Since my day was shot anyway I went shopping when I came home. That requires that I go to at least two local stores, each of which carries a different selection of food I can consume and while I was out driving a devilish idea hit me - but some background information is required. Lately I have been receiving various postcards from the state Department of Transportation touting a local drop-in meeting to discuss some major changes to the roads in my once-quiet neighborhood. Well, I am a cranky old dude who doesn't like change, because by golly things have always been this way (in the 8 years I have lived here) and I like it like that!
More background - while out on walkies with my friend who lives down the road she mentioned that she too has been receiving the same post cards and she has concerns about what is going to become of this area. Background.2 - a large chunk of land has been sold and is now being developed into housing - that is a done deal and hundreds, perhaps thousands of new people and cars will be crammed into our tiny town. Her concern is that the route she takes to get downtown will become more hazardous if the current road plan is implemented. So she wants to attend the meeting to insist that a traffic light be installed at the new T intersection.
My concern is that a grade crossing was going to be built not far from my house - by federal law trains have to blow their whistle, which is something between 120-130 decibels, two longs, a short and a long, at every grade crossing. I am deaf, but even I can hear that noise, which I guess is the point.
So coming back from the store downtown I acted upon my devilish idea and took a detour onto a road that is barricaded and that has no trespassing signs, just to get a better idea of the lay of the land. In eight years I had never been on that property even though I can almost see it from my back yard.
Here is what it looks like now:
It took me a minute to realize that what I beheld was the (revolting) development, which due to the way the town is laid out, I never realized was just right over there *points*.
Well, you can't stop progress, but you can document it as it goes:
An artifact.
I drove back across the tracks, well, actually I stopped right on them and took this picture:
That is the Norfolk Southern single track main east/west line in this area. This, of course, raises only one question - which side of the tracks do I live on. Shut up!
My dog walking friend heard my concerns about the grade crossing and she was able to find more information on what the DOT has planned for us - lo and behold they are planning on building an overpass while rerouting the state roads. Hal-a-freakin'-lujah! Not only will that be quieter it could very well be safer and avoid all of the nightmare scenarios that grade crossings on main roads invite. Of course, being a state plan, there are three options which vary in how many tracks they are planning to fly over. But they are currently planning an overpass, so that is very good news. We shall see how committed they are to futuristic train plans, but so long as one track is passed over I am good.
Another part of the plan has to do with where the overpass will land when it comes back down to grade level - currently they are siting it between a couple of businesses in an empty lot so I drove over there and took this picture:
That is a hedgerow between what was once farm fields, but soon it will be mounds of dirt carrying a two lane road. Upon closer inspection I spotted this:
What's that, Sixty? Glad you asked - that is a large burl growing on a cherry tree in the hedgerow of trees. I might have to do some fast talking and see what's what with that prior to the bulldozer pushing it into a burn heap.
I will leave this story now, to be continued, and I have to say, it has been overcast all year. Some sunshine would be nice.
27 comments:
I cut a cherry burl from a fallen tree a decade ago and had it laying around at my place until my brother-in-law took up the lathe. Once he'd gotten pretty good, I gave him the burl at our Christmas party a couple years ago. Two weeks later, voila, a beautiful bowl showed up for me. He made two, kept one, and gave one back. Gorgeous.
I like that story, Calypso - that is the way that is supposed to work.
If there's a large burl your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now.
Woodwork and coconuts.
Rabel - that is an astounding project! For those of you who like coconuts, and I think we know who you are, click on that link then click to see the 53 other images. Dude is one hell of a woodworker and I have to say, I am in awe of what he accomplished there. Impressive as all get out!
Train, Train
A large burl "in" your hedgerow, damnit.
Rabel, I hate it when that happens!
Windbag - that is some awesome pickin' right there. That guitar player has it goin' on.
There are some jaw-dropping youngsters out there in the bluegrass community right now. He's one of the brightest. He has the nerve to say that his dad is his hero and inspiration.
I have let that run on YouTube, and it got to the JamInTheVan portion, and the first comment was "Timothy Thompson 1 year ago
Now I don't know whether to practice or throw my shit into the road, run over it with my car, and set it on fire."
That made me laugh - who hasn't been there, right?
I love the Jam in the Van videos. Amazingly good sound, considering...they're jamming in a van. That comment is so funny. I've lost track of the times I've said/heard something like it when talking about someone's musical talent. I even said that to my nephew today when I sent him a link to check out. A couple of other good channels with great musicians are e-Town and Live From Here.
Great story, photos and comments. That son-of-gun's comin'
I don't get the reference to the Pepsi bottle.
Growing up, I used to look for old glass bottles in abandoned dump sites. I'm talking old sites in non obvious places. Mostly shards but one site --near a creek-- was the site of a long gone bottling works and yielded some whole ones. I gave my collection to the local library years later. I think my dad got me started on that because he used to pull underwater treasures out the local lakes.
FWIW, Pepsi is "The Taste Born in the Carolinas."
My father, too, collected old bottles. He had quite a collection of late 19th century and early 20th century medicine bottles and the like. He even had some much older ones that he bought in antique stores. When he found a site that yielded good old bottles he called it a "Bottle Mine". It was a dump. I remember one of his favorites in Browningsville - people had been throwing out their trash there for decades and there we were, digging through the detritus, looking for a bit of shiny glass. At least were weren't collecting 18th C bottles from their resting places - those were thrown into cesspits.
As I was typing this I just recalled - we vacationed in Sandwich Massachusetts in the early '60s and we went to the site of the old Sandwich Glass Works, which for a long time produced some of the most desirable glassware available in this country. We took some digging implements and dug up chunks of leftover or malformed Sandwich Glass and carried them home with us. We had Sandwich Glass! What a treasure!
But back to the Pepsi bottle - I was walking around the site and saw chunks of masonry, pieces of dimensional lumber, beware of dog signs nailed to trees and other litter from when there were trailers parked there. That Pepsi bottle was one of several I saw, I think it might have been a reproduction of an older, authentic one, and there was an actual old one nearby that I didn't take a picture of. I just thought that one looked spiffy. Colorful. Plus, Pepsi is a local company, unlike Coca Cola, which was started in Atlanta. That's it, just something bright that caught my eye on an overcast day.
Did I mention that the sun has not been out this year? That is getting tedious.
My theory on development is if it gets too bad I can move. It's cheaper than buying farms to keep them farms. And who knows a coffee shop might open on the highway.
I thought people drank Cheerwine in the Carolinas.
Some people might, CL, but I have never had one. Heck, I even prefer Coke over Pepsi, but that's due to spending some hot summers in Mississippi and having a key to the company coke machine.
Interesting points, rh - but at this stage of my life it would take some serious stuff to get me to move. Serious. I can't rule it out, but I certainly am less interested in that kind of activity than I was 8 years ago. Too old and tired now. But the good news is I think the changes to the roads might reduce the traffic on my street. I could be wrong, but in theory the new road will route traffic around my 'hood and away from downtown. Stay tuned.
windbag said...FWIW, Pepsi is "The Taste Born in the Carolinas."
I thought that distinction belonged to Mt. Dew. Early Mt. Dew bottles were a hoot.
I just placed an order for leopard lily seeds. I tried last year to grow them but failed.
I never liked Mountain Dew, first, due (ha!) to the taste, second because I was told that mountain dew was the run off seen on the downhill side of an outhouse built on steep terrain. That was all it took, no more!
Good luck with the leopard lilies, CL, I hope you are able to get them to grow to maturity and avoid predation. For whatever reason mine volunteered a few years ago and keep propagating and spreading, which is okay by me.
I collected their seeds last year and now they, and a big ol' mess of walnuts, are cold stratifying in my refrigerator - I hope they sprout come spring time.
Sixty: The Leopard lily seeds are a challenge. Step one is to moisten them and put them in the fridge in the dark for a few weeks. This apparently simulates winter -- something lacking in Southern California. It probably breaks down the seed pod. The next step is to plant them indoors in little dirt pods like these. These should also be kept in the dark until germination. When they poke out, then it's OK to place in the light. But they are slow growing. I remember that last year around March I had a few seedlings -- a couple miscarried -- which I nurtured to the leaf stage but then made the mistake of transferring them all outside. That's when something ate them. So this year, I'm going to cage them somehow until they're established. I might keep a couple inside. If I have to cage them the whole time, I might think twice, but I'm thinking whatever varmints are eating them might leave an older one alone. We have rabbits, squirrels, and various common birds. But so does everyone else.
For whatever reason mine volunteered a few years ago and keep propagating and spreading, which is okay by me.
You probably have an ideal climate for them. They should work here too, once established. I have a lot of different places to try them varying from full sun to complete shade. Tell me more about the shade conditions you have.
Many years ago when we lived in Sunnyvale, I tried growing catnip for our 2 cats (we nom longer have cats but have a small dog). I think I actually bought small plants from Home Depot. The older cat completely destroyed the first planting by eating and pawing. The second time, I put a chicken wire cage around the catnip but he still stuck his paws in and got the plants.
I collect sea glass for my bride who makes jewelry w/ them. Found my share of old Coke bottle pieces.
I'm late to the table on this one. Wondering what would happen to a tree if a burl was cut off while the tree was still alive and standing? Would the tree adapt as it would the loss of a limb or would that big of a cut on the trunk be a slow to be realized death sentence?
Trees react differently - white and even red oaks can form a callus to essentially scab over a wound or missing limb.
We are in an area where cherry trees just don't do well. For that tree to have a burl that large indicates it is already stressed, so it is just a matter of time until it fails completely. Most of the cherry logs around here have ring and heart shake, which is a bacterial infection that renders the wood suitable only for firewood. Even the burls are not particularly sound - the last one I got was porous, but since the grain is very curly they are still worth working with.
That particular burl completely encircles the trunk of that tree, so the two are pretty much inseparable until the tree is taken down. I, for one, am willing to let it grow, but should there come a time that tree is removed in the name of progress I would certainly volunteer to haul it away. That's just how I roll.
Post a Comment