Nelson County Rocks

 

We stayed relatively close to home over the summer, but did take short trips to West Virginia (for Holly’s annual family reunion), to Richmond for three days, and to the relatively nearby James River State Park.  We were both impressed by how much Richmond has been changing (though celebrations of its confederate past remain very much in evidence, most notably along Monument Boulevard).  We enjoyed meeting a friend of Holly’s from early college days, walking the suspension foot bridge to Belle Isle, where Union prisoners were kept and where many died.  Earlier Holly and I toured the American Civil War Center which, quite correctly in my view, underlines the central role of slavery in virtually all the conflicts that led to the Civil War.  We walked and enjoyed the relatively new Canal Walk along the James River waterfront, with both historical signs and contemporary popular art, having a nice lunch on the patio of an old warehouse along the way.  We visited St. John’s Episcopal Church, where Patrick Henry made his famous speech and which is currently undergoing extensive renovation, looking quite like, apart from size, our local Grace Episcopal Church.  And we had a nice riverside dinner at the recently-developed area known as Rocketts Landing, down the River away.

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In early August Holly and I drove over to the James River State Park, where we rented a canoe and drifted and paddled down the James River, to be picked up and returned from a landing aways down.  We also took a short hike to the Tye River Overlook, which faces out to the point where the Tye River comes down to the James.  It’s a bucolic scene, but a sign reminds one that during the 1969 Hurricane Camille and the subsequently flooding, the tremendous volume of water pouring down the Tye River resulted in the James River flowing back upward for eight miles or so.

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Earlier in the summer Holly and I drove up to the area where Holly’s mother’s family (the Molers) came from in West Virginia, where each summer Moler descendents gather to renew acquaintances and share lots of Southern food.  A welcoming experience, including the one Holly, Constance and I received sitting in the traditional Moler pew in church the next morning.

 

Family and friends gathered here on Saturday, July 18th, to wish Nic and Alison the best in their new life in New Haven, Connecticut, where Nic was beginning a two-year Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at Yale University.  They left with a 26 foot truck the following Tuesday, and are now happily ensconced in their new home.

see more pictures from the party here

In May, Holly, John and I joined Holly’s sisters Constance and Pat and Holly’s daughter Lyara in visiting Kansas relatives and celebrating Elizabeth’s graduation from high school.  It was a lovely time, despite the (happily unfufilled) tornado warnings!

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In late January, Holly and I took Amtrak to New York City to spend five days visiting Eleanor and exploring the city.  Highlights included the Museum of Natural History/Hayden Planetarium, Ellis Island, the views from the “Top of the Rock,” exploring various city neighborhoods, eating well at neat restaurants, stocking up at Zabar’s, and getting to see Justin and Katherine along with Eleanor.  We left on the day the “snowstorm of the century” was expected to arrive, but the storm veered out to sea and New York City got less than a foot of snow.

click here for pictures of our trip
(courtesy of Holly and her cellphone)

 
Above: Megan prepares her fabulous chocolate crust for her Grand Marnier Torte; First arrivals for Spanish seafood soup supper; preparing pies made from fresh pumpkins and apples.

Below: Tim takes charge of the turkey; Holly decorates the table; pies and desserts multiply.

Above: Holly, her sister Constance, Marybeth, Alison, Tim, Megan, Katherine, Justin, Lew, Martha, Nic, Eleanor, Bob (invisible taking pictures, but appears below).

 

Above: Bob and Wednesday arrivals; Monika’s Holiday Cactus continues to bloom, as do our memories.

We expected 15, but unfortunately both Kristina and Holly’s son John came down with the flu or some similar malady at the last moment.  But it was a lovely gathering and the food, contributed by all, was plentiful and great!

For a year that started so tragically, I feel I have much to be thankful for.

   

When Monika and I were looking for a new home in Nelson County in 2008-9, we came across a lovely trail in the Rockfish Valley which led to a stunning view of Three Ridges Mountain.  Monika loved the place, and we often took a picnic lunch there.  One day the picnic table was gone.  While we continued to walk the trail periodically, we missed a place to sit and enjoy the view.  (Monika was a great believer in benches, as well as tables.)

After Monika died in January, it occurred to me that a new picnic table at this special place would be an appropriate memorial to this extraordinary woman, who became in a few short years so deeply beloved by so many people throughout Nelson County.  So I approached Peter Agelasto and his Rockfish Vallley Foundation about sponsoring a new table there.  Peter swung into action immediately, arranging for a group of Future Farmers of America students at the county high school to construct a table.  I arranged for a bronze plaque from an engraving company in Lynchburg.  Our wonderful rector at Grace Church, Marion Kanour, agreed to lead a dedication, which took place yesterday, on November 1, 2014, with many friends and family from near and afar.  While the day was chilly and windy, we were spared rain and the views at and along the way to the table were beautiful.  I hope the pictures below convey some sense of the mix of sadness, appreciation, and celebration that we all felt in coming together to dedicate this memorial for Monika, a woman of extraordinary love, compassion, and energy.

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Special thanks to he FFA students who built the table! Here they pose with the newly-constructed table on Peter Agelasto’s truck.

 

First, a new discovery near Holly’s place at Lake Monticello: the Scheier Natural Area, bequeathed to the public by a couple who established a homestead to “live off the land” on this one-hundred acre property, now managed by the Rivanna Conservation Society.  The place is a gem, with nine interconnected ponds and lovely trails through the forests.  While sitting on a bench by Cunningham Creek, Holly (see if you can find her in the middle picture above) wondered why a branch of a nearby beech tree looked white, almost as if it were covered by snow (right picture above).  We subsequently claimed in a Facebook posting: “Twerking’s origins were discovered yesterday by Holly and me in a walk in the Scheier Natural Area in Fluvanna County, Virginia! See for yourselves in the video below of Beech Blight Aphids, which, according to Wikipedia, have “a defensive behaviour in that it raises the posterior end of its body and sways from side to side when disturbed.” No kidding! 🙂

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Second, a familiar route with a new face: we walked a section of the Blue Ridge Railway Trail, just down the road from my place, with Holly’s son John, who was visiting for the first time.  A nice, peaceful afternoon, graced by a great blue heron by the river and a flock of wild turkeys that crossed the trail.

 

In mid-July, Holly took me up to the Eastern Shore of Delaware to meet her longstanding close friends, Robert and Barbara.  We spent several days talking, eating, walking, and sunbathing and had a delightful time.  Eleanor came down in mid-August, and one place we took her to was Woodson’s Mill, the fascinating water-powered mill that produces stone-ground grits and flours.  We had a great tour from Dave Woodson.  Nic and Alison visited for dinner.