Fall Ramble-Sandstone Falls

Spent a wet, cool Saturday morning with my dad at Sandstone Falls, which are the largest waterfalls on the New River within the New River Gorge National River. There is a boardwalk crossing to two of the islands with terrific views of the river. Even though winter is at hand, there is much to explore and see, even on a grey day. I found an Aster still in bloom and many colorful sights.

West Virginia has beauty in every season if you are willing to get out into some less than idea weather .

I wanted to get there last month because I had heard there are native persimmons there, a native fruit. It was a little late in the season but I was able to find them and even though they were mostly mush, they had a great taste and I was able to take a few seeds home. I also found one that was still too hard to eat, but I tried and got a full taste of the astringent property that causes severe puckering. Which I can now say is the truth. 

Frozen Brush Creek Falls

Brush Creek Falls is one of my favorite places in all seasons. This morning it was 5 degrees Farenhite and the snow that has been accumulating for the past two weeeks was over 18 inches deep. I knew the falls were probally froze and worth a hike in. I have seen them froze even more than this but it is still pretty awesome. Below are pictures from the front side and behind the falls. Also a small trail side falls was in good form with interesting greens and blue colors.

Running?

I hike. Period. 

Running is for 20 something's who want to stay buff and live forever.

So, why do I suddenly find myself running? Several colleagues from my school decided to run in the KOMEN WEST VIRGINIA RACE FOR THE CURE®.
A 5k race on May 2, 2015.

They formed a team and started recruiting members. I avoided them in the halls, said no several times, blustered about being a hiker, not a runner but finally gave in. 

         It was not a hard decision really, my wife is a breast cancer survivor. 12 years now.

So, I find myself in the evenings, in the dark, frozen fields around my home,  alternately walking and jogging, following an iPhone app called C25k ,Couch to 5k. A program that helps you prepare for a 5k race in seven weeks. During tonight's 30 minute workout, I covered 2.1 miles. 

Last year the first 275 finishers made the 3.1 miles in 30 minutes or less. The next 175 made it in less than 45 minutes. So my goal is between 30 and 45 minutes.    

I've setup a personal page where you can read more about my race and the event:

  http://westvirginia.info-komen.org/goto/cpackjr

Where are the Wildflowers in this post? Well, when I am jogging around that field, I find myself saying, 'there's the spot where Slender Ladies Tresses will be this fall', and 'there's the Nodding Ladies Tresses', and 'over there is Reclining St. Andrew's Cross.'

So, today is the day when meteorological winter is half over and I think I can make it to spring wildflower season now; if this running stuff doesn't kill me first..   

We Race Because…

One in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.

Because every minute, somewhere in the world, someone dies from breast cancer.

And because, breast cancer knows no boundaries- be it age, gender, socio-economic status or geographic location.

We continue to Race because at the current rate, 13 million breast cancer deaths around the world will occur in the next 25 years.

Winter for Real

After several fits and starts, winter seems to be here for real. Today, we are in midst of ice and sleet storm that has affected much of the East Coast. Church has been canceled all day, so I am watching out the window and reading up on birds, even though I vowed not to get hooked on them.  Probably won't spend a lot of time posting birds, just interesting items. ( but they all tend to get more interesting when you are stuck in the house)

Below are some wildlife from around the farm, roaming among the Christmas decor, and grandbabies toys.

Rusty Blackbirds (Apparently, not very common)

Joe Pye Weed in August

Joe Pye Weed in December 

J

"When your hobbies get in the way of your work - that's OK; but when your hobbies get in the way of themselves... well...”. Mark Twain

Number One - A Dandelion

Well, the premise of The Big Year is to find, identify and photograph as many West Virginia Native Wildflowers as I can  in one year. This includes common, rare and those that have been here for ever and are good as native. I thought the first would be a Dandelion, in January and it is. They were introduced many years ago, some say as a food source for the imported honeybee; which is a nice tie-in to another part of this day. Some say the deeply toothed leaves earned its Old French name of dent-de-lion, tooth of a lion. Find many facts about this interesting, edible, hardy and obnoxious flower here. Reporting a dandelion as the first flower in a wildflower big year would be equivalent to a birder reporting a European Starling as his first bird of the year.

Common Dandelion (I'll be avoiding Latin Names) 

By the way; whats going on this winter? First there was two feet of snow in October, then several ice/snow storms in December and early January like normal. But today, it was sunny and 68 degrees. It's been milder and rainy for a few days so its no wonder the dandelions are trying to bloom and I found Daffodil heads several inches above ground and my honeybees were flying everywhere.

  I suppose this winter is like many past and future winters; mostly normal with a few odd weather days. (A nice day in January when you can get in a nice hike with the grandbabies will eliminate the shack nasties for a few days) But I worry about it throwing off the normal bloom time of wildflowers. Last year was extremely mild and most wildflowers in WV, and around the east coast, bloomed a couple of weeks early, causing me to miss a few. But I am looking forward to spring whenever it gets here; Blood Root, Trout Lilly, Trillium  even those almost microscopic flowers that I can see in the yard, but have never taken the time to properly identify