"I think that I shall never see, a picture lovely as a tree," thought Richard Brady this week as he tended his spring garden and continued to ponder the mysterious "mud balls" popping up throughout the woods of Rappahannock County.
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Clark Hollow Ramblings
Clark Hollow Ramblings: The beauty of the spring garden
Clark Hollow Ramblings: Mud balls, and more familiar sights
Last Sunday Richard Brady headed into the mountains to find a few morels to go with the asparagus that is beginning to emerge in his garden. He didn't find any mushrooms, but did happen upon some mysterious mud balls and would love to be told what they are.
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: The end of leadership
About a week ago Richard Brady was reading the big Sunday paper, and in the book section there appeared an article about a spate of new books chronicling the “end” of something -- if someone hasn't penned a book about the end of leadership, then they need to do so.
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: Identity theft, part two
Some of you may remember a piece Richard Brady wrote for this newspaper in 2006, a summary of events that had occurred since early 2001 when his identity was stolen. This article will serve as a reminder to be vigilant where your personal and financial information is concerned.
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: Fighting fire with fire
Let’s just say politicians abolish “assault rifles” and large-capacity clips. Doing that will give them something to crow about; it will have no impact on the problem at hand.
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: A-hunting we will go
I hope you have recovered from the big hurricane. We lost shingles and siding, and had water in the house in several places. I didn’t bother to turn the damage in on my insurance. I was able to fix it myself. I’ll save the insurance for the big one. We only lost power for about 24 hours, so, all...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: Winding (and thumbs) down
The big frost we had here pretty much took the garden out. But, I have to tell you, the day before the frost, my bride picked green beans, lima beans, tomatoes, green peppers and lettuce, and this was well into October. Yes, we have been blessed with a very good garden this year. I finally got my sweet...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: It’s that time of year
I’m not sure what the calendar says, and you can’t pay much attention to the weatherman anymore, but my bones tell me it is fall. Every year it comes around, and every year it amazes me. I guess you could say it doesn’t take much to get me going. There is an urgency in the...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: A normal day
I think my favorite book is “The Forest,” by Stewart Edward White. In that book, the author has a chapter titled something like, “On Lying Awake at Night.” In it, he talks about the night when sleep just will not come. Or the night when, perhaps, you have slept for a short time, and...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: Old wives’ tales, current events
I was talking with Levi Atkins the other day. I told Levi I had thought about his father that day. Years ago, his dad told me, “Don’t let the July rain fall on your onions.” For you non-gardeners he meant you should get your onions out of the ground and in storage before July....
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: Safely home and the straight line windstorm
I hope the derecho didn’t treat you too badly. It pushed my favorite apple tree over and blew off a shingle or two, but otherwise we fared pretty well. With a strong rope and the bucket on my tractor I have the apple tree standing up straight again. So far, the leaves haven’t wilted,...
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Eat local – out of your own garden
I don’t think I’ll be able to look another strawberry in the eye. We have had strawberry shortcake, and strawberry ice cream, and strawberries on our cereal and have made strawberry preserves a couple of times. They are so good right out of the garden. But, this past week, I had something a whole lot better. Linda...
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The report from Flint Hill
I think the odds of us getting another frost that hurts anything are getting pretty low. The frost that killed our peas in the raised beds did more damage than I first thought to our fruit trees. The peach tree that was in full bloom has put out only three little green peaches, and...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: Time to raise taxes, really?
Just for a moment, make an assumption with me. Let’s assume that the last five times that taxes have been raised, it was the correct decision. Now, let’s assume that the next five times the board of supervisors wants to raise your taxes, that is also the right decision. Ultimately, the question becomes, when...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: You just can’t count on nothing
It’s getting really hard to know what you can count on. I have had a vegetable garden almost all my life, and Linda has, as well. We have heard, for as long as we can remember, when it comes to planting, what mom used to call, “your little early stuff,” which was, peas, radishes,...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: Invasion of the Tree from Heaven
When I was a kid growing up in Rappahannock, most folks had a big garden. We had a huge garden. It was way too big when it was time to pull weeds and hoe and chop and pick beans and dig potatoes. But it was a good thing, at least in retrospect. In our...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: I may be old and savage, but . . .
Maybe I should remember the wise words once told to me by my father: “Son, you should not try to teach a pig to sing. It will only frustrate you, and it wastes the pig’s time.”
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: Hunting on Sunday
The question of hunting on Sunday has been around for a long time. I believe it is time to remove the state prohibition against hunting on Sunday.
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: It ain’t so. It just ain’t so.
I have been reading with some interest the issue of lead poisoning in our bald eagle population. First, I can’t tell you how glad I am that the bald eagles have taken up residency here, or returned here, whichever is the case. They are absolutely so majestic I am glad Ben Franklin didn’t get his way...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: We will miss you, old friend
On Thursday night, January 12, 2012, Ronnie Poe, 79, of Amissville, went to be with his Lord and Savior. He was holding court, as he had for well over 40 years, at his weekly bluegrass jam in his garage and workshop behind his house, surrounded by those who loved and admired him.
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: The spring of the blind hog
I am sorry to report that the news from WCORN is not the best. The Wild Critter Observation and Reporting Network reports that, for whatever reason, our friends, the red-shouldered hawks, have abandoned their nest in the big maple tree near the Fodderstack Road. Scientists who study nature will tell you that, sometimes, even...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: Hawks and other neighbors
Down in the front of our yard, there is a little creek that cuts off one corner, and continues on under the Fodderstack Road. Around that creek, and near the fence with our neighbor, Mrs. Lee, there are several large maple trees. Two red-shouldered hawks have decided that those old maples would be a...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: Mr. Clark’s rooster and Momma’s hen
I sometimes feel so fortunate to live here in Rappahannock that I just want to write a piece about how wonderful it really is, and then, I look back over what I have previously written. I find that, more or less, that is what most of my columns are about.
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: Memories of Christmases past
Christmas was special at our house. As the youngest in the family, my family probably did some things to keep it special for me. My dad worked on the roads and, I think, about the first of December, he started looking at cedar trees along the road, so he could bring just the right...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: The world as teacher
My wife and I were treated a week or so ago with the opportunity to babysit for a few hours with our granddaughter. Tana is two and a half now, and it is not always nursery rhymes and giggles and kisses for Meme and Poppa. Yes, even this angelic, adorable bundle of life and...
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Clark Hollow Ramblings: It will make a difference to this one
In May of this year, I wrote an article about an Eastern snapping turtle that visited my wife’s flowerbed, dug a hole and laid a bunch of eggs in it. I had read on the Internet that it takes about 90 days for the eggs to hatch. I have been watching the spot where...
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Gone fishing, and . . .
I wrote an article several years ago about fishing in Canada, and received some nice phone calls from readers with similar experiences. Well, I did it again. A lot of my friends think I’m crazy to drive 850 miles, one way, to catch a fish. But, to me, the experience is much more than...
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REC communiques give readers a jolt
I suppose by now you have seen the fliers and advertisements welcoming you as a new “owner” of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative. Congratulations, all around. Pretty nice ads, don’t you think? Here is some free advice: When someone welcomes you as a new owner of something you didn’t shop for, didn’t want, didn’t buy and...
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Sunday visitor leaves a present
When I was a kid, folks used to visit people. We’d go see neighbors and relatives. It doesn’t seem like people do that much anymore. Maybe they do, and it’s just me.
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Of snipe hunts and timber doodles
Hasn’t this been a gorgeous spring? I don’t think I have ever seen the redbud trees in such splendor as they were a few weeks ago. They are always beautiful, especially alongside the dogwoods, but this year they were particularly full and rich with color. And just the other morning, riding out toward Sperryville...
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One good neighbor, hold the sawdust
I’ve been taking it pretty easy this week. After spending the last month getting my firewood for next year, I turned the wrong way the other day and something got twisted in my back, and that requires me to take it slow for a while. But I still have a lot of blessings to...
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Now is the winter of our discontent
The title of this article comes with apologies to Shakespeare, or whoever wrote all the plays and sonnets we attribute to him. I have another “inconvenient truth” for Al Gore: The polar ice caps are not melting. They have moved to Virginia. The fact is I normally like snow. I have always been a,...
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