Notes at midnight (Comments) (Link It) -- Jotted Down on Sep 30, 2004 11:16:16. Comments on the new 'Byways' page First of all - a comment on the cars. We're in the South here, the Country South! This is how we sell used cars here. Okay? Got a problem with this? We like it, it works and everybody's happy! So, no jokes. And take another look. We even have them available in 'his' and 'hers' models, Can't beat that with a stick. And look again. If they get old and can't work, sometimes we just put 'em out to peaceful pasture. And these guys have surely earned it. The next photo is of a Paper Mulberry. Neat trees. People in other countries use the inner bark to make paper on a large scale. It's done in this country, too, on a smaller scale. The Paper Mulberries we see in historical places on the East Coast, such as our Eastern Shore and Williamsburg on the western shore were the European colonists attempt at cutting the Asians out of the silk market. Having their cake and eating it, too, as it were. Little problem, didn't work. Not exactly sure why not. Wrong mulberry? Wrong worm? After all, they had instructions and it did work in Georgia for a while. They have character. They are their own reason for being. Just decided in the next three shots that we needed something old. That's a great old house/mansion. Definitely on the way out, BUT WAIT.... Look at the roof. Brand new and the dormer, too. What's up with that? Took the middle shot just because I thought it made a neat photo. Check out the deer skull on the barn wall. And the family field plot photo...? Gives 'keep the land in the family' a different slant, huh? Personally I'm sort of sorry that custom is not as prevalent as it was. Laws and all. It's one of the customs that helps bind the generations to their land. And that should be a good thing. It's corn time on the Shore. It wasn't easy to find time to do it all when the fields were dry. This has been a wet, uncooperative season. But as soon as they could, the guys headed into the fields and got the job done in fine form. I love the middle picture. He jumped up on the huge machine, cool as could be, slipped on his shades and casually set about the chore of feeding the country. Or, I think, in this case, the country's stock. What will this do to women's fantasies about sweaty farm hands? Mr. Kool just blew it for all you guys out there. Seriously, though, my thanks to both of them. I know I was in their way and they were really patient and just smiled and thought, "..........". Mushrooms! Gotta love 'em. I don't know what that first one's called, BUT DON'T EAT IT!!! Now, the puffballs are a different story. Yummmm! Get them about like in the picture, slice them and sauté them lightly in butter. The last one's my favorite. The marsh on high tide and it was so cool on a hot summer day. The little boat? Not sure. Maybe for frog gigging. Maybe the basis for a little duck blind. Don't know. But, like the trucks at the beginning, it has been put out to a pasture of its own. Ann Devletian Saturday afternoon (Comments) (Link It) -- Jotted Down on Sep 11, 2004 02:14:21. Comments on Cape Charles Cape Charles is a unique little town. It has a one sided business section. Did you say, "huh"? One side is shops and the other normal town 'stuff'. Along what would be the other side of the street in a regular town runs the old (from the 1880s) railyard until that runs right into the water where the old ferry docks were. In the late 1800s, folks would come from the north by rail and go a few feet to hop water transport for exotic places (?Norfolk). And visa versa. Cape Charles is a town that was constructed on purpose - to serve the railroad. It grew up as a mix of big money people and day laborers. The business street now is an interesting mixture of old turn of the century formal edifaces (1900 - 1905, like the bank building with columns) and newer, clever shops, coffee shops and restaurants. In this mix, you will also find stores that have been there for 30 years. In the adjacent residential area you will find the most wonderful old, old homes. Some have been maintained 'forever' by the same families. Some are falling down. And some have been bought and are being lovingly restored to their former glory. For a visit, you will like Cape Charles. It has its magic moments when you can listen to the wind and hear the past. "And now, the other side of the story" Did you know that you can go the length of Cape Charles taking pictures on a Saturday afternoon and see almost no people. Well, I can. That is, there were no people 'til I used up all the space on my camera card and found I'd left my spare at home. I headed back through the town and it was full of people. Ah yes, it had to be something, it wasn't raining! I apologize! I've really dragged my feet on Cape Charles. Just could not make myself finish it. And it isn't finished yet. There are four more pictures I want to take. (Would'a had 'em, too, except for that camera card.) I've given this 'feet dragin' thing a bit of thought and I've realized that I'm just not wild about Cape Charles. It's the cash flow mentality. There will always be people who believe that if enough cash flows out of their pockets, then they can own anything. And that's what's important to them. Lot of folks in Cape Charles just like that. Not everyone there is like that, but enough to give it an uneasy feel. This is surely part of the reason this page has been so difficult to wrap myself around. I've listened to a number of Shore people talking about Cape Charles in the last few years. It always seems to be like, 'That town's lost, jokes like, 'Well, Cape Charles' been sold. I realize that Cape Charles has never been an Eastern Shore town in the true, best sense of the word. It has always been a 'city' type town and not a country town and as such, disassociated from the 'Shore' and 'Shore' people. And while there have been a number of heinous things done by the current crop of 'cash flow dandies' that sadden me, I have to say that it could be worse. They have not torn down very much yet (covered some things up, though) and a number of their 'improvements' have been, well, improvements. I would like to point out, though, the last line of pictures on the page. Click on the two center ones and see the difference in the two shots of the beach. Same spot, ten years apart - notice the errosion. I hope this doesn't spike a 'beach replenishment' project. We all know how those work out for everyone. I think Cape Charles has a 'greed rash' (that's what you get when you, accidentally or on purpose, spill money on politics). And I have decided that much of the feeling of Eastern Shore people about Cape Charles is rooted in the feeling one has for any rash. It's disabling and they don't want it to spread! Ah, more magic moments. Sometimes you can listen to the wind and hear the coins clink (not to mention the balls on the golf course)! Before everybody in Cape Charles gets together and strings me up from their fancy water tower, please know that I believe this also: There are a whole lot of good people in Cape Charles. And some of them are working really hard to make sure the changes there are good ones. One of the things that I surely applaud is all the work and expense and caring that has gone into preserving the old homes and the old architecture. It isn't cheap and it isn't easy or convenient. Those people have gone 'over and above'. We thank you all for that. Ann Devletian