Friday fold: flying over the Fort Valley with Michael Collier
Renowned geological aerial photographer Michael Collier gives Callan a lift over the Fort Valley and Massanutten Mountain in his two-seater Cessna.
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Springy stuff in my yard this morning
It’s been a busy week. Hardly any free time. Here are a few pictures from my yard, taken this morning. Please accept them in lieu of a real blog post: Eastern cottontail: Mountain laurel: The cicadas are trilling in a mad, constant, siren-like noise. It’s intense, and otherworldly. Talk to you later…
Monday macrobug: Flight of the termites
Termites can fly. But not all termites. Around here, the only flying termites are the reproductives – the fertile males and females that a termites colony produces periodically. It seems to be associated with the advent of spring. I spotted this group a couple of weeks ago, when I noticed the sunlight catching in their … Read more
The latest flood on Passage Creek
We had another flood on Passage Creek on Wednesday, and into Thursday morning. Here are a few photos and GigaPans for those of you who like flood imagery: [gigapan id=”129543″] link [gigapan id=”129490″] link [gigapan id=”129569″] link Making GigaPans of the scene: Some images of the flood itself: Aftermath: http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/129490 http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/129543 http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/129569 10.3 feet was … Read more
Monday macrobug: Twilight of the ladybug infestation
Spring has arrived in the Fort Valley. We went from snow and sub-freezing nights to two 80°F+ days in a row, and then throttled back to normal springtime temperatures. The pulse of heat brought about a big release of ladybugs from our walls, and at times it was as apocalyptic a scene as it was … Read more
Snow day II
There’s something so awesome about a heavy snowfall, so transformative – it really inspires me. I went out skiing this morning, and I’ve never seen our house looking more beautiful. The snow is about 11 inches deep so far: It’s a wet, heavy snow. Temperatures are hovering right around 32°F (0°C), so it’s sticking to … Read more
Snow day!
It’s lovely here in the Fort Valley this morning! Lily went skiing: Lola sat in the window: Yay!
After the flood
After Passage Creek receded following last week’s flood, I went down to the bridge and the floodplain to have a look around. Here’s a little bit of what I saw… Let’s start at the bridge itself. The view is to the west, and Passage Creek flows north: On the other side of the bridge, looking … Read more
Passage Creek in flood
After a night of torrential rain, Callan wakes to find his sole (vehicular) route to the outside world under several feet of flood water.
Monday macrobug: ladybug infestation
October 2012 was a bumper month for macrobugs here at Bentley Farm. But… none more so than the ladybugs: One of the downsides to living way out in the sticks is that we have to deal with a lot of insects. Mostly, I relish this interaction, as the “Monday Macrobug” series attests. But the gnats, … Read more