Dry Slot

Home again from visiting Mom. Cool clouds over Burlington when I arrived. Got some pictures up.

That's a great looking tree, BF.

There is a corridor of I-40 from Burlington to somewhere west of Winston-Salem that passes a bunch of redbuds. Probably east toward Raleigh, too. I drove the road west last week.

When the redbuds crap out, the dogwoods take over. That's our state tree.

Add: oops, I meant state flower. State tree is the pine. The Pine State (hence 'Tarheel').



Dogwood is the state tree of Virginia. That state line lies a hard day's walk north of here.

ycd - Dogwoods should start blooming any second now. :o) I reckon they're waiting for redbuds to finish up.

According to these people dogwood was chosen as the state flower in 1941, which was ten years before my time.

I have seen the Pacific dogwood. It grows bigger than the eastern type. The trees here look similar, but they seldom reach six meters. They don't live long compared to, say, oak or hickory.

The dogwood trees are starting to light up here, too. And like you say, the redbuds and cherries are still mixing it up.

Spring is putting a move on. The native trees are leafing out now. Every day brings a new look and new surprises.

A thunderstorm passed tonight as we were having dinner. It came courtesy of the big upper level low that has been drifting slowly across the continent. The forecast gives us a 50% chance for more showers tomorrow. Monday promises a return to sunshine.

Ylee, Kansas was too much for the overachieving NC State Wolfpack to handle. They may be too much for UNC's injury-ridden lineup, too. We'll see.

So...

   I've been out of the loop for a few days. Wife and I absconded to the beach.



The mini-vacation was part of Wife's extended birthday event. This birthday comes with a zero appended, her personal odometer rolling over, and she's been milking it for all it's worth. Can't say that I blame her. The ongoing festivity has given me a chance to reprise my own birthday celebration, which (as usual) was rudely interrupted by Christmas.

Today I ran across this link and thought I would pass it along. Wouldn't be surprised if other bloggers have linked the same story. Like I say, I've been away from the console. It's going to take me a few days to catch up with what's been going on around WUville.



shoreacres, that's right, UNC got eliminated. That was the last ACC school left in the dance. With the Tarheels' departure, my interest in the NCAA tournament drops from personal to purely intellectual. I don't feel any obligation to watch either semifinal game. I may, but I would be perfectly happy to read the results in the newspaper.

That is an interesting book review, and the book would probably make good reading. I think I'll start by finding out what the wiki has to say about William Blake. I've read "Tiger, tiger burning bright", but I don't know much about the poet.

My favorite non-mainstream theory was postulated by surfer dude Garett Lisi. His theory is not necessarily all hogwash. Lisi knows his mathematics, and he knows a good deal about physics. Like string theory Lisi's theory is based on a beautiful mathematical object. Unlike string theorists, Lisi freely admits that's he's just playing around with the math to see where it leads. That approach garnered howls of derision from the likes of Luboš Motl. As far as I'm concerned, Lisi stands as good a chance of being proven right as any highly touted string theorist.

Ylee - I'm sure that Duke and Carolina have met before in an NCAA tournament. It happened for the same reason that Ohio State had to defeat Cincinnati and that Kentucky now faces Louisville. It you have four or five contenders from the same state or conference, there's no way to lay out the bracket to prevent their eventual collision. The best outcome is when the meeting comes late in the tournament, so that both teams enjoy the maximum opportunity to knock out the other competition before setting to work on each other.

I apologize for being somewhat irregular lately. There has been a lot of coming and going around here. I'll deploy that as my flimsy excuse for why I haven't updated my blog header for forty days and forty nights... and then some.

Last night Wife and I went to see Pink Martini in Durham. Now I'm back. It turns out that Pink Martini have a thing or two to say about coming and going.

Proserpina, thanks for stopping by with an April greeting (and no fooling).

BriarCraft, great to see you up and around!

Part of Wife's birthday celebration included a visit from two of her friends, who brought live plants as a gift. In the trunk of their car they hauled three camellias and a climbing hydrangea from somewhere north of Atlanta, Georgia.

Wife got a nice birthday present, but I inherited the chore of planting all those shrubs.

Hey, Ylee. Actually Wife's birthday was over a week ago, but no, I'm pretty much resigned to my role as the family's principal surviving hole digger.

The good news is that we've been getting some rain, and the ground is soft. The bad news is that we've had something going on every dang day, and it's been hard to establish a rhythm.

Today could be the day, though. Not much on the schedule (read: I'm running out of excuses :o).

Woof! I didn't have to go looking. The excuse has come to me.

Last night a warm front squiggled across the area dragging light rain and summer behind it. At ten AM the thermometer registers 70°, but don't let that fool you. It's like a turkish bath out there in the sun.

Well, shucks, seems like the bill has come due for all those February flowers. By April it's already too hot for comfort. I reckon I'm going to have to wait for the sun to shift over to the other side of the sky before I go digging. Hopefully the neighbor's oaks have leafed out enough to make some shade. Maybe there'll be a breeze later.

Or maybe that front will squiggle back the other way. It wasn't bad on the north side.

Half an inch of rain yesterday didn't help much with the planting. When the rain ended, it was cooler, and there was enough daylight left to get two camellias in the ground. That leaves the hydrangeas.

The regular hydrangea shouldn't present a problem. Wife is happy with the spot where I set the plant down. The vine version needs somewhere to climb. Wife and I have been looking over the few mature trees on our suburban lot. There is one leading candidate based on the tree's age, health and location. I need to figure out where to dig the hole, a) with respect to the tree's roots, which I don't want to damage, and b) relative to available light, soil quality, drainage and other nearby plants and obstacles. Maybe I'll get lucky, and all of those considerations will converge on the same spot.

Still rainy today. There's another upper level low drifting this way. I reckon it has to clear the area before normal weather activity can resume.

Meanwhile the temperature is near sixty, with cooler air on tap for the weekend. That's more like it.

I've never been trained by a shaman, ycd. Linear optimization would be more my style. In practice I just went out to look at the tree, picked a likely spot and started probing the ground. The shovel slid in easier than I expected.

There were a lot of roots. I cut through the little ones and tried not to skin up the big ones. I found two shards of pottery and several earthworms (or pieces thereof). An old rusty pipe limited the excavation on one side. I have no idea why the pipe was there. I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with my household utilities, because I've had those marked out for me before. I left the pipe alone; I'm not interested in backyard archaeology — not today, anyhow.

It took a while, because I was being careful, but eventually I got a hole big enough to contain the root ball. I put the worms back in before I covered it up, applied water and mulch.

The climbing hydrangea came with a little bamboo tripod to hold it up. I'm wondering if I should leave that on there and wait for the vine to grow to the tree, or whether it would be better to go ahead and fasten the plant to the tree now. Hmmm, maybe I'll call up the folks who gave it to us and find out what they have to say.

Barefoot - It has been a while since the conversation you quoted. The redbuds have faded and the dogwoods and azaleas have taken over. I've been noticing some really fine looking azaleas this week.

As for sandpipers, I admit to being essentially clueless. At the beach I saw two kinds of birds with the same basic planform. The smaller kind flocked and scurried along the edge of the water. The middle picture in comment 111 shows a flock silhouetted at sunrise. Here's a better picture. My best guess at a name for these is sanderling.



The larger kind was more dignified. With its longer legs it didn't have to run fast. It was also more solitary. I saw them in pairs, but never in flocks. The photo I labeled "Sandpiper" is of one of the big ones. My bird book was no help, because it listed too many kinds of similar birds for me to keep sorted. I gave up.



Never did figure out what those black birds flying in V-formation were, either. If this were the west coast I might call them shearwater. The closest thing I could find in the east is a cormorant.



We are having rain again this evening. It should help settle the plants. Settles me, too, because I won't have to worry about watering them.

ycd - To live is to learn. Learning is easy for me, because I've already forgotten a whole lot of what I used to think I knew. ~:o]

Oh, yeah, Easter. Happy Easter everybody!

Thanks for dropping by, Mass, and thanks for the benediction and for the reminder.

Wife and I will be visiting Mom for Easter. Next time you hear from me it will be via Mom's laptop.

Thanks for your warm Easter greetings, seflagamma, juslivn and Skyepony.

In the past I have referred to the little valley where Mom lives as a "meteorologically disadvantaged area". Often, in winter, it snows here, when there is no snow a few miles away. At other times of the year it seems to be cloudy here, while the sun shines elsewhere. This weekend, since Wife and I arrived, the weather has been as delightful as one could imagine for early April.

In the valley the dogwoods are blooming and the trees are turning greener every day. On the ridge tops the first flush of spring is just starting to soften the drab gray of winter. You can see the color change rising up the mountains.

ycd - I'm happy to hear that I had a part in facilitating communications with your mom, even if it was unintentional on my part, and even if it was somewhat belated, and even if it ended up on her answering machine. I'm always happy to do my part to make the world a better place. :o)

Last year we cut down four Leyland cypress trees in front of our home. They had been planted too close to the wall. As they continued to grow they began to rub against the side of the building when it was windy, and we became concerned that they would eventually cause damage to the roof or siding.

The trees were five or six meters tall, so they left a big hole in the landscape when they were gone. We're still working on filling in the blanks. Plants by the front porch that were formerly shaded seem to like the extra sunlight. They're looking lush this spring.

Prose,
I wanted to
Compose for you
A little poem.
But wouldn't cha know,

My balky mind
Cannot find
The proper rhyme
Half the time.

shore - Wife returned home today. I'll stick around another day or two.

Thanks for thinking of me at Easter time. That egg sure is cute. Don't think I would want to be the funny bunny who laid it. Ow!

Mmm, had some nifty chocolate cake at Grove Park Inn yesterday. Can't say that I necessarily associate Easter with chocolate, though. I think of multicolored sugary eggs nestled in in a basket full of shredded green paper fake grass.

As the weather warms my thoughts turn toward ice cream. Chocolate ice cream will always be a favorite, but these little sandwiches are awesome!

Lots of special weather statements on the NWS forecast for Mom's location today. There is a freeze watch, a fire weather watch, a special weather statement (fire danger), and a hazardous weather outlook (fire danger until 8:00 PM, fire weather watch for low humidity and high winds tomorrow).

The fire danger thing is interesting, because I just spent the day burning brush behind Mom's barn next to the creek. There was no fire warning in effect when I started the fire this morning. It is noticeably dry and windy now, but now I'm done.

Long term veterans of this blog may remember that the last time I ventured down to the brush pile I got a bad case of poison ivy. I think there is a high probability of contact with the pernicious weed this time, though I have been as careful as I know how. No itching so far. Wish me luck.

Hey, Rob!

That sounds like a good tip, if I can figure out where to get the Tyvek suit. That could be useful even if all I want to do is keep my clothes clean.

Hmm, is Tyvek flammable? I believe I might want to test that before I wear it to a bonfire.

Today I wore a hat, gloves, jeans and long sleeves. As soon as I got back to the house I put it all in the washing machine and took a shower. So far so good.

I'm still worried about my boots and belt, because they're not washable. I have other shoes I can wear until I get home. Then I reckon I'll break out the saddle soap.

Skye - I was mostly burning fallen tree limbs, stuff too small to be useful for lumber or firewood.

If any poison ivy got burned, it was unintentional. I could see poison ivy in the area. I know it grows there. I tried to avoid it, but when you're working you can't watch every second.

I would prefer to do this chore during the winter when the plant is dormant, but that schedule didn't work out this time. Besides, it was winter when I got poisoned before. I grabbed a bare stem. Without the telltale triple leaflets I didn't recognize it. Didn't realize I had been exposed until it was too late.

So... you knew (in the Biblical sense) a chef who worked at the Grove Park Inn? I'm thinking that on a weather blog that may be too much information. :oD

Thanks for the advice, guys. I was dressed in cotton, which is slow (but not impossible) to burn. I would mainly worry about synthetic fabrics that might sputter and melt if they caught fire. That would be bad.

Looking from another angle, cotton is comfortable. It breathes. I had access to pockets, i. e. a hanky, when the smoke or pollen got to me. I'm not sure I would like being zipped up inside one of those suits, especially for hot work.

Okay, I need to get out of here and drive two hundred miles back home. See you on the other end.

Thanks, Rob. Ah, the comforts of home — I get tired of the cramped little keyboard and mouse pad on Mom's laptop.

BriarCraft, I didn't know about climbing hydrangea, either. The folks who found it for us are very much into horticulture. They recommended that I detach the plant from the bamboo pyramid with which it was shipped and tie it to the tree where I want it to grow. That made sense, when I thought about it.

One thing I learned is that the stems of the hydrangea are woody and stiff. I gave up trying to bend the plant over to the tree for fear of breaking it. I tied it loosely to the trunk for support, but it will have to grow to the tree on its own. If I had realized that before I planted it, I might have tried to tilt it more toward the tree. Live and learn.

That's funny about DH and the square holes. I'm sure the plant doesn't care about the shape of the hole, as long as its roots are comfortable. After all, the hole goes away when you refill it.

I've had no ill effects from poison ivy. Its possible that I've been overreacting; I figured better safe than sorry. I'm allergic to urushiol but not extremely so. Normally, it's not that big a deal, but normally I don't have to work around the stuff.

I must be getting old and out of shape, because I got fatigued rapidly doing this unaccustomed chore. I made a lot of progress, but I could have done more, if I'd had the vim. As you say, the Tyvek suit might make it even harder to keep working.

Skye, yep, that's the main risk from poison ivy, that you'll tangle with it without realizing it. Most people who are allergic learn to recognize the leaves and black hairy vine running up a tree. Sadly that doesn't work for children or for people floundering around in the dark.

As I was typing this comment I got a call from Mom, who informs me that the Grove Park Inn has been sold.

In addition to pictures of Uma Thurman, I also ran across this article, which describes possible approaches to eradicating poison ivy. They also have a better picture of a mature vine than the page I linked in the last comment.

Rob - Yep, home safe and sound since Tuesday night. Had a dental appointment Wednesday. Made time for a disc golf appointment yesterday. :o) Need to spend some quality time with the lawn mower soon, though the dry weather is generating welcome slack in that department.

The keyboard on Mom's laptop is not bad — for a laptop. It is cramped and flat but usable. I can never remember where the cursor keys, Insert, Delete etc. are. The screen is sharp and clear, but it fits the new 16x9 aspect ratio, which is designed for media rather than for blogging. The worst feature is the touchpad. It has only two buttons and no scroll wheel. That last item is the worst. The wide screen guarantees that you'll be doing a lot of vertical scrolling, which you can only do the old-fashioned way, by clicking and dragging a scrollbar. Clicking and dragging with a touchpad is not the most natural and fulfilling task in the world.

I know, gripe, gripe, gripe. If I used the laptop a lot I could probably get more comfortable with it. For instance, the touchpad supports gesturing, which might ease some of my woes, if only I could be bothered to learn how. As it is, the first thing I did was to turn that feature off, because it kept doing things that I did not expect or understand. It got in the way.

I could pack my favorite trackball each time I visit Mom, and plug it into a USB port. But then I would need a desk on which to set the trackball. That would sort of miss the whole point of having a laptop, which frees you to use the machine anywhere. Gripe, gripe, gripe. :o<

No, Ylee, Batman got Poison Ivy. So, when I went googling for pictures of poison ivy, I found Uma Thurman in addition to Toxicodendron. Besides Ms. Thurman, there were various other role-players and conventioneers scantily clad in leaves of green. There is a fun side to blogging after all. :oD