We decided on a day of paddling, the weather wizards mumbled something about possible thunder storms after 1600. So we decided to head out early, and were on the road with both boats loaded on the car by 0830. As we neared Annapolis about 0930 the sky began to leak. Within a couple miles the leaky sky became a downpour. Well, we’d driven most of the way to the launch ramp at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center so I said “What the heck! Let;s see what happens another 10 miles south.”. As we passed through Edgewater, Md. the roads were dry and the sun was shinning.
Once on the water we paddled along the coastline of SERC, not seeing much waterfowl except for a few ducks until we were about to leave the area and go into an area with residential improvements(?), then we spotted a Great Blue Heron and one Osprey sitting high overhead in an old tree. Then we headed along an island that sort of divided the cove we started in from the main body of the West River. Here we encountered a stronger breeze and water that was a little more exciting, but nothing that concerned wither of us. Then out to a smaller island with a small beach, and a few small motorboats. The beach slopes gently so all the small kids from the powerboats were splashing and having a good time.
After consuming our lunch we headed back, retracing our outbound route, short cutting some of the smaller coves we’d explored earlier. We had a slow easy paddle until one of the clouds overhead, the darkest one, started to rumble. We set our course for the most direct way back, allowing for us to be near shore in case we needed to reach land in a hurry. Everything was ok till we were about 500′ from the ramp, then the sky opened up and we got rained on, luckily with no wind or lightening, and by the time we were putting the boats on the car we had to empty about an inch of water out of each.
Just as were about to drive off, two other kayakers were arriving at the ramp throughly rain soaked. We helped them carry their boats up the ramp to a place they could get them onto their trailer – lots easier than trying to get two kayaks on top of an SUV.
We had been watching the sky and expecting a storm, so after lunch we didn’t go on, just not as fast as we should have. We only heard one rumble of thunder and it sounded like it wasn’t close. The moral: Keep a good eye on the sky, plan on being back to ‘home port’ in plenty of time before the weather turns bad. Don’t wait for it bad weather to become nasty weather
Have you ever thought, “Photography is such a Pain in the Neck”?
Is your answer a resounding, “Yes!”
What I am about to suggest isn’t Snake Oil. I’ve used this idea, suggested to me by a local nature photographer, Michael Oberman. It’s worked for me for a couple of years.
The photographer wears this harness much like a back pack, but in front. When adjusted correctly it takes the weight of the camera and lens off the neck strap, and the photographer carries the camera’s weight on his/her shoulders. One downside is that if the harness is adjusted too tight, the camera can’t be lifted very high, limiting overhead shots, or if it is too loose, then the camera hangs from the wearer’s neck.
There are others available, some are elastic, but with a Camera, Dual-battery pack, and 400mm lens I think the elastic would sag.
Disclaimer: I don’t work for Amazon, or Op/Tech, I just like this harness
Mid June is not the best time to head out for a kayak adventure in the Mid-Atlantic and (would you call it) Mid-South-Atlantic states. That’s what I did, and cut it a bit short, the temperatures in the middle 90s was a bit much so I cut the trip a bit shorter than I would have liked, but as you will see I did find a couple of places I’d like to return to soon.
Lake Norman, NC
I loaded the boat on the car, along with clothes for a couple of weeks and headed out early on a Wednesday morning. The navigation system said I would be in Lake Norman, NC by early afternoon. The sun was shining as I left home in Maryland, and turned to a bit of overcast as I headed Southwest. Luck was with me and traffic on I-81 and I-77 was moving along right about the speed limit.
My first goal was to be the first geocacher to find a new cache (The Smaller Blue Kayak) on an island in Lake Norman, NC. It had been published a couple of weeks ago. Normally, around home, a cache is found within a couple of hours after it is listed on Geocaching.Com. Ok, kayak caches do take a bit longer for someone to get around to paddling out to find it. There was another cache on the same island and it took about 10 days before it was found, so I knew I should not waste time.
I pulled into Lake Norman about 3:30, and promptly got lost trying to find a park to launch my boat from. I had looked it up on Google Maps, but hadn’t loaded it into the car’s GPS. It took me about an hour before I finally was ready to get into the boat. And my Garmin 60CSx pointed to the cache, only about 2 miles away. Ha!
Well I can’t paddle overland, so I headed out to the first point. Then I saw I had to navigate around another finger of land. All the time the GPS was telling me, only about 2 miles to go.
From my vantage point, this good looking homes surround the lake, with the only place for any wildlife is on small islands. A few power boats towing water skiers plowed up and down the lake, but stayed far enough away so they didn’t leave me much wake to contend with.
The clouds kept building, but the none of the local weather forecasts mentioned rain. Good! So I kept on following the “needle” until I finally spotted my island about a mile off. So I kept on paddling. Following the GPS I made a landing about 50′ from the cache, sure enough the log was empty, I was First-To-Find!
Now was the time to look for the other cache. Woah, the GPS told me that I had paddled over 4 miles, and that the time was now about 6:30. Sundown was about 8:30 so I didn’t have much time to spare. I also wore in shorts, and Tevas, not the blue-jeans and boots I normally wear when hiking through back country. I didn’t feel that I had time to hike about a quarter of a mile and still be able to paddle back before dark, so I decided to forgo the second cache.
Luckily the wind had picked up a bit, and I had a breeze at my back for the longest part of the return trip, and I had the boat on the car before dark, but before I found dinner the rain came, hard.
I bring my iPhone on these trips, but keep it in a waterproof bag, so using the camera isn’t practical. I don’t want to get it wet, but I here is a video from a bit higher
The next morning I made a stop at US National Whitewater Center for a quick look around and one cache. Then off to lunch where I met up with a local Geocacher, NCGliderpilot, who was admiring my boat.
On to Tybee Island, GA
I continued on south from Lake Norman to Alpharetta, Ga to spend Father’s Day weekend with my son and his family. Then early Monday morning I headed east to Tybee Island, Ga. Once I was there I found Sea Kayak Georgia and asked about a tour the next day. They were full, but put my name on a list for Wednesday. But I found where I could launch from for a paddle to Little Tybee Island, south of Tybee Island, about 6,780 total acres including marsh.
Tuesday morning dawned early and hot, so I loaded up with water and G2 (Gatorade) to keep me hydrated for the day, and headed to the launch point. There I met some kayakers that had spent the night on Little Tybee and were now headed home. Though Little Tybee looks far off the paddle to Little Tybee isn’t long at all. Since this was my first time I didn’t really know where to go once I crossed the river to the island, but easily found an entrance into one of the many passages into the center of the island.
I wanted to Geocache, one of my reasons for being here, so I followed the GPS upstream till I was only about a hundred feet from my first target cache. But I had come at low tide and I would have to climb up a 6′ mud covered bank to get to what really didn’t look like land at all, just marsh grasses. Again I wasn’t dressed for this. As I was exploring one possible landing site I heard a random clicking noise. Upon closer inspection I saw the entire mud bank covered with Fiddler Crabs. I’ve never seen them in this quantity.
Now I started to hear voices here in the marsh, coming from the direction I had come in. Sure enough it was a kayak tour, the one that was sold out. I followed them at a distance up the winding waterway, looping back on itself quite often,
The sun was getting even hotter as noon approached, so I headed back out, without a cache find but after about 2 and a half hours and about 4 miles paddling I was spent, and when I returned to my motel the desk clerk said the temperature was 99F, way too hot to want to go out again.
If you’re headed to breakfast on Tybee Island the Breakfast Club is my recommendation, even though the line was long, the wait was short. It’s small inside, so the wait will be on the street. Once inside, though, the service is quick and the food is excellent. For dinner there are many places with long lines, but I found the Mexi Cali restaurant on the right side of US-80. I’m not an expert on Mexican food, but it fit my needs, tasty without being over the top “hot”.
Follow this video for a story of an extended stay on Little Tybee
Oh, yes! I found 2 caches on Tybee Island, like kayaking, 90F+ isn’t the best weather to cache in.
Headed north toward home with a stop at the Great Dismal Swamp
A short 8-hour drive, I don’t know what a “long 8-hour drive” would be, with a couple stops for Geocaching along the way, brought me to Chesapeake City, NC. After a good night’s sleep I headed a bit further north on US-17 under an overcast sky, with the air still heavy with the smell of smoke. It seems that there were some wildfires in eastern North Carolina with the smell of smoke covering most of this area.
I found the Visitor’s Center, one of the only Visitor Centers that serves both highway (US-17) and a waterway. I’ve been though the Great Dismal Swamp Canal, about 30 years ago by powerboat and looked forward to doing the trip again. This time from the Visitor’s Center I took the short walk to find the closest cache, then headed into Virginia to launch my kayak. This turned out to be the shortest paddle of the trip, only a little over 2 miles, but one I wished would have been longer, but then there is next time.
I started by heading south on the Great Dismal Swamp Canal for about 3/4 mile then turned up the Drummond Lake Feeder Ditch. The water in the canal was almost glassy smooth but it is “Black Water”, about the color of a very strong Tea. And actually is colored by the tree leaves and other vegetation. It is so dark that only the first couple of inches of the paddle are visible when dipped into the water. Though I didn’t see any wildlife, I heard many bird calls and forest noises.
The clouds were lowering as forecast and a cool breeze picked up, so I made myself a promise to return someday and headed back to the boat ramp. As I was landing another kayaker was preparing to launch. We talked for a few minutes, he was from Harrisonburg, Va, about as far across the state as possible, His comment was “This is one of my favorite places to paddle.” He was planning on going all the way to Lake Drummond. He helped me load my boat on the car, and I assisted him with his launching.
Then I made the last leg of the journey home wishing I could have picked a time with a bit more moderate temperatures. Next time!
I won’t try to describe the Great Dismal Swamp but instead let someone more eloquent than I do it.
Within three miles of the lake the scenery becomes exquisitely beautiful; neither grand nor striking, but simply, naturally beautiful; not the loveliness that stirs the senses and awakens wonder, but that which touches the heart, and gradually and silently deepens its spell. The canal loses all semblance of its title, and paddles come into requisition. Reeds, flowers, and the holly line each bank and nearly reach across, while away up in the air the branches of the majestic hemlock, the stately maple, over which vines, creepers, and funereal cypresses trail in graceful festoons, interlace, forming a grand avenue so densely shaded that scarcely a fugitive ray of the sun is able to penetrate. As the boat glides in the stir- less water, the avenue stretches before it straight as an arrow, and loses itself in a dim, indefinable aisle. The water of the canal looks as black as ink, though it is really the color of Madeira wine ; its great peculiarity consisting in its faithful reflections of objects. Every tree, bush, flower, and shrub, even the butterfly that darts above it, and the spider-web that spans the chasm, are mirrored with marvelous distinctness and tint. Indeed, the color and delicate shades of hue are reproduced with such absolute fidelity that the effect is startling. Looking into the water as you glide, you feel as if you were really floating in air, while your own face gazes back into your eyes with a fidelity no mirror can excel in giving.
In traveling through the swamp an exceedingly depressing feeling takes possession of the explorer. The absolute stillness, with not a sound to break the monotony, makes one sad in despite of all reason ; and faces that one has seen never to meet again, and voices that have passed away save as they echo in memory, come back with a reality and a pathos that haunt only the dead, quiet, wakeful hours of night.
At last Lake Drummond opens to the gaze like the slow rising of the curtain disclosing the beauty of the stage; and one thinks if God ever made a fairer sheet of water, it is yet hidden away from mortal’s gaze and ken.
Here it lies in the very centre of the great swamp, pure, undefiled, and fresh as a child’s heart in the mad rush and roar of a city’s life.
Its waters, whether at rest in placid repose, or stirred by winds gentle or rough, always wear their own rich ruby hue that gleams like gold in sunshine. Hidden deep away in the midst of an inaccessible swamp, this lovely lake seems to dream away its life, pure and untainted, from all contact with the world. One can almost believe it was conceived by Jupiter, and made for the chaste Diana to bathe in away from the haunts of men.
From: “Through the Dismal Swamp” By Alexander Hunter in Potter’s American Monthly Volume XVII, No. 115, July 1881.
(last week I was at 1200′ about 10 miles from home )
At about 1200′ I felt a small bump, this is really flying by the seat of one’s pants as the vario didn’t register any up . “This could be the beginning of a thermal” is my first thought. The second thought is “This may not be a thermal and I’ll land here.”
So I make one resolution, One Turn, then see what is happening. I didn’t lose any altitude in that turn, so I go for one more turn. Again I didn’t lose any altitude, in fact this time I gain 50′. That may not sound like much, but I am going up. And I need about 3000′ to get home. I stay with this thermal and after the third turn I have 100′ more. Signs are looking good. I have found a thermal just as it was forming. With each turn I tell myself, “just one more turn” and at the end of that turn I am higher and I began to breathe more easily.
“Working a thermal” like this takes concentration, a pilot has to keep circling as close to the center where the lift is strongest, keep an eye out for other traffic in the air, and stay close enough to a suitable field to land in. This concentration is what also makes soaring, and to a lesser extent, power flying, relaxing. The relaxation does not come immediately while fighting for lift as I was doing, but afterwards when it’s all over and the feeling of satisfaction settles in. I also find the same feeling after a difficult ski run at Aspen or Snowmass.
I don’t remember how many turns I make, but finally the thermal lifts me to over 2500′ and I head back to the west and the Fairfield Gliderport. I still need a bit more altitude to get home, but that will come. Since I am now headed into the wind the trip was slower but I am finding more thermals. I stop off in some to gain more altitude in each one. This leg of the flight was like 2 steps up, and one step down. When I arrive over the field I make one last climb to about 2000′, then descend into the landing pattern, touch down and eat lunch while other club members take their turn in Yankee Lima
Later that day I climb back into Yankee Lima again, this time I towed just beyond College Mountain, headed south and released the tow-rope at about 1500′. From there I head to Frederick, with College Mountain behind me I must make it to Frederick or “land out” in a farmer’s field. It’s late in the day and thermals are beginning to die, but I find a couple and gain a little altitude in two or three of them. When I am about 5 miles from the airport and can see it I know I will be higher than necessary. I arrive over the airport with an extra 500′ of altitude to waste before entering the traffic pattern.
All in all I have a fantastic day, two successful flights.
Those flights were made on October 1, 1972 I launched from Frederick_Municipal_Airport (FDK), towed to what was known as Charnita Airport, but today is the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Center (W73) near Fairfield PA.. The morning’s flight lasted about 4 hours, and the flight back to Frederick was a quick 30 minutes.
In the summer of 1977 the Mid Atlantic Soaring Association (MASA) purchased the Charnita airport, and renamed it to the Mid Atlantic Soaring Center (W73) near Fairfield, Pa. The club now flies at both Frederick and the Fairfield airports.
More information about soaring can be found at Soaring Society of America and from the MASA Mid Atlantic Soaring Association website.
New caches are the way the sport of Geocaching grows and stays Interesting and exciting . Most cachers succumb to the lure of having a cache with their name on it, this is good for all if done correctly.
What to hide
One of the first things to consider is ‘what should I hide’. Many caches live for years, a good cache container needs is weatherproof. ‘ammo can’ is probably the most weatherproof container but they are large and not right for all caches and are no allowed in some parks. For smaller caches some plastic containers are popular and easy to find, one brand used by many is “Lock-n-Lock”. The characteristics that make these popular that they are watertight and relatively low-cost and come in many sizes. Thin lightweight plastics like Glad Ware do not seal tight enough to keep out the weather, especially the freezes of winter, they become quite brittle and do not stand up to lots of handling when cold. I have seen some of them that showed evidence on small rodents chewing on them.
Other popular containers are Peanut Butter Jars, and similar plastic containers. But make sure that they are clean so as not to attract wildlife foraging for food. In addition to that, don not leave anything in a cache that has an aroma that may attract wildlife, no candy, jerky or even hand or suntan lotion.
Where to hide it
The next to consider is ‘where to hide’. Cache difficulty ranges from. Easy to Hard. Easy hides are obvious to cachers but not to the public, known to the caching community as muggles. Hollow tree stumps or fallen trees make great hiding locations, but some of them could be home for animals or nasty insects.
How to hide
Closely allied with What is ‘Where To Hide’ is How to hide. Keeping with the idea of keeping the cache out of sight, hiding a cache in a natural or semi-natural occurring piece of camouflage is ideal. Keep in mind that in urban and suburban settings Landscapers will be raking or blowing leaves and pruning bushes a couple of times a year. In settings like this under stone cairns sometimes work but it should be something the Landscapers would leave untouched.
How to list it
Now that it is hidden, and if you have a willing experienced ‘Beta Tester’ that will find it, and give you feedback, can you send it to the reviewer. This tester should not log a find until it is published and other cachers have made a FTF and even 2ndTF. For your next hide use a different tester so the first one has a chance for a FTF. Be sure that tester finds the cache at the coördinates you think you placed it at. I find that the best way to do that is to fill out the cache listing form, being sure that the ‘Yes, this listing is active’ is NOT checked. Then print out the cache information and use that to find the new cache. Make sure that the cache placement on Google Maps (Satellite View) looks right. On a couple of my early hides I forgot this step and found that I had transposed digits when I moved them from my GPS to the computer and one cache was about 60 miles away. Another time I was looking for an FTF on a very cold and rainy day, The Cache Owners emailed me later to say that his listing was over 6,000′ in error – the same kind of mistake.
Ok now that it you have placed and tested, and not before can the listing be submitted for approval. This is important, is MUST hidden before it is approved! Remember that FTF finds are what some cachers live for and that one (or more) could be within 5-minutes of your cache and eager for a find no matter what time of day or night or the weather.
What to do next
Now is the time to go back online and check the “This Cache is Active” box, this submits the listing to the reviewer. Sit back and wait. If he/she hs any questions or concerns you will get email, If this happens, fix it and submit it again. Otherwise just wait for Found logs to come pouring in. They can be almost immediately, or if you have a particularly challenging cache it may take a few days for the first find. I have been FTF on two caches that were over 2 weeks old. They were not especially difficult, just a challenge to get to, over 3 mile kayak paddle.
I give the thumbs up, my wing man levels my wings and the rope tightens as the tow-plane takes up slack. After a second thumbs up the Super-Cub ahead of me revs it’s engine, and connected by a 200 foot rope we both start accelerating down the runway. As my speed climbs to about 40 mph I ease back on the stick, break free of the ground, then after climbing to about 10’ I settle back to about 5’ off the grass. When the tow plane and I reach 60 mph it too climbs briefly, then settles back a few feet to gain more airspeed. Then we both pull nose-up and start to climb into a cloudless sky.
I am the only pilot in a Schleicher Ka8b sailplane known to our club by the call sign Yankee Lima. I’m the only one in it on this solo flight, it only has one seat. The 54’ wings are much the same as a model airplane, wood sticks but with a fabric covering, not unlike Dacron.
Carefully I stay in place behind the tow-plane, keeping it aligned with the horizon as we bank to the left, then circle once to an altitude of about 1000’. It’s still early, about 9:30 and the sun hasn’t started heating the ground yet, no thermal activity has started yet, this part of the flight will be smooth and easy.
Turning our backs on Frederick, Md we head north to Fairfield, Pa about 30 miles away, this leg of the flight should take about half an hour. The route means that we will be keeping the Catoctin Mountain to our left and US-Route 15 under us all the way. As the altitude creeps up to about 1500’ we pass Walkersville on the right, then about 20 minutes later we pass over Thurmont and can begin to see Mount Saint Mary’s College and the town of Emmittsburg ahead. Here an eastern spur of the Catoctin Mountain, known locally as College Mountain serve as a marker for us to make a course adjustment a bit more to the left. We are now about 2500’ above the ground and I see the Fairfield Gliderport about 4 miles ahead and know it’s time for me to do all the flying.
I pull the tow release, hear the reassuring bang as the rope releases, then pull up and start a climbing right turn to stay clear of the free end of the tow-rope. I spot the tow-plane making his descending left turn, as sign that the pilot knows I am now ‘off tow’.
“Fairfield Ground, Yankee Lima is about 3 miles out.” I make the first radio call to let the ground crew know that I am in the area.
From my altitude of 2500’ I know I have about 15 minutes to either find a some rising air, or be in the pattern and land. So I take advantage of the time I have. By now the sun has started to warm the ground, which then warms the air just above it. Warm air rises through cool air producing what sailplane pilots, and soaring birds need to stay aloft – thermals. I begin to feel small bumps that tell me that it won’t be long before good strong thermals will be forming. For the next 10 minutes or so I explore the country side, I had driven to this airport once before, but till now I have not flown into or out of it. When I have lost a little altitude and am down to about 1500’ I feel a strong bump and start turning into it. Soon I am watching the vario (very sensitive rate of climb) pointing up, and the altimeter is beginning to creep up. Finding lift in a sailplane takes some instrumentation, and ‘Flying By The Seat Of Ones Pants’, feeling the small bumps in the air currents.
“Fairfield Ground, Yankee Lima will continue flying for a while, I have lift.”
“Roger that. have a good flight”
As warm air rises it cools and when it cools sufficiently the moisture in the air condenses to form a cloud. During the warmer months you can see small ‘fair weather’ cumulus clouds most afternoons. It is only when the weather conditions are just right that these cumulus clouds develop into Towering Cumulus and form thunderstorms. Today was not one of those days. With a bit of science, mixed with luck and magic, weather forecasters can predict what any day’s weather will be like, sometimes they are right. And today the forecast was for great soaring weather and no possibility of rain.
When this rising column of air nears the altitude where it cools enough to condense into a cloud the humidity goes up and the temperature drops. I was back at an altitude of about 2500’ when I started to see the first traces of a cloud forming about above me. I guessed it was about 1200’ higher, and the fresh air coming in the vent started was noticeably cooler, almost downright chilly.
I continued to circle until I was about 1000’ below the cloud, and thought, it’s now time to get out from under this cloud. I leveled the wings, headed west out from under the cloud. There as not much wind that day, but what there was, from the west needed to get over the thermal and cloud. As I flew right into that rising air current it gently lifted me up beside the growing cumulus cloud. Very few people get to see clouds this close up. This day I was privileged to see clouds from the bottom, and from on top, but seeing the cloud just a few hundred feet off my wingtip was one of the rare sights I will never forget. As the words to the old song goes “I’ve clouds from both sides now,” Make that from all sides.
Once above the cloud I continued to climb, this time in air that was lots dryer than the air below the cloud, Finally the rising air chilled to the same temperature as the surrounding air and there was no upward force left. I had reached the top of the thermal at about 4500′.
Where to go was the next question. I didn’t want to fly over the mountains to the west, so I headed east in a flat glide. And listened to other pilots reporting that Cloud-Base was 3000′ and they could go no higher. In a while I realized I had not flown through any thermals in a while and that I was about 1600′ above the ground and 10 miles from the airport, I had two things I needed to do, either find lift, or find a suitable landing spot. Finding the landing spot was the highest priority, so I picked a field, close to a road and a short walk to a farm-house where I could make a phone call to get someone to retrieve me and the plane. Ok, that done I still have 1000′ of altitude before I needed to commit to a landing. That meant I had about 5 minutes. I could have just circled over the field but the likelihood of a thermal forming right where there was unlikely, so I started a wide circle, keeping my airport in the middle.
At about 1200′ I felt a small bump, this is really flying by the seat of one’s pants as the vario didn’t register any up . “This could be the beginning of a thermal” is my first thought. The second thought is “This may not be a thermal and I’ll land here.”
The temperature today was about -20F, that is about 20F cooler than the past couple days with a clear sky. So I decided to kayak on T Howard Duckett Watershed, also known as Rocky Gorge separating Montgomery and Howard Counties in Maryland. Today I started at the Brown Bridge Road crossing and paddled downstream for a couple of miles and back. The day was beautiful with a breeze that varied from dead calm to a good stiff breeze, winds like this are probably generated by thermal activity but the air was dry resulting in “Blue Thermals”, no small cumulus clouds anywhere.
Three Great Blue Herons flew along the shore staying well away. And a couple large turtles basked on logs along the shore. Then I came across a Luna Moth floating on the water, looking like it wanted to become air-born again, so I slid my paddle under it, and let it rest on my boat to dry itself. About 5 minutes later it had dried enough to climb to a high spot on the deck, flap it’s wings and fly away. But it didn’t get far, it climbed to about 15′ then dived into the water again, floated for a couple of seconds, then dived under the surface. By the time I got to the ‘crash site’ it’s wings had broken into small fragments and it was struggling to stay underwater. According to Wikipedia“
Adult
Actias luna in Florida.
Adults eclose, or emerge from their cocoons in the morning. Their wings are very small when they first emerge and they must enlarge them by pumping bodily fluids through them. During this time, their wings will be soft and they must climb somewhere safe to wait for their wings to harden before they can fly away. This process takes about 2 hours to complete. The Luna Moth has a wingspan of 8–11.5 cm (3.1–4.5 in)[3] with long, tapering hindwings, which have eyespots on them in order to confuse potential predators. Although rarely seen due to their very brief (1 week) adult lives, Luna Moths are considered common. As with all Saturniidae, the adults do not eat or have mouths.[3] They emerge as adults solely to mate, and as such, only live approximately one week. They are more commonly seen at night.
I’ve only seen about half a dozen Luna Moths before, with a life of only about a week they are a rare sighting. If you have the privilege of seeing one of these beauties of nature, stop and admire it for it won’t be around much longer.
Looking at the map you will see wide water to the north of the launch ramp, during droughts that is just a mudflat. I’ve seen times when grasses grow waist high there. Thankfully spring rains have filled this and the upstream Tridelphia Lake.
I am always on the lookout for recipe ideas to spice up an otherwise dull dish, or a way to cook a dish that isn’t normally served, especially a way to cook a dish that most people would turn down and surprise the naysayers. To that end I have two favorite podcasts and blogs; My Life as a Foodie and Sean Paxton’s Home Brewed Chef
On the latest Home Brewed Chef episode Sean Paxton dwelt mainly on local food available a your farmer’s market, early in the show he was answering some question and presented an idea for Brussels Sprouts “a cultivar group of wild cabbage cultivated for its small, leafy green buds, which are typically 2.5–4 cm (0.98–1.6 in) in diameter” (wikipedia.com). This recipe involves a bit more work than the normal “cut in half” but I think the extra work is well worth the work.
Again my recipe is rather vague, more of an idea of how to prepare than a strict formula. The guide here will serve 2, adjust as needed. You will need about a dozen small Brussels Sprouts, the smaller the better. Large ones get a bit tough and have a harsh flavor, I select sprouts less than and inch in diameter, some grocery stores have some well over that size. You will also need a Scallion, some Olive Oil, Bacon drippings, or Goose Fat. A good beer, preferably a malty brew. And some good prepared mustard.
Begin by trimming the outer leafs from the sprouts, revealing the light tender inner leaves. Then slice them into thin pieces – think about making Cole Slaw with a cabbage but on a smaller scale. Also remove the skin from the scallions and slice them. Have the mustard and beer handy before you start the next steps, thinks happen fairly rapidly from here in, total cooking time us 3-4 minutes.
Heat a bit of Olive Oil, I’m guessing I use about 2 teaspoons of the oil. It’s not much. Heat this in a ‘non-stick’ frying pan over a medium heat (6 on my stove), when the oil is hot, add the chopped sprouts and scallions. Stir occasionally while sautéing this for about 3 minutes, don’t let anything burn. When this all looks done – ok, turning a dark green, add just a bit of mustard. I would probably use some Pommery-Mustard if I had it, but a spicy brown mustard work great. A “yellow mud” probably would not work,. Be sparing with the mustard, the last time I made this I only used about half a teaspoon for 12 sprouts (2 servings). The target is to have a hint of mustard taste, with sprouts, not sprout flavored mustard.
Stir this for a few seconds – enough the warm the mustard to the temperature of the sprouts. Now add a splash of the selected beer – probably about 1 Tablespoon, Again the result is not to have sprout flavored beer, it’s mainly used as a flavored liquid to keep the dish from becoming too dry.
Serve hot and enjoy. Don’t tell your guests ahead of time what it is, see if they can tell they are eating eating Brussels Sprouts. I’ll wager they will want the recipe.
A year ago I went to Annapolis to kayak on the Severn River for a couple hours, to my surprise it was the day that the Blue Angels perform for the US Naval Academy graduation. I was late to see the entire show, but then decided not make the same mistake again in the future. I had the boat loaded Tuesday evening and since the show was scheduled for noon I had time to have coffee with ‘the group’. Thank goodness I did. A couple of my buddies told me that the newspapers (dead tree publications) had the news that the Blue Angles would not be flying because of some safety concerns. I am (was) a pilot so I fully understand the ‘better safe than sorry’ philosophy.
So I headed past Annapolis and ended up in Galesville, Md, on the West River and a slow easy paddle, 6 miles up every cove on the Shady Side side of the river. Just about every Osprey nest was occupied, Great Blue and Green Herons on shore. The wind was very light, just “cat’s paws” disturbed that water. Even with SPF50 and my Tilly hat I still got a bit of a sunburn, this was a great day!
Go ahead and tell me you never heard of Goetta. From what I’ve read it does seem like a regional delicacy, found mainly in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. But it has been in my family ever since I can remember. Though some of my siblings don’t appreciate it as I do. Where did I come across it? Well, my Grand Mom and Grand Dad on my mother’s side had some Germanic background, though I don’t know exactly, my Grand Dad once mentioned Alsace-Lorraine was in his background. When I first knew them they were in Chicago, but there was some relatives in Cincinnati (hint: write down as much of your family’s history as early as you can. It’s hard to reconstruct when there is no one left to fill in the blanks.)
But back to Goetta. You have probably heard of Scrapple and at one time or other eaten it with breakfast. Now these two have some similarities, and one big difference. First the difference; Scrapple uses Corn Meal while Goetta uses Oatmeal for a binder/filling. The similarity is that they both use Pork. The first recipe called for scrap “trash” pieces of pork, but mom and Grandma never did that. I watched mom making Goetta many times in my younger years. She always used a good piece of Pork and trimmed most of the fat and gristle from it – no “trash” pieces. I’ll get to the recipe soon.
To server it with breakfast, she’d put some “non-stick” in a Skillet, almost always a Cast Iron one. She’d melt a pat of Butter then form a bit of Scrapple into a patty, about the size of a hamburger. After one side had browned, she’d turn it over. When both sides sere browned she’d usually fry or scramble eggs. This was a special breakfast, one I looked forward to. Now I just use a non-stick frying pan with a light spray of olive Oil or Butter.
Ok, now how does one make Scrapple? My recipe is a bit vague, I build it by feel so try it, I’ll give links to other recipes a bit further down. Every time it’s good, and always a bit different.
Take some good pork – you can make a trial run with one or two pork chops to start with. Trim off most of the fat. After cutting into smaller pieces combine them with some chopped onion, a Bay Leaf, a couple of Peppercorns and a bit of Poultry Seasoning or Thyme, and enough water to cover into a pan, cover and simmer. When the meat is fully cooked, remove it from the water, take out the Bay Leaf, and Pepper Corns, let this cool, but keep the water.
When the meat is cool enough to work with, chop into small pieces, shred by hand or use a Meat Grinder – I have one of the old Cast Iron ones that clamp to a table.
After preparing the meat, make some OatMeal – Quaker Oats will work in a pinch, but the best to use is Steel Cut Oats. Use the water that you cooked the meat in, Make about the same amount of OatMeal as you have Meat. You should have fairly thick mixture. When the OatMeal has cooked, add the meat, stir well and pour into a loaf pan to cool in the ‘frig.
The next morning form a patty about the size of a hamburger, and fry as I described above. Have a Great Breakfast. Next time, adjust seasonings to your preference, and let me know how you doctor up your recipe.
I give the thumbs up, my wing man levels my wings and the rope tightens as the tow-plane takes up slack. After a second thumbs up the Super-Cub ahead of me revs it’s engine, and connected by a 200 foot rope we both start accelerating down the runway. As my speed climbs to about 40 mph I ease back on the stick, break free of the ground, then after climbing to about 10’ I settle back to about 5’ off the grass. When the tow plane and I reach 60 mph it too climbs briefly, then settles back a few feet to gain more airspeed. Then we both pull nose-up and start to climb into a cloudless sky.
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