Happy 12 Day Birthday

See the little guys in the post below? Here's a photo I took today. All fluff and feathers, cuddled up for the night. Don't they grow up in a hurry?

Cope's Gray Treefrog

A big sound for a little frog who clings to the screen door. My office is alive with them calling from the fish pond to others in flower pot saucers on the deck to the door and back again. Another one must be near the bathroom window. The sounds from outside are wonderful! From time to time a Fowler's Toad and some other amphibians join in.

This fellow is a Cope's Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis). Hyla is Greek and means "belonging to the woods." The species name, chrysoscelis, comes from the Greek words chryso which means gold and kelis which means "a spot," referring to the orange-yellowish spotting on the inner thigh. The frog's average length is 1.3 to 2 inches.

On Bike to Work Day ... Be the Change

I'm usually happy to get an e-mail from Sheryl Eisenberg with one of her This Green Life essays. There were a couple of points in Oil Spill Got You Down? that I thought were worth repeating.

The essay started with a roll call of past gloom and doom: In 1968, when I learned about the population bomb in biology class, I was overwhelmed. The planet was heading for disaster and there was nothing I could do to stop it. In the 70s, it was nuclear weapons; in the 80s, the ozone hole. This spring, it's the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Then, uh oh: But these days I know something I didn't know then. There is always something I/you/we can do. What? Make a contribution to National Resources Defense? Send letters to your congressman? Volunteer? Been there, done that. My mantra these days is "Life is long and, in the words of Bill Bryson, the world is really, really big." Some might say "This too shall pass." I guess you might say that I'm done with getting too activist.

But that was not the turn this essay would take. It was rather more personal and I liked that. It was especially nice on "Bike to Work Day." The message: be the change.

In Sheryl's words, " ... we must change our mindset.

We are running on borrowed energy. Oil is just one part of the problem—and oil spills just one of the risks. The trouble is our whole fossil fuel driven way of life. There is not a big enough store of fossil fuels on earth to sustain it, and if there were, it would only make matters worse. Prices would go down and use would go up. The environmental costs of extraction would rise and the climate would be wrecked that much sooner and more completely, perhaps irretrievably so.

We who care need to follow Gandhi's dictum ... Here's how.

Step 1: Drive less ... Americans burn up gas so freely because it hardly seems to cost them anything. The price at the pump is deceptively low and the true price—environmental destruction—is hard to recognize.

But for this brief moment in time, thanks to the oil spill, we can connect the dots. Use the opportunity to change the way—and amount—you drive. Plan your trips. Carpool. Walk. Bike. Give public transportation a chance.

Step 2: Care and repair. Cars and appliances, along with virtually everything else in our consumer culture, are considered more or less disposable nowadays. Since we expect to replace them, we don't keep them in good working order. Thus, they continue to operate, but grow less and less efficient, eating up energy unnecessarily when they run.

So take your car for regular tune-ups, keep the tires inflated, change your air conditioner filters, lubricate the moving parts of motors and do all those other pesky maintenance tasks recommended in the manuals.

Step 3: Get energy-efficient equipment. The difference between conventional products and energy-efficient ones can be quite staggering. For instance, an incandescent bulb uses four times as much energy to produce a given quantity of light as a compact fluorescent bulb—and 10 times as much as an LED. Yes, the energy-efficient alternatives cost more to buy, but they also cost less to operate. Besides, becoming the change you want to see in the world includes paying more for a cleaner, safer future. So, shop for Energy Star appliances and factor fuel economy into your choice of car.

Step 4: Go local—and not just with food. It's simple: goods need to be transported to market. The shorter the distance, the less energy required. Therefore, look for products made close to home.

Step 5: Change your habits. Today's norm is to live wastefully, but you don' t have to go along. To save energy:

• Turn off lights when not in use.
• Wash full loads of dishes and laundry.
• Air dry both.
• Change your clothes before the thermostat.
• Unplug chargers and always-on appliances.
• Reuse and recycle.
• Eat less meat.

Step 6: Buy less stuff. It takes energy to produce goods. Think twice before you throw it away on things you do not need.

Here, here. And I agree with her summation we should not let this moment pass without some step toward change.

Traveling the World in My Own Back Yard

Many of my friends, especially my birding friends, are world travelers. I was fortunate to travel a lot "on the company" during 25 years as a marketing manager. I often saw more of the inside of the hotel than I wanted to, but I always took time to see a bit of the sights and I always read about the history and culture of the place. I took whale-watching tours in San Diego and rushed through the Metropolitan Museum or MOMA on trips to New York City. I took Circle Line tours, saw Broadway shows, or just hit the streets, walking to a scenic spot or cultural attraction listed in the city guides. So I don't have that travel bug that sends many packing for Elder Hostels and cruise lines. In fact, sometimes I'm so happy to sit on my deck and watch the birds, knowing that there is so much in my own back yard that I still long to know, that I don't want to go anywhere else at all.

But my birding friends are always traveling and I think that I should want to travel to Ecuador and Australia too. What's wrong with me? Is it wrong to lack interest in travel? Am I not intellectually curious enough?

While on a bus trip to geology sites in York County, enjoying a bit of local travel, I took the opportunity to sit next to my friend Joanne, who is a world traveler of the sort that, if I did travel, I would want be like. I told her that my husband and I didn't care to travel to exotic places and asked her what she got out of travel and what we were missing.

"You can see in all of that on National Geographic shows," she said in her lovely New Zealand accent. "That's not why we travel." Joanne and her husband have a parent each from England or America and the South Pacific. Alex worked for the State Department. They were born to travel and they have seen the world. They are immersion travelers. They want to hike, camp, talk to indigenous people. "It clears your head and gets you out of your comfort zone. It makes you think about the way other people live and about the world." On our local trip, Joanne is as immersed as when she travels abroad. She takes notes to review later. She's continually learning. I digested a lot of wisdom from Joanne that day. She and her husband know how to travel well. Not well as in fancy hotels, but well as in really knowing where they have been and what they have seen.

I decided that perhaps it's okay that I don't want to take a package tour to Prague or a cruise to Alaska. It's not that I'm so pedestrian that I don't want to go, I just don't have to go. I would find these sorts of trips a lot like traveling on business, rushing about to the scenic spots and cultural markers. I would rather travel like Joanne and Alex, but I am, perhaps, lacking in the knowledge and fearlessness (not to mention the money) that would make living in a hut in Africa truly enjoyable. I'd like to do that sort of thing, I think, but I'm feeling middle aged and less than willing to go for it. Travel is not free and not something we can prioritize.


My traveling for now is to the Shenandoah National Park or to Grafton Ponds or to my back yard. I can immerse myself there. I can learn the anatomy and physiology of the parts and systems that make up the place. I can work hard at taking a photograph using manual settings. I can clear my head by watching that house wren build a nest in my bluebird box. There is so much to know that I don't already know about the places, plants, and animals nearby. I have a strong need to know them well before I need to see Patagonia. Maybe I'll go someday, but I can travel in my own back yard and be refreshed and fulfilled for now.

The National Parks in the western U.S.: I think I'd like to try them first.

Welcome to the World

Bluebird nestlings hatched today in Bluebird Box 12 at New Quarter Park! Take a look at my slideshow, right, to see lots of other photographs of eggs and nestlings in the 13 boxes at New Quarter Park. Members of the Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists, adopted the boxes and are recording nest data for the Institute for Integrative Bird Behavior Studies at the College of William and Mary. The bluebirds will lay up to three clutches per nest this spring and summer.

I'm a Mill Creek Stakeholder & My Creek is Impaired

Last night I attended a Mill Creek stakeholders meeting. That's what they call folks who live, work, and recreate in James City County's Mill Creek Watershed. At the meeting I learned that there is too much fecal coliform and enterococci bacteria in the waterway and the county is therefore required by law (1972 Clean Water Act and 1997 Virginia Water Quality Monitoring, Information and Restoration Act) to write and implement a plan to reduce bacteria levels.

At the meeting, presenters from the county and state reviewed the implementation plan that's been written for Mill Creek and our neighboring Powhatan Creek watersheds, both on the State's impaired waterways list. Mill Creek and Powhatan Creek are mainly within James City County with a small portion in the city of Williamsburg. Both Mill Creek and Powhatan Creek flow into the James River, which discharges into the Chesapeake Bay at Hampton Roads in southeast Virginia.

Here's the description of the impairment situation:

Pollution from both point and nonpoint sources can lead to fecal coliform bacteria contamination of water bodies. Fecal coliform bacteria are found in the intestinal tract of warm-blooded animals. Although most fecal coliform are not pathogenic, their presence in water indicates contamination by fecal material. For contact recreational activities such as swimming, health risks increase with increasing fecal coliform counts. If the fecal coliform concentration in a water body exceeds state water quality standards, the water body is listed for violation of the contact recreational use. Virginia has recently adopted an Escherichia coli (E. coli) water quality standard for freshwater and an enterococci standard for saltwater and transition zones for surface waters. The concentrations of these organisms are considered to be better indicators of health risk than the concentration of the broader fecal coliform group.

Mill Creek (VAT‐G10E‐03) was initially listed as impaired on Virginia’s 2002 303(d) Report on Impaired Waters due to exceedances of Virginia’s water quality standard for fecal coliform. Mill Creek is currently listed as not supporting the Recreation Use on Virginia’s 2006 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report (VADEQ, 2006) due to water quality violations of the enterococci standard.

The sources of bacteria are known, yet the resources and technology needed to break out how much comes from which source are not available and ever changing. Therefore, the plan takes a shotgun approach and includes a lot of programs for reducing bacteria. Things that can be done quickly and easily are being implemented first. Programs include Sanitary Sewer System Improvements, Septic System Programs, Stormwater Quality Programs, Boating Programs, Pet Waste Programs, Aquatic Resources Restoration, Land Use Management Programs, and Wildlife Contribution Controls.

It is hoped that these programs will reduce the levels of bacteria that get into the streams from us and our warm-blooded companions. Sewage is being watched closely and there is not a lot that can be done about wildlife, so pets are a key target. Bacteria in pet poop lives for years after it's left the animal. Yuck. If "Scoop the Poop" campaigns don't work, the plan calls for implementation of a pet waste ordinance. I wonder if my dog-walking neighbors know this? I think not. Well, they've surely seen the Poop Fairy advertisements by now, but my observations lead me to believe that they don't always scoop the poop. They just don't take it seriously enough to act. Would an ordinance get their attention?

My cats passed away in 2005 and 2009, so the little bit I can contribute to reducing bacteria falls under the stormwater and land use management/wildlife categories. I have a rain barrel. Check. My work on the easement, as discussed in previous blog posts, is justified. Bacteria clings to sediment in runoff and eroded soils that travel down our stormwater easement to Mill Creek. By putting a kink in the ditch and digging a pond, I'm encouraging the sediment to drop out here and the water to be filtered by the earth and seep into the ground.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is currently waging a campaign to reauthorize and strengthen the section of the Clean Water Act that specifically deals with the Chesapeake Bay. While their main concern is the nitrogen and phosphorus that feeds the Bay, by implementing our watershed bacteria reduction plan we will be aiding the cause. Once Section 117 of the Clean Water Act is reauthorized, officials will note that Mill Creek, by implementing tactics to reduce bacteria, will also be reducing nitrogen. The sources, such as human, pet, and wildlife poop, are frequently the same and systems that remove them and prevent washing into Mill Creek are also the same.

Spring Cleaning for the Brain

I enjoy adding plants to my yard and getting rid of useless green grass. So, it's no wonder that I loved Ed Begley's contribution to the "12 Things We Should Toss" feature in today's Washington Post Outlook section.

Ed encourages readers to clean their brain of the concept that they must have a grassy green lawn. Here's what Ed had to say:

One of the first things I did when I moved into my current home in Los Angeles in 1988 was to rip out the lawn. I realize that this borders on heresy: If the American Dream were a book, it'd probably have a grassy green lawn on its cover.

I have no problem with garden gnomes or lawn-jockeys, if that's your thing. But lawns are thirsty, and in Southern California we get nearly all of our water by dipping our straw in someone else's drink. Nationally, it's estimated that 50 to 70 percent of residential water use goes toward landscaping, most of it to water lawns.

When I got out my shovel, though, I wasn't just looking to conserve water. A lawn is usually composed of a single species of grass - often one that's not local to the area - and this reduces biodiversity. If you're looking at one yard, this isn't a big deal, but nationwide, an estimated 20 to 30 million acres of land is covered by lawns.

There are other choices. After I finished ripping out the lawn, I put in a drought-tolerant garden composed of a great many native California plants, such as sage. Boy, does it smell good. It also features a shifting array of colors throughout the year. And, unlike a traditional lawn, I don't have to douse it with petroleum-based fertilizers or with pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.

The small amount of water I need to irrigate the drought-tolerant plants, the fruit trees and the vegetable garden that replaced my lawn all comes from rain and recycled graywater. So by simply using water that would have otherwise wound up in the sewer, I have one of the best-looking yards on my block and fresh produce to boot.

This being Mother's Day, I am headed to Gloucester shortly to see Mom. No doubt, while there I will hear from Dad about how wonderfully green his lawn is, how he fertilizes and mows. Dad had a stroke last year and now lives with receptive aphasia, so I bite my tongue and let him talk about the things he can talk about confidently. I've fought this battle with him for years and I'm not going to win.

Unfortunately, he's passed the grass thing on to my nephew, so I guess I'll be taking the war to a new front in the years to come. My husband feels that a small lawn is necessary, especially for families with young children. They need a place to toss a softball or play badminton. In my nephew's case, he has preschoolers, so it's okay for now. I just hope it's in his long term plan to plant more natives and edge habitat.

Strawberries and Nutrition

I’ve always thought that strawberries are good for you, but since I’m eating a fair number of Hidden Brook Farm strawberries this week I wanted to learn more.

I consulted Nutritiondata.com and there I learned that strawberries are a terrific source of Vitamin C! Surprise, Surprise. A serving size, which they list as 1 cup of strawberries, halved, or 152 grams, have 49 calories (4 from fat), and supply 149 percent of your daily need for vitamin C. They are also a source of dietary fiber (12 percent) and rate 28 on the anti-inflammatory factor scale, which means they are mildly anti-inflammatory. Since I have a tendency toward inflammation in some joints, this is a nice thing to see in the positive column.

As a vegetarian, I was interested to read more about the protein quality score on the Nutritiondata.com page. Of course, one needs all of the complementary amino acids that make up protein because they do all of the heavy lifting in your cells. Got to have those building-blocks. A quality score of 100 is what one should look for, according to the site, and strawberries rate a 48. So, the Web authors suggest that the amino acid Tryptophan is needed. I see that complementary foods include meat (nada), and, a little farther down the list, nuts. Milk and grains as is breakfast cereal are still farther down the complementary list, yet none the less complementary. I had strawberries on my breakfast cereal this morning that I also sprinkled with sliced almonds, so check. I’ve gotten my protein for today, Mom.

Strawberries also earned a score of 60 on a scale of 0 to 100 for nutrient balance. Few foods are nutritionally complete, of course, so I’ll accept 60 as a fairly good number. You’ll have to check out their little graphic for yourself since it would take too long for me to explain here. That’s my excuse. Nice graphic. Do check it out.

As I am about to head out to the Great Dismal Swamp Birding and Wildlife Festival I am pleased to see that strawberries are full of water. It’s nice to get a portion of those eight glasses of water a day in food. I’m packing a water bottle too, of course ... and lunch, to include strawberries and oat bars and nuts!

Fresh Strawberry Recipes

Eight quarts of strawberries didn't look like that much yesterday when I was picking them. However, after making preserves and strawberry oat squares ... and preparing another quart to put in the Cuisinart Ice Cream Machine tonight ... I think that we're going to be challenged to eat the rest on our cereal!

My son will be home from college on Saturday, however, so maybe not. He loves strawberries, as I remember from his latency stage. Strawberry pancakes! We'll have them to celebrate his homecoming. Hey! Perhaps we can top our strawberry pancakes with the strawberry preserves. Uh, too much?

The preserves didn't quite set, but I'm not complaining. Let's call it strawberry topping. It was thickish in consistency, although not spreadable. It mixed well with the fried eggs and bacon and we sopped up what was left on our plates with wonderful slices of bread from the Wine and Cheese Shop at Kingsmill. Love their bread.

Most of the recipes I located for no-pectin strawberry preserves were simply a mixture of strawberries, sugar, vinegar, and salt. One that I used called for 2 pounds of strawberries (the conversion is about 3 3/4 cups whole strawberries to a pound), 5 cups of white sugar, 2 tablespoons of vinegar and a pinch of salt. I used lemon juice instead of vinegar. The mixture was combined in a large pot and brought to a rolling boil, and then cooked while stirring for 15 minutes. If you're going to try this at home, the temperature of the mixture should reach 220 degrees. Once done, I ladled the mixture into sterile jars and processed in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. I think that perhaps I was heavy on my quantity of strawberries, which may be the reason for not achieving a spreadable texture.

I found another recipe for strawberry squares, so used some of the preserves in them. The recipe calls for combining 2 cups of oats, 1 3/4 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 cup of softened butter, 1 cup of packed brown sugar, 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 cup nuts (the recipe called for walnuts, but I used sliced almonds) and 1 cup of strawberry preserves. Mix everything but the preserves until well mixed and crumbly. Spread half in a greased 9 by 13 pan. Spread the preserves on top of this layer. Then crumble the other half of the oat mixture on top and pat it in place. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes and viola! Cut the squares before the baked treat is cool so that the squares won't crumble too much and will have nice edges.

I think we'll have the strawberry oat squares with strawberry sorbet tonight for desert!



If a trip to Hidden Brook Farm isn't in the cards for you, be sure to get yourself to the nearest Farmer's Market soon. Hidden Brook Farm is a vendor at the Williamsburg Farmers Market and College Run Farms is bringing strawberries to the market this weekend too.

Strawberries

I've been thinking about strawberries for days now. Ever since my daughter-in-law gave us a variety of fruit spreads she canned last year, I've been anxious to try my hand at it again. When my first husband and I lived in Barhamsville, we had a huge garden and I canned all sorts of good stuff: pickled asparagus, spaghetti sauce, concord grape jelly. Now that it's May and fresh vegetables and berries are starting to appear, I'm ready get down the canning jars and start the water boiling. We've had local asparagus, but are just eating them fresh. My current husband doesn't care for pickled foods. However, he does consume a lot of fruit preserves. So, it's May and that means strawberries.

When I decided that today was the day for strawberry picking (see my last post -- I decided to pick strawberries instead of weeds), a quick Google brought me the happy news that Hidden Brook Farm would be open for picking today at 9 a.m. The farm is located on the western edge of James City County about 12 miles from Williamsburg. Farmer Jim Hill rode up in his golf cart as another customer and I arrived. The other customer lived nearby and just wanted a quart ($2.50). I went for the 4 quart bucket ($10.00). He said he took checks, so I told him I might have to pick a couple of buckets.

While I was picking, 3 more customers came. The strawberry patch was big enough for all of us to grab a row and go to town. The berries were thick, even though he'd had a lot of customers over the weekend and had taken berries to the Farmer's Market. I guiltily ate one berry and brought my first bucket back to his stand. Another couple arrived at the same time with buckets piled to overflowing and Jim joked with them about eating all they wanted. Okay, so greed is expected. I went back with my second bucket and ate to my heart's content. Actually, hot strawberries (temperatures were in the 80s) really aren't that tasty, but I couldn't let them go to waste, could I?

When I checked out, Farmer Jim asked me if I'd like a dozen eggs. They were fresh this morning. I couldn't turn down that offer. He described how fresh eggs don't spread out when you fry them. Hmmm. I think we'll have fresh eggs and toast with fresh strawberry jam for dinner.

I Fought the Saw and the Saw Won

I'm having a little trouble typing with my left hand today. I haven't gotten up the nerve to free it from the wad of gauze and tape that I wrapped around it last night. I didn't want to bloody the sheets.

Yes, I injured myself yesterday. I bumped the blade of a bow saw across my knuckles and the back of my wrist. Yea, ouch is right. Well, ouch is what it looked like, but not how it felt. I felt nothing, of course, because I lost the wiring for sensation in the left side of my body when my head broke through the windshield in a automobile crash about 30 years ago. I don't have many occasions to be thankful for that crash, but this was one time I was happy not to feel the pain.

In any case, this accident with the bow saw will limit the amount of yard work I can do today. Bummer. I was going to spend some time sawing the other half of the woodpecker tree and then digging in the basin in the easement rain garden. The bow saw was nice and sharp too. I was hoping to finish one of the cuts I've started.

You see, I've been sawing away on the other half of the woodpecker tree that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago. It's the limb on the ground in the photo above, beyond the bird feeder. After my men planted the woodpecker tree I couldn't interest them in moving the other half of it to a margin of my property. I asked my husband to saw it into smaller pieces so that I could cart it away, but he reminded me that he was taking blood thinners due to his heart issues, blood clots and such, and the doctor told him to stay away from things like chain saws. After humming and hawing about what to do, I decided to attack it with a bow saw. It would take a while, but sawing would help build the upper body strength I needed to gain for kayaking season. So, I've been gnawing away at it. After a couple of outings, I thought the blade was a bit dull, so I bought a new one.

On my first day out with the shiny new blade I was careless. The old blade was so dull that I had slung in around carelessly on several occasions and a touchdown of blade to skin had only left a scratch. With the new blade, though, the old bow saw is a new force to be reckoned with. I will respect the saw. I will respect the saw.

When I heal. For now I'll resort to pulling weeds and watching birds.

Water Restrictions in James City County

It's about time for me to launch into my annual water waste rant. I was reminded by the latest edition of James City County's e-FYI Update which included a link to a nifty YouTube video with Beth Davis explaining why you need to conserve water. She describes the county regulations concerning water use. It's embedded below, so I'll let her explain.

The James City County restrictions are really quite minimal. See if you can push it. I collect water in an outdoor rain barrel and in the shower and sinks in gallon jugs for watering plants outdoors and in. I have about 10 gallon jugs that rotate from deck to garden to garage to shower to deck. We also have low-flow toilets and high energy washing machine and dishwasher. I hope you'll be conserving water as best you can this summer, too.

I've included a photo of my rain barrel, above. Until yesterday, I left the faucet open so that rain water would seep into my yard slowly rather than adding to the runoff that washes from Oxford Circle into the headwater streams of Mill Creek. Now that my gardens are planted, I'll be siphoning the water into a watering can to sprinkle on tomato plants.

I'm also working on the ditch in the easement between my yard and my neighbors yard. It was a straight shot channel for water drained from Oxford Drive and Druid Court, but I've put a curve in it and dug a basin to capture the water and give it time to percolate down, once more to ease the wash into Mill Creek. I've surrounded the basin with grasses and other native plants like Joe-Pye Weed, Swamp Milkweed, Golden Ragwort, American Beauty Berry, River Oats, and a variety of ferns. I look forward to posting more photos of my rain garden as it matures.



JCC's effort is great, I just wish she'd added, "Buy native plants and limit the amount of grass in your lawn, so that you will naturally reduce the amount of water you need to use on your lawn."

What Makes Historic Property Worth Museumizing?

A friend with an inside track told me this was coming. It's hit the Virginia Gazette now, so the word must be out and about. If you don't care to click away, here's the full text of the May 1 editorial, "Leasing History."

"Negotiations between Colonial Williamsburg and Preservation Virginia over operating Historic Jamestowne pose a new twist on interpreting local history.

"The historical society, formerly known as APVA, has motivation for surrendering control over Jamestown.

"Who’s paying whom? Either Preservation Virginia is hiring Colonial Williamsburg to carry on its work at Jamestown, or the foundation will pay Preservation Virginia for access to the visitors. Bet on the latter, although neither organization is flush with cash these days.

"Colonial Williamsburg — There’s opportunity to expand the reach to hundreds of thousands of people who learned about Jamestown’s role during the 400th. The strategy is to lure them to go tour the Historic Area.

"Colonial Williamsburg will have to resolve an intellectual conflict. When Carter’s Grove was abandoned, one rationalization was that neither the 19th century mansion nor the 17th century Martin’s Hundred site was part of Colonial Williamsburg’s 18th century core mission. So, too, Jamestown.

"What’s different here is that interpreters can point to Williamsburg as the next capital and attempt to tie in other angles around democracy.

"Preservation Virginia — Multiple sources have indicated that Preservation Virginia is financially strapped, and the funding it has poured into Historic Jamestowne has come at the expense of the nearly two dozen sites elsewhere.

"As one person bluntly put it, “the fun is over, the glory is fading and the [statewide] chapters need attention that has for so long been devoted to Jamestown.”

"Interest in Historic Jamestowne has diminished since 2007, with no help from the motion picture “The New World,” which flopped. Only attention to the dig at the purported 1607 well has sustained interest.

"That, too, is fading. Much hype was given to a skeleton believed to be that of Bartholomew Gosnold, but attempts to positively identify the bones have failed. Now a piece of slate with etchings is the next great treasure. How much more can the well or the fort produce? And how much longer will chief archaeologist Bill Kelso keep digging?

"The National Park Service was a logical steward to take over Historic Jamestowne, but the government spent millions on upgrades before 2007 and earlier invested in the 225th of the Siege at Yorktown. It’s doubtful Colonial National Historical Park will get little more than maintenance money from Congress for some time.

"Jamestown Settlement next door made more sense, but competitive factors precluded that. Besides, the place is run by the state, which can hardly close a $4 billion budget gap.

"Colonial Williamsburg can be a fine custodian of Historic Jamestowne. Chief historian Jim Horn has a keen interest in Jamestown, having written two books on pre-18th century history in America.

"Lately Colonial Williamsburg has widened its interpretive scope. 19th century programming has been added as the 150th anniversary of the Civil War approaches next year. It just so happens that Jamestown Island still holds the remains of a Civil War fort.

"It’s a gamble for Colonial Williamsburg to take on Historic Jamestowne, but the right approach can make history more palatable to visitors who are confused by two Jamestowns and two Yorktowns."

In my humble opinion, the Virginia Gazette editorial is right on several points, especially those about Colonial Williamsburg getting access to visitor information (contact information that is, for soliciting donations, and secondarily for luring them to the Historic Area, me thinks), that no one is flush with cash and both museums sorely need it, and that James Horn likes the seventeenth-century. I don't know James Horn personally but people tell me he's hard to get along with and he gets what he wants. All I know is that I find his books hard to read. Not because of the information, but because of the writing style.

As a lover of Carter's Grove, I also agree with the Virginia Gazette's point about Colonial Williamsburg's intellectual conflict. The Carter's Grove land held so much interpretive possibility from stories and exhibits about pre-historic people to the mansion's personification of the colonial revival movement in Virginia. The plantation tells the story of European occupation, tobacco and agriculture, slave trade and local African-American roots. It also tells the story of nineteenth-century agrarian life in rural James City County. Carter's Grove was sold because Colonial Williamsburg really, really needed the money, although the official line was that it strayed from the museum's focus on America's pre-Revolution years.

No, the Carter's Grove story in absolutely the American story, but it's pretty challenging to tell and sometimes painful to hear. Jamestown is a lot simpler to tell, I suppose, but the 400th Anniversary pop-fizzle proves that it's just not THAT interesting.

Too bad there's not enough money to tell both stories and tie them together. It's the story of the American Dream: Englishmen wishing to get in on the European get-rich-quick game of extracting resources and wealth from the newly discovered Americas plant a colony in a swamp but manage to survive anyway. Jamestown settlers give their lives so that a century and a half later, folks like the Burwells can become filthy rich and build Carter's Grove.

I guess no one wants to come to a museum to hear an interpretation about excess and greed. We what to live the American Dream, but we don't want to think about it because ... it's too hard. What do we do with this information once we understand?

Take Your Own Trash to the Dump

I grew up in Gloucester County where we had a clothes line in the back yard . . . that is until my Dad brought home a dryer from a laundromat at Fort Eustis where he worked as an electrician . . . and where one of our Saturday rituals was taking the trash to the dump. While the dryer came into our lives sometime in the late 1960s, my parents still use the dump. For free. You can still take your trash to the dump in Gloucester at no charge.

Here in James City County, where I have lived for thirty years, there are about a half dozen garbage collection companies. My husband is a city boy and thinks that garbage collection by a hauler is "the way things are supposed to work." After years of paying around $80 every other month for this service, I put my foot down. We recycle and we compost. We seldom had more than one kitchen garbage bag of trash in our can. We could take our measly amount of trash to the James City County Collection Center, located about 3 miles from our home, for $4. Actually, it's two big black bags for $4. We have discovered that we take a single bag (just $2 -- they punch one $4 ticket on the first trip, and take the ticket on the second) to the Collection Center about once every 2 to 3 weeks. Big savings.

I thought about this today while hanging my clothes outdoors on the line to dry. Another simple living, so 1960s, savings plan. While listing to the birds and enjoying the 70 degree temperatures and breeze, my solitude was interrupted twice by the roar and back-up alarms of BFI or Suburban Disposal or whoever was picking up the garbage from my neighbors' houses.

It's America and that's freedom, but does it make sense? My neighbors are at work earning money to pay the $60 to $80-some that the various garbage haulers charge, earning money to pay for the lawn service. Yes, that's freedom and this is America, but I guess you can hear me shaking my head by now.

By the way, there is a provocative article on freedom in the current issue of Orion: "The God Unbound" by Jay Griffiths.

More on Williamsburg Wordpecker: Don't Send Your Leaves to the Landfill!

Gulf Oil and My Backyard

I'd just finished reading the Saturday Washington Post. I was contemplating the fate of wildlife on the Louisiana Gulf Coast, while observing the lucky wildlife at the feeder station in my back yard, when I was rudely interrupted by a telephone call. It was Rachel from cardholder services with an important message. Grrr.

At my desk now, where I can still glance to the right and see my birds, I've checked my e-mail (my bird watching friend, Shirley, is also online!) and logged into Blogger to tell you, dear reader, my little big-oil-and-the-way-it-goes story.

When I was director of communications at the National Center for State Courts I was pleasantly engaged in writing the organization's annual report, to be issued in the 30th anniversary year of their founding by Chief Justice Warren Burger ... and the Nixon administration. As a running graphic beneath an essay on the organization's accomplishments, I designed a time line with notes about events of historical importance, especially those events that had found their way into the state courts. An event that I listed was the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

When finished, I circulated the report draft and very soon thereafter the director of development, a rather high-strung lady, marched into my office clutching her copy of the draft. She was shaking all over with a rage she was working hard to contain. As I observed how her blond hair looked like it would momentarily burst into flames said to me, pausing between each word, "Please. Please. Take. This. Out." She closed her eyes and pointed to the Exxon Valdez note.

She didn't much care for me anyway, and this error in judgment scotched it. At the time, I was experiencing an environmental epiphany and was writing my first book, Waterfront Property. Of course I viewed the oil spill as an historical event of consequence! Unfortunately, I "forgot" for a moment that Exxon was a key contributor to the annual fund that "fueled" the National Center for State Courts.

And so, I caved. The Exxon Valdez incident lost its place in the time line of the most significant events of the late twentieth century. Money wins again.

Yes, follow the money.

I think I'll go fill my lawnmower tank with gas and cut the lawn now.