As I mentioned last week, my dad was a Special Agent for the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover in the 1950’s and 60’s. Daddy never killed anybody as an agent, but that’s only because he never shot at anybody. If he had, they would be dead. Daddy carried a Smith & Wesson, 38-revolver with a 5-inch barrel. At work, he carried it in a simple leather holster on his right hip. At home, it was on the … [Read more...]
Too Much Rain at Tanyard
Most golf course suffer from a lack of rain in the summer resulting in burned out greens and tee boxes. Tanyard, in Louisa, had the opposite problem – too much rain in a short period of time. About two weeks ago, it rained cats and dogs in Louisa. It rained so much on the golf course that water actually boiled up beneath the greens and dislodged many tender shoots of grass. We had played … [Read more...]
Fall is For Beets
We had such a successful garden this spring that we decided to extend our growing season with a few beets. Nancy scattered some in her patio boxes and they sprouted immediately. We are now in the process of thinning. Beets prefer cool weather to brutally hot summers, yet if you plant too early in the spring, they just sit there and sulk. Some years, I have sewn beet seeds with phenomenal luck … [Read more...]
Blue Collar Sparrows
I went out to the shed last evening – where I usually scatter some seeds– and the birds had all left, except for a small band of house sparrows. They were scratching away, happy to find a few seeds that the other birds ignored. I watched as they filled their little craws with millet and then flew away. I love my sparrows – the Blue Collar birds of my back yard. Sparrows are the Rodney … [Read more...]
The County Seat Restaurant
By Sherman Shifflett Ava and I enjoy eating at new restaurants (plus old restaurants), and we don't mind driving a distance. We travel to Tappahannock two or three times a year to Lowery's Seafood Restaurant. That's a two-hour haul each way. And, once a year, we drive three hours to Palisades Restaurant in the little village of Eggleston, VA (Giles County), west of Blacksburg. On that … [Read more...]
Duck Numbers Down for 2018
There is good news and bad news concerning the duck forecast for 2018. The good news is that the overall numbers are still above the long-term average. The bad news is that they dropped from 2017. Below is a press release from Duck’s Unlimited about their findings. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently released its report on 2018 Trends in Duck Breeding Populations, based on surveys … [Read more...]
Fried Chicken Sandwiches
Nancy had said she wouldn’t be home for dinner that night and for me to fend for myself. Potential meals swirled around in my head and then I decided I would go to Bojangle’s and order a Fried Chicken Sandwich – nice and spicy. All day I thought about that sandwich, then I got a text from my wife saying she had her dates mixed up and would be home for dinner. Damn! I had wanted that sandwich, … [Read more...]
Saltwater Fishing is Peaking
By TH Spangler /Connie Barbour September is just around the corner. And that means peak fishing in Virginia. The offshore waters are filling up with white marlin. The whites school off the Virginia coast until the first good autumn blow, or until a tropical storm stirs the cooler water to the surface, and off they go. But until then, the fishing will be outstanding. On many days, charter … [Read more...]
The FBI Story
Continuing the series on growing up in Lewisburg, WV in the 1950s, a great town and a wonderful time to be young. My dad was an FBI agent out of the Pittsburg office. He had been stationed in Beckley, WV, and then suddenly transferred to Lewisburg, a much smaller community. We wondered why, then later found out that he had been sent there to assist with the underground bunker being … [Read more...]
Fried Halibut
It was Friday, an obvious night to cook fish, so I went to the only grocery store in Charlottesville with a decent selection of seafood – Whole Foods. It’s a bear to get to the store off Hydraulic, find a parking place and squeeze through the crowded aisles, but I did, and then scoured the cases for my fish du jour. I was hoping to see some flounder, but I haven’t seen any fresh flounder in … [Read more...]
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