduced into pellets as a primary food source for farm raised fish and shrimp. In the past 25 years, the menhaden population has declined by nearly 90%.

Here in Virginia the management of all fishery stocks is controlled by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, with one exception. Menhaden are controlled by our General Assembly. Some members of the assembly, as well as our current governor, have been the recipient of campaign contributions from Omega Protein, the country's largest processor of menhaden.

If the menhaden population was to become unsustainable, it would not just affect the whales we had come to see.  A wide variety of birds and fish eat menhaden, including the popular rockfish, or striped bass, which has recently stabilized from its own brush with overfishing. Another result of menhaden overfishing may already be in evidence.  As I mentioned earlier, the menhaden filter great quantities of water for their food, so much so their decline might be one of the reasons for excessive algae growth in the Chesapeake Bay. Fortunately the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted last month to institute the first quota system for menhaden and are starting by agreeing to reduce the harvest by 20%.  Omega Proteins would prefer a 10% reduction.  It remains to be seen how Virginia's General Assembly will react.

All Aboard

Yesterday morning my son, his godmother, and I boarded a pre-dawn train in downtown Norfolk for a day trip to Washington.  This is a new route for Amtrak, and to entice local riders they were offering a $19 fare for the month of December.  That rate was too good to pass up, and if you have ever driven I-95 north of Richmond or looked for a place to park in D.C., then I don't need to tell what a bargain that was.  We spent our day at the U.S. Botanic Gardens (a separate post will follow) and at several of the great museums along the mall.

Outside Union Station, Columbus looked to be gathering his cloak against the cold rain, snow and blowing wind, or maybe he was holding it tight in case his naked companion got any felonious ideas.  We were not about to let something like miserable weather ruin our trip.

The Capitol grounds were a construction zone in preparation of the coming inaugural, and all along the mall temporary crisis response stations were being installed. I guess a necessary thing in these times, but I was able to get this shot through one of the gigantic Japanese pagoda trees (Sophora japonica) on the side Capitol Hill.

After an hour or so warming ourselves in the jungle room at the gardens, we headed to the National Museum of the American Indian.  We did not have time to tour the museum, that will be on another trip, but our goal was lunch.  If you are looking for something varied to eat, their cafeteria serves good food that would not be unfamiliar to most native American groups.  I had buffalo/winter squash soup, corn bread and a wild rice and water cress salad.  It wasn't necessarily bargain friendly, but nothing is along the mall, except for the price of admission, which is usually free.  The museum's building was designed to resemble a western rock face, and it is surrounded by a distinctive landscape heavy on the water features and using naturalistic plantings of native trees and shrubs.

Our next stop was the National Museum of Air and Space.  The place was so crowded it was unpleasant, especially since there were only about three things in there I had any interest in seeing.  I can appreciate the place's history and mission, but it's just not my cup of tea, especially with all the other things we could be seeing elsewhere. (If I had leaned over too far taking this picture and had fallen, I would have been uninjured, as there were more than enough people below to break my fall.  I wonder how quickly anyone can say "look out below" in Mandarin, Farsi, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic. )

River Birches (Betula Nigra)

Lunar Bird, Juan Miro, Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden 

Graft, Roxy Paine, The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden

The crowds were also epic at the National Museum of Natural History.  Pardon me for a moment, but I have to ask why people choose to congregate in the middle of corridors and doorways blocking the way for everyone else.  And why do parents let small children crawl all over marble floors where people need to walk (sorry for stepping on your fingers little girl, but I didn't see you, and your mother should have kept you closer). If you are a bored teenager and would rather listen to your music or text your friends to let them know how bored your are, go find a bench somewhere and leave the stairs for people who need to go up and down. If you wish to experience every minute of your museum visit from the other side of an iPad or laptop, than maybe you should just get out of the way and go to the gift shop and buy the DVD. 

Despite the crowds I found the exhibits at this museum more to my liking.  Is it telling that I am more fascinated by fossils, shiny rocks, and skeletons than I am by rockets and jet airplanes? One of the things I enjoyed the most was the exhibition of 2011's Best Nature Photography, and could have spent the day in that gallery alone, but then I might have missed Titanoboa.  This prehistoric snake was 48' long and made a living eating alligators.

With museum-fatigue setting in we made our last stop the National Gallery of Art, and it was thankfully devoid of crowds. Here I was able to enjoy some of my favorite artists, and considering the chaos of the other museums, I think we could have been happy here all day. The museum was decorated for the holidays, and around several of the indoor fountains they had groupings of poinsettias, English ivy, cyclamen, white hydrangeas and white orchids.  It was very nice.

After a full day we headed back to Union Station for dinner and a therapeutic round of adult beverages before the long, but comfortable ride home.  I'll have my U.S. Botanic Gardens post up sometime next week.