Irene Approaches
I spoke with my brother again this morning and he says they have Mom’s house buttoned down to ride out Hurricane Irene.
There is one positive aspect of this storm.The torrential rains will aid firefighters who have been battling the Great Dismal Swamp wildfire which was started by a lighting strike two weeks ago. So far it has burned over 5,500 acres. Smoke from the fire has triggered air quality alerts 200 miles away!
Hurricane Warning
Flood Watch
Hazardous Weather Outlook
This Afternoon: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86. East wind around 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: Tropical storm conditions expected, with hurricane conditions possible. Scattered rain and thunderstorms, then rain likely and possibly a thunderstorm after midnight. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Cloudy, with a low around 76. East wind 11 to 16 mph increasing to between 29 and 39 mph. Winds could gust as high as 46 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
Saturday: Tropical storm conditions expected, with hurricane conditions possible. Rain and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 80. East wind 45 to 55 mph, with gusts as high as 65 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts in excess of 4 inches possible.
Saturday Night: Hurricane conditions expected. Rain and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Low around 73. North wind 60 to 80 mph decreasing to between 45 and 55 mph. Winds could gust as high as 95 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts in excess of 4 inches possible.
Sunday: Isolated showers before noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Windy, with a west wind between 24 and 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
The latest updates have Irene moving across the Hampton Roads (Tidewater to locals), Virginia area tomorrow afternoon as either a weak category 2 or strong category 1 hurricane.
Saffir/Simpson Hurricane Scale
|
CAT |
Winds & Effects |
Surge |
|
1 |
74-95 mph |
4-5 ft. |
|
|
No real damage to building structures. Damage primarily to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, and trees. Also, some coastal flooding and minor pier damage. |
|
|
2 |
96-110 mph |
6-8 ft. |
|
|
Some roofing material, door, and window damage. Considerable damage to vegetation, mobile homes, etc. Flooding damages piers and small craft in unprotected moorings may break their moorings. |
|
|
3 |
111-130 mph |
9-12 ft. |
|
|
Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings, with a minor amount of curtain wall failures. Mobile homes are destroyed. Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by floating debris. Terrain may be flooded well inland. |
|
|
4 |
131-155 mph |
13-18 ft. |
|
|
More extensive curtain wall failures with some complete roof structure failure on small residences. Major erosion of beach areas. Terrain may be flooded well inland. |
|
|
5 |
155 mph+ |
18 ft. + |
|
|
Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. Flooding causes major damage to lower floors of all structures near the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas may be required. |
|
Mom lives just east of Norfolk, in the extreme threat area on the map above.
In addition to sustained hurricane force winds the area is predicted to get 8+ inches of rain with a 4 to 8 foot storm and unusually high lunar tides. I may need to borrow Fish Hook’s boat as well as his utility trailer if I get a call to bring in supplies to repair storm damage.
Now all we can do is wait and pray.
We interrupt this program……
…..for a few words from Mother Nature.
I have more photos to post from the Civil War re-enactment in Saltville this past weekend but they’ll have to go on the back burner for a short while. Mother Nature has decided to remind us that she’s in charge and I have some preparations to make.
First my youngest brother called Tuesday afternoon worried that Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story was under attack because he heard 4 loud booms which shook the house, rattled dishes in the cabinets and set all of the interior doors swinging back and forth. While we didn’t get so much as a jiggle up here in the Blue Ridge Mountains I was online when he called and, just as he was describing what had happened, a news alert about the East Coast earthquake popped up in my inbox. The epicenter was about 150 miles northwest of where he lives and, while they received no damage, it did give folks in that area a scare.
Now I’m following the weather updates as Hurricane Irene bears down on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Mom lives in Virginia Beach, about 100 miles due north of the Outer Banks (just east of Norfolk on the map below) and tropical storm warnings for her area are already up. The weather guessers are currently forecasting that the storm will strike the Outer Banks as a category 3 storm, track north across Currituck Sound and head back out into the Atlantic Ocean after crossing Virginia Beach as a category 2 hurricane late Saturday.
The governors of Virginia and North Carolina have already declared states of emergency and mandatory evacuation of the Outer Banks were have been ordered. The US Navy and Air Force are taking this storm seriously enough that all ships in Norfolk have been ordered out to sea and aircraft from Joint Base Langley-Eustis and Naval Station Norfolk and Naval Air Station Oceana are being dispersed to air bases inland.
Mom has lived in her Virginia Beach home for 50 years and has ridden out many a tropical storm, hurricane and winter nor’easter there. As a result she refuses to leave no matter what emergency officials advise and I’m sure she’ll do the same this time.
There is an upside to the hurricane bearing down on the East Coast. The heavy rainfall it brings with it will be a huge help in getting the wildfire that has been burning in the Great Dismal Swamp for the past couple of weeks under control. Mom’s area has been under code orange, red and purple air quality alerts recently because of heavy smoke from the estimated 5,500 acres of peat bog which is smoldering on the Virginia/ North Carolina border.
My younger brothers and a sister still live in Virginia Beach but about the only thing I can count on from them is a call for help once the storm hits……if the land lines or cell towers are still in place. That sounds harsh, I know, but the three of them together have all the common sense God gave a rock and that’s being extremely generous.
This scenario puts me in an odd position. After living in Virginia Beach most of my life I became accustomed to keeping emergency gear ready to load in the car in case we had to evacuate ahead of a hurricane. While Mom was always ready to ride one out Frankie, Laura and I were always ready to “git while the gittin; was good”. Now, living 325 miles west of Virginia Beach and safe from the storm, I’m preparing to do the opposite; load the emergency gear into the truck and head for Virginia Beach once the storm passes! This is where owning a 3.5 ton, 4 wheel drive, gas guzzling monster SUV becomes a blessing.
Now to remove the winter gear from the two 32 gallon totes in the shed and replace it with items more suitable for warm weather, especially extra tarps in case Mom has any roof damage. When Frankie gets home from work I’ll get the young man next door to help load the totes into the truck and then it’s just a matter of waiting for the storm to hit.
Actually, this arrangement may work to our advantage. In the aftermath of a major storm supplies, especially building materials and emergency generators, are hard to come by because home improvement and building supply stores are quickly stripped bare as hundreds of thousands of people try to repair storm damage. There is a Lowe’s Home Improvement store 2 miles from our house and I have to drive right past it to reach the on ramp for Interstate 81. My brother in law lives just down the street from us and I’m sure he’d lend me his utility trailer. Between the trailer and the luggage rack on the roof of the truck I can probably haul enough building materials to repair any damage Mom might sustain.
In case you’re wondering, if I have to head east with a load of gear I have no intention of loading or unloading anything heavy. The last thing I need to do is aggravate my already wrecked back and legs and become another person needing medical attention in a disaster zone. Lowe’s has a crew of men available to load purchases free of charge. Frankie and I have used these guys several times over the years. Once I get to Mom’s my brothers, while not over burdened with common sense, are both large and healthy. Then there are Mom’s neighbors, 2 or whom are Navy SEALs and the man right next door is a building contractor. I think we’ll have the heavy lifting covered.
Well, this isn’t getting the totes packed so I guess I had better get to it. I’ll keep y’all posted and if I do have to go you know I’ll have pictures to post when I get back. I take my cameras everywhere!
Period Clothing
More images from yesterday’s re-enactment of the American Civil War Battle of Saltville.
These history buffs and enthusiasts often travel across the country to participate in encampments and battle re-enactments. Often they don’t know what parts they will play until they arrive on site. It all depends on how many people show up. Nearly all items of clothing are hand made and personally owned. My wife, Frankie, not only participated in re-enactments, she also sewed costumes for herself and other participants. Most re-enactors own both Confederate and Union uniforms. These are just a few of the participants at this weekend’s event.
Smithy working iron.
Loading a cap and ball pistol.
Confederate Calvary
Confederate Calvary with families
Southern belles in hoop skirts
Union infantryman
Union officer drilling troops
Union commanding general
Confederate drummer boy wearing “captured” Union kepi. All that would be needed to play the part of a Union drummer would be a uniform jacket and turning the canteen which reads CSA (Confederate States of America) on one side while the Union “US” logo is stamped on the other.
Nurses behind the Union skirmish line, waiting to bring water to the troops and aid the wounded…..
….. and their Confederate counterparts. Often these “Angels of Mercy” tended to the fallen from both sides as the battle lines shifted leaving the wounded intermingled and scattered across the battle field.
There are times when more than enough “nurses and belles” show up at an encampment. If you look closely at this image you’ll see that the third soldier from the right and the fourth from the left in white shirt with the yellow cavalry band on the kepi are actually women. When my wife was doing Civil War re-enactments in college she always loved the opportunity to change into a uniform, pick up a rifle and “fight”.
For more on the equipment used during this event check out today’s post on my other page Virginia Through My Lens.
Battle of Saltville
Today we took a little road trip to Saltville, Virginia to see a re-enactment of the American Civil War battle fought there in 1864. On October 2, 1864 a raid by a Union Calvary column was repulsed by a patched together unit of Confederate reserves and citizens.
Frankie was a Civil War re-enactor when she was in college so this was the perfect way to spend her day off. We loaded the truck with camp chairs, cooler, cameras and the small red horse (our Fox Red lab, Buddy), picked up Frankie’s sister and her husband and we were off.
The battery in Frankie’s little point and shoot died just as the battle got under way but that was not a problem because I had both of my DSLRs with me. She slid her camera into a pocket, took over one of my cameras and continued snapping away.
I’ll let the pictures do the talking from here. Between the two of us we managed to shoot 1,659 frames in a little over 3 hours and I have a TON of sorting and editing to do.
The small red horse had fun, as well. It didn’t take him long to discover the pond between the Union and Confederate positions. For a Lab the only thing better than chasing tennis balls is frolicking in the water!
I shot the first and last photos on this page and Frankie shot the rest. The NRVGIRL copyright watermark refers to her heritage, having grown up here in the New River Valley of Southwest Virginia. I think she did am excellent job.
Now to post some of my shots on my Blogger page. If you’d like to take a look just click on this link.
ROAD TRIP!
Image via Wikipedia
THE BOSS has been plotting with her sister again. Tomorrow we’re loading up Godzilla, stopping to pick up said sister and her long suffering husband, Fish Hook, and we’re all going to Saltville for the re-enactment of the Battle of Saltville.
I have mixed emotions. Any road trip is a great opportunity for photos. Since the girls will undoubtedly banish me, Fish Hook and the small red horse to the back seat I’ll sit on the left side where I can shoot from the window more easily. My injuries left me with limited range of motion when it comes to turning to the right but I can do left real good!
The article in the local paper said that in addition to the civil war encampment and battle re-enactment they’re going to have a few other events including a skillet toss. Frankie should have little trouble winning that judging by the velocity she employees when whacking me on the headbone with one.
I should have some great photos to post tomorrow……unless I’m in the ER getting a new crop of headbone lumps looked at.
It had to happen
Either the 60s are coming back to haunt me or Frankie and I discovered where the magic mushrooms grow.
Good news!
Frankie found this on the floor at work! Pack your bags folks, we’re all going to Disney Land on us. Just pack up the family car and come on.
For those of you living outside the continental United States there’s no need to worry about air fare, passports, getting groped by TSA screeners, etc. …….I found a deal on a bridge on eBay!
The Big Dawgs
THE BOSS started hollerin’ at me to get the camera and come a runnin’. Not being in the mood for getting that cast iron skillet of hers upside my headbone (which I have dubbed BANGY! BANGY! ) I grabbed the closest camera at did my impression of a crippled old fart running. I think I may have sprained something in my haste but it was worth any damage done because I’ve been waiting for this.
THE BIG DAWGS ARE BACK!
While I mounted a lens, got everything turned on, found a perch to shoot this buck in our back yard and even remembered to remove the dust cap Frankie ever so slowly and gently opened the window to give me a clear shot.
Just as the shutter tripped for the 5th or 6th time I caught movement at the corner of the frame and there were these little guys just coming out of the trees. These are the first fawns we’ve seen this season and we’ve been wondering where they all were.
Then I panned left a little and there was Mama Deer!
Try as I might I just couldn’t manage any decent shots of the fawns romping around the yard. The light was poor and I was shooting off hand so they all came out badly blurred but now that I know they’re around I’ll keep one of the cameras set up on the tripod with my long lens so I’ll be ready when they show up again.
It’s downright comical to watch the little ones romp. Once I get this posted I’m getting out the manual for my T3 and read up on shooting HD video with it.
“What do you mean them ain’t dogs? They look just like me, don’t they?”
Still Above the Dirt
No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth or broken all my cameras; I’m just in a slump. Usually I’ll wander around with my eye glues to the viewfinder, shoot a couple hundred frames, download them to my laptop and inspiration for a blog or three will come to me while I process what I’ve shot. Other times something I’ve read, heard or seen during my morning news fix will set me off on a rant and I’ll take it out on you poor folks.
Then there’s my unique (some say twisted) slant on the world around me. Blogs written on that basis usually cause a lot of you to post comments such as “You do know you ain’t right?”, “Do the guards know you’re out of your padded cell?”, “Do you lay awake nights thinking this stuff up?”, “What color is the sky in your world?” of the ever popular “God bless poor Frankie for putting up with you!”
As most of you know I have a few health issues and have to work around them at certain times of the year. During cold weather snow and ice require me to be extra cautious because of mobility issues related to my back and leg injuries . Hot humid weather, such as we’ve had the past couple of weeks, often aggravates my chronic bronchitis.
I’m the first to admit that I’m very hard headed but there are times when my refusal to let my physical problems from keeping me from doing what I want just isn’t enough and I end up where I am now, deep in the throes of cabin fever. To give you an idea of just how bad it is now, I have several pieces of new gear in my bag and I’m just dying to get out and play with it! Any time I don’t rush out to play with new toys something is definitely wrong!
Anyhoo……..the weather guessers are saying we should be in for something of a break as the daytime highs next week should be about 10 degrees cooler. Until then I have a few books I’ve been meaning to read and I’ll be able to catch up on your blogs…….and maybe, just maybe, I’ll find something interesting on the magic box across the room…….maybe even a Three Stooges Marathon!
Keep an eye on this space…….you never can tell when the voices in my head tell me to write something worth publishing. 
Buddy says he has a few good ideas but I’m not about to admit, in writing at least, that I converse with my dawg. People might think I was losing what little is left of my mind!
Time After Time
Way, way back in the latter part of the last century I was a wild child, confirmed bachelor and hard core party animal burning the candle at both ends ……… with a blow torch.
October 6. 1986 was the occasion of my my youngest brother’s annual birthday pig pickin’, all day and all night keg party and gathering of the heathens. Naturally I showed up ready to rock. When I walked in the door the first thing I saw was a hot little blonde sitting at the kitchen table. Something just clicked between the two of us and we’ve been together ever since!
Since that fateful night we’ve been through a lot of good times and some very bad times but I wouldn’t change a thing. She is my soul mate and the love of my life!
Today Frankie (aka THE BOSS) and I celebrate our 150th 23rd wedding anniversary. Finding photos of the two of us together is tough because I’m usually behind the camera and she’s normally camera shy but I think these two will fit the bill.
Summer 1987 on the Yorktown Battlefield, Virginia. Good Lord were we ever young!
May 2010 Gorge Wythe High School – Wytheville, Virginia – Laura’s high school graduation. Laura is our pride and joy.
When we first met everyone said it would never last. HAH! Fat lot they knew.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABY DUCK!
