 moth discovery
just when I thought I had seen all the craziness in nature, I find a moth like this. I was standing in the side yard with the dog on our way to DC for some touristy time, when I saw a bug decked out in orange and black for halloween. I grabbed the epson and captured images of this euonymus leaf notcher (pryeria sinica). it's a skeletonizer (zygaenidae) and originally from eurasia. it was first spotted in north america just a few years ago in fairax, va. they think it arrived at a plant nursery. since this sighting, I have seen 5 more. I've been trying to identify more of the beauties I find on my outings. this one was easy to google because it was so bizarre. I notified the virginia DNR and a scientist who wrote about it when it was first found. no response yet from the DNR, but the scientist got right back to me.
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oh the wv hills
I had a few days off, so I decided to go on a big loop through west virginia. my first stop was harpers ferry. I wanted to see the classic view of the convergence of the rivers from an overlook. I followed the signs to the park, paid my $6 and parked the car. I stopped in the visitors center and looked for signs to an overlook, but found none. I grabbed a map and saw that the lower town wasn't too far away. there's a shuttle back and forth, but no dogs are allowed on the bus. daisy and I walked the 2 miles to the town, took in some of the re-enactment of election day 1860, saw where the potomac and shenandoah meet, the appalachian trail and the c&o canal. neat place. I never did find that overlook though. ... the next stop was dolly sods where I planned to camp for the next two nights. I passed through winchester and saw the white house applesauce factory. the wineries I passed had the biggest bunches of grapes I've ever seen. romney was a nice town too. I stopped at DQ there for a chili dog. I took Forest Road 19 to FR 79, both unpaved, dusty and dotted with giant potholes. I passed lots of cars on my way up the hill. the campground was full, so I found a place 342 feet off the road to set up camp, watching for HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE LIVE BOMBS as I walked. the sunset was beautiful, and I hit the hay at 730. I woke at 530 and headed up to bear rocks to see the sun rise. I thought I was alone with the dog, but then as it got lighter, I was able to see that I was surrounded by photographers with tripods. pretty neat. I hiked the interpretive loop and decided to head to my next stop - spruce knob. ... I stopped at seneca rocks for a picnic lunch. then it was on to spruce knob. the road to the top was recently paved and what a fun road, up and up and up around curve after curve. there's a nice trail around the top, and the leaves were even prettier here than at dolly sods. so after visiting the lowest and highest points in the state, I headed home.
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mom's birthday
had fun celebrating mom, four-wheelin in the woods after an awesome snake encounter, learning to make cabbage rolls and fried pies, meeting squire and having a classic wv hotdog and dodging the feral cats at twin falls state park.
finished
listened to "blindness" (2 stars) and decided there was no need to see the movie. watched "nothing to lose," (3 stars) "the ref," (3 stars) and "the gift" (3 stars) at the farm. spent a day with bruce willis, watching "die hard" (4 stars) and "unbreakable" (3 stars) for the first time. read "another roadside attraction" (2 stars) and listened to "in the woods" (3 stars) and "infected" (3 stars). saw "w." (3 stars) at the theater. read "killing yourself to live" (2 stars), not as good as "sex, drugs and cocoa puffs" (3 stars).
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good eats
enjoyed juice made from farm apples and garden carrots and cucumbers. the pears from the farm were the best I've had since living in georgia. made apple pies for the folks at work. a big hit a la mode.
reading/listening
"riding the iron rooster"
"confederacy of dunces"
"monkey wrench gang"
"rats"
"double cross"
CAPS 2008
the competition has slowed with the changing seasons. now to identify the ones I have...
looking forward
halloween in st. albans, rock climbing at the gym, kayaking, the election, snow and NYC in december.
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