Trolling the Waters

     On Saturday I joined the Tidewater Master Naturalists on an expedition out of the small seaside town of Wachapreague, on Virginia's beautiful Eastern Shore.  Two able bodied seamen from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) led our group in search of various organisms that make their home in the mud, water and sand behind the Shore's protective barrier islands, in this case Cedar Island.  Nets or dredges would be thrown overboard and brought up again for us to examine the contents, while the two gentlemen from VIMS would explain what we were looking at.  We also explored some of the vast flats exposed by the low tide.  I am no stranger to these waters. My family has lived near them and fished from them for generations, but on this trip I was able to match a little science with the familiar.

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     Our day on the water included a long lunch break on Cedar Island, which was named for its once thriving forest of eastern red cedars (Juniperus virginiana). The island is only accessible by boat, and when I was young my extended family would gather there each summer to play in the surf, share a meal and enjoy a casual reunion. For some of those years, my uncle would rent a cottage on the island, making the reunion a little more comfortable for those who appreciated such things. Today the forest is gone, all that is left of the cottage are pilings sticking out of the Atlantic, and after Hurricane Sandy, about 1800' of the southern end of the island has disappeared. Although barrier islands are by their nature dynamic everchanging places, I think the changes I have seen in my lifetime on Cedar Island are due to something else.

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     About three years ago the trawler Laura J was heading south, down the coast, when all of its systems failed before running aground on Cedar Island. The 5-man crew was rescued and brought to a hotel in Wachapreague for the night. The next morning the crew was gone, and the trawler has remained there since. No one has managed to salvage it, but the swallows now have a waterfront home with a fine view.

     If you want to see the all of photos from my Saturday on the water, you can click here for my Flickr set.

Sixth Annual Citywide Bloom Day

     It's once again time to celebrate one of my favorite trees, the crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia species and hybrids). Every July since 2008 my Bloom Day post has been devoted to this tree, and if you want to know why I love it so much just click on the first post.  For this Bloom Day I crossed the harbor to visit historic Fort Monroe in Hampton in search of photo-worthy blossoms. I don't have space here to go into all that has happened at Fort Monroe, you can read that for yourself. I do want to say that this place is dripping with history, particularly Civil War history and African-American history, which literally began here. The fort was decommissioned in 2011, and the land has reverted to Virginia, and fortunately the previous tenant made many improvements. The largest stone fort ever built by the United States is here, along with nearly 200 designated historic landmarks, and many recreational opportunities. It sits on over 500 acres with 8 miles of waterfront, sandy beaches, natural wetlands, and includes some magnificent trees, especially the crape myrtles and live oaks. At the moment the state, the city of Hampton and the National Park Service are trying to work out the best way to attract people to Fort Monroe while preserving what makes it special.

     Before we get on with the photos, I wanted to say most pictures feature crape myrtles, but not all.  I hope Carol at May Dreams Gardens (our underpaid Garden Bloggers Bloom Day hostess) will forgive another stretching of the rules on my part, though she should be use to it from me.

Abe Lincoln slept here.

The building on the right was where Robert E. Lee quartered while he was putting the finishing touches on the fort as a young engineer and U.S. Army Lieutenant.

Jefferson Davis was incarcerated at Fort Monroe after the Civil War.  In the 1950's the United Daughters of the Confederacy donated this park and its odd sign for "the pleasure of military personnel and their families".

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