Early October is prime time for spot fishing, and anglers are reeling them in two-at a time in the lower tidal rivers. Spot prefer hard bottoms and deep holes, where anglers are focusing their efforts and finding success with standard two-wire bottom rigs, which prove effective for almost any species. Baiting these rigs with bloodworms, Fishbites, and shrimp is a popular strategy, but with the … [Read more...]
View-Masters
I remember one of the earliest toys I got for Christmas was a View-Master, a gadget that looked much like a pair of binoculars. A View-Master reel held 14 film transparencies in seven pairs, making up the seven stereoscopic images. The components of each pair were viewed simultaneously, one by each eye, thus simulating binocular depth perception. If you held it up to a light, … [Read more...]
Going, Going, Gone
They come and then they go. Some of my backyard birds, that is. Catbirds, for example. They sneak into my feeders around April, build their nests, have their babies, feed up and then leave. Interestingly, I saw a catbird just last week – a late traveler. Perhaps he wanted to see what the rain was going go do and where it would go, but he’s gone now. And the hummingbirds. Typically, my backyard … [Read more...]
Beckley, WV
I was still 4 when we were transferred to Beckley, WV. Daddy worked in an office with two other FBI agents. His territory covered 4 counties and he often was gone for several days at a time, often to the home office in Pittsburg. As I would come to learn, a lot of the work that Special Agents for the FBI did was investigative. If a woman from one of his counties applied for a Federal job in … [Read more...]
Mushroom Farms
I took a walk around our neighborhood after one of our many rains and it looks like a mushroom farm. Every yard that had not mowed in the last 24 hours had mushroom patches. My neighbor on the corner must have had 75 beneath a tall oak. I am no mushroom-ologist, but I think most of the mushrooms I saw were common field mushrooms – and they are edible. Deer love them, by the way. Fall seems … [Read more...]
Sears on West Main
Before Fashion Square Mall, Sears was located on West Main, built in 1957. In my hometown of Lewisburg, WV, we had a Sears Catalog Store, mostly where customers picked up their orders, but this Sears was something else. When Nancy and I married, the only thing I owned was a stereo and she had a single bed. When we moved into our first house on Commonwealth Drive in Berkley, we had to … [Read more...]
The World’s Greatest BBQ
I just ate the best BBQ sandwich I’ve had in my life, and I’ve eaten a lot of BBQ. A North Carolina native, I ate BBQ instead of Pablum when I was a baby. I love Eastern NC BBQ, I love western NC BBQ, South Carlina BBQ and I’ll even eat Virginia BBQ if there’s nothing else. But the sandwich I just fished was the best ever, and it was just an afterthought. I had cooked a Baby Back Rib in my … [Read more...]
Striper Time
The Fall Season for stripers (rockfish) kicks off Saturday October 4 and extends through December 31. The limit is one per person with a minimum size of 19 inches with a maximum size of 24 inches. That means all the big stripers go back to reproduce. It is said that those big ones – the 40 and 50 pounders - lay far more eggs and eggs of a higher quality than the smaller females. Allowing … [Read more...]
Bluebirds: Already Looking
Good job, guys. Yet I saw Mr. Bluebird poking in and out of one of my three houses this week. He’s already looking. I suppose all birds keep an eye out for potential nesting sites, but since bluebirds are most visible, I Frequently see them shopping around for nests throughout the year. One reason, I suppose, is that for the past 30 or 40 years, nesting sites were drying up as invasive sparrows … [Read more...]
Toys of My Life
Slinkies I miss Toys R Us. I enjoyed shopping there for my Grandkids – who are now all grown. They had literally acres of toys on display. When I was a kid, there weren’t many choices. But I, like most Boomer kids, did not lack for great toys. Slinkies, for example. The Slinky was invented in the early1940s by a Naval Engineer, Richard T. James. It was a bit of physics genius as … [Read more...]
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