Winter Walk Off - A Challenge With Prizes

We seem to be thankfully turning some sort of sort of weather corner here in Tidewater.  Winter's steady cold appears to be waning, and we are being treated to warmer, though more unsettled weather.  It has made some great opportunities for me to get out of the house and walk off the winter (and perhaps a few pounds as well).  Yesterday the dogs and I took a nice long stroll around the neighborhood, camera in hand.  Between avoiding goose poop, frequent stops to sniff and photo ops, I came up with what I hope will be a fun challenge for my fellow bloggers.  Here's how I would like it to work:

1. On your own two feet, leave the house and share what can be seen within walking (or biking) distance of your home.  Your post does not have to be a picture-heavy travelogue like mine, 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 yard.
2. Post your own Winter Walk Off on your blog, and link it back to this post.  Please also leave me a comment when your post is up.  If you have recently written a similar post, you are welcome to use it.
3. I will keep the challenge open until March 19th, the last day of winter (or summer for those of you below the equator).
4. Everyone who participates will have their name put in a hat for a chance to win one of two prizes, with a totally disinterested teenager randomly drawing the names.  One person will win a collection of packaged Dahlia bulbs, and another will win some of my wife's handcrafted note cards.  I will contact the two winners and mail the prizes.  If the bulb winner lives overseas, they will get note cards instead.

I hope these guidelines are simple enough and that you will participate. 

Now here is what I saw yesterday.  Right around the corner from my house, I found one of my favorite signs that winter is nearing its end.  Camellia japonica seems to have suddenly opened throughout the neighborhood.

This sign is sort of at the entrance to our neighborhood and below it, coming up through the pansies are some Narcissus.  I donated these to the neighborhood several years ago when we came into a bulb bonanza at work and could get bags of 200 assorted for only $25.  The sign says we are a historic district, which I am guessing is mainly from its age and architecture, and not from any significant events, though John McCain and Leon Uris lived here once, and F. Scott Fitzgerald frequently visited his cousin here.

The dogs couldn't care less about historic districts and were only focused on getting to the dog park.



The dog park is adjacent to Haven Creek and our relatively new boat ramp and canoe/kayak launch making it a busy place during boating weather, though the skateboarders use it year-round.

One thing I am very excited about is the commencement of work on Haven Creek to restore the bank with a very environmentally friendly, living shoreline.  Work just started this week.

Haven Creek empties into the Layfayette River where on Saturday a local crew was practicing on the frigid water.

This house faces the river and is one of my favorite landscapes.  Confronted with regular flooding, a berm was built around the house, and in order to avoid creating a moat, heavy rain and seepage is pumped out to the street side.  The whole thing is very well planted.

Right down the street could be our neighborhood's version of Gray Gardens.  Funny they spent money on two new trees, but not any to keep the front porch from eventually falling down.  This could be me.

Lady Anna is one of many mermaids that can be seen around Norfolk, but I prefer to call her Lefty.

There are some great trees in Colonial Place, including many Live Oaks (Quercus virginiana)...



as well as this less leafy, but more massive Oak...

some substantial Magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora)...

and a few examples of zone denial.

On the western side of Colonial Place is Knitting Mill Creek, and all three waterways make our neighborhood a sometimes flood-prone peninsula. 



These geese have a nice view of the Tidewater Yacht Club, which is a place where people with boats can drink.

Near Knitting Mill Creek was our first house.  This little 2 bedroom bungalow, was perfect for two soon-to-be newlyweds.  We bought it in 1991 for 70K and lived in it four years before moving to a more child friendly house.  At some point a flipper bought it, painted over its smart red and brown color scheme, divided the largest bedroom in two, put a half bath in the laundry room and resold it for 250K at the height of the boom.  My only regret is giving up that low mortgage and planting a Red Tip (Photinia x fraseri) Golden Euonymus (Euonymus japonica 'Aureo-marginatus) combo.

The area's salty and usually breezy air was once thought to be good for tuberculosis, so a hospital was built here with lots of porches for its treatment, which is now an apartment building.  I am not sure how effective the air was for TB, but I know living in this very walkable neighborhood makes me feel better.

Again, please participate and have fun!

(you can view all of my pictures from Winter Walk Off here)

Savage Neck Dunes

Though I was born on Virginia's beautiful Eastern Shore, and visit frequently, I had never heard of Savage Neck Dunes until I read an article about it in the local paper this past fall.  I filed the information in the back of my brain under the heading "must try to check this place out".  So last Saturday when the opportunity presented, I payed a visit.  Savage Neck Dunes in a preserved natural area and a unique ecosystem managed by the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The uniqueness lies in the fact that there are 10,000 year old, 50' tall dunes (unusual on the Chesapeake Bay), which make them some of the highest points of land in two counties barely above sea level. These ancient dunes are home to a diverse number of plants and animals and is one of the few remaining habitats for the endangered Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle.

It was a chilly day when I visited, too cool for the beetles, but skies were clear and the sun bright - uplifting for February.  There were still patches of snow on the ground from the latest (and hopefully final) storm of the season just days previous.  In order to get to the dunes and beach you must first walk through a thicket of young Sweetgums (Liquidambar styraciflua) so thick you can barely see more than 20' in.  Soon after you enter a more diverse forest with a mix of Oaks, Maples and American Hollies, but the most dominant tree species is the Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda).  Where the dunes begin the forest thins and eventually you reach the beach where Mother Chesapeake comes into view.

At one end of the beach is a drowned forest, where among the exposed roots discarded ropes and netting are trapped and barnacle gardens grow.  All of this is perhaps best viewed from what appears to me to be the perfectly sized and perfectly located beach cottage, just outside the refuge bounds.

 

At the other end of the beach I found my throne, which was not that easy to get into, nor that comfortable....

... but what a commanding view.

Though this was my first visit, I know I will be back.  It is the kind of place where you are not likely to see many other people, and it will be great place to gather thoughts and to study water and sky.  I know that the sunsets here must be glorious as the beach faces west, unusually for people on this coast.

If you would like to learn more about Savage Neck Dunes, here is a link to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, and if you would like to see more of the day's photos, here is a link to my Flickr set.