Isaac was in all county band again this year and the practice sessions were at a local middle school, Stonewall Jackson Middle, here in Charleston. It’s an old school that used to be a high school. Anyhow, as I waited for Isaac to finish his practice one day, I noticed how striking some of the colors and scenes of the school are.
Stonewall Jackson High School, Charleston, WVThese doors look amazing…weird huh?
Hmmmm…curious?
The brick pattern looked nice to me…so I am weird
As I was taking these pics, a man and his daughter wandered by. The father was telling the daughter about the history of the school and the family lineage there. It was cool to hear and sort of fun to think about history of schools. I am amazed but the school where Emily’s grandpeople went through the elementary grades is still in use as an elementary school. Maybe that isn’t so good but the old buildings certainly have character!
In high school, I really enjoyed listening to Steve Miller Band. The music is a little funky but I still really enjoy it. They had one song called, “Fly Like an Eagle”. One of the lines is, “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’…into the future…” It’s catchy and seems to sort of fit with a fun little thing that is happening in my neighborhood right now.
When we bought this place 8 or so years ago, the road was in less than stellar shape. It was obvious a slip of some sort had occurred at some point. As time passed, we noticed that the road gapped a little now and then…it was still an active slip! Every year the city…or maybe the road elves…someone would bring a load of asphalt to patch the gaps that developed and we went on our merry way. This year, however, the issue became serious. Over the course of a week or so, half of our road dropped a foot. The city brought rock to fill the slip to allow everyone to pass. Of course, that was a hopeless battle because the rock added weight to the mix which worsened the slip.
Our road is one lane and a dead end. The way our driveway is shaped, we typically back up or down it to the road, drive to a turn-around where we change direction and then drive out to the main road. We need to cross the slip to turn around but we can survive without being able to do that. Fortunately, for us, this is a mild inconvenience compared to what some of my neighbors are suffering. More than half of the residents of my street live beyond the slip and were at risk of not being able to access their homes, being left without refuse service or emergency services.
Click to see the larger view
I’ll give credit to the city, the water company and the sanitation folks. Oh yeah…in varying forms, there have been water and sewer disruptions in addition to the road mess. All three agencies seem to have come together nicely to drive piles, dig holes, cut trees and in general, fix the road.
Just last night, however, the urgency has grown. The pilings are mostly in place so our road appears to be safe, but the earth below the road and wall-in-progress failed. A 40ish foot swath of earth slipped significantly down the hill towards another neighborhood below over night. I’d be terrified to stay in those houses, especially with the forecast of rain and possible snow tomorrow.
The road slip worsens
I’m typically one to find the good in situations though, and I have definitely seen good come of this mess. In addition to improving our home values with a good road, I have been given the opportunity to stand upon the road once the work crew leaves, with my neighbors. We all knew each other but we rarely just stood around and talked. We have done more of that lately and it has been a good and fun thing!
We bought 30 acres a couple of years ago and we sort of figured that would be it. We love the land we have and do not intend to ever leave it. We weren’t looking for any more land, but it turns out that their was another piece of land within walking distance of our original property that came on the market. It’s within decimal places of being the same acreage of the original property and the price was right…so we closed on our second piece of land on our beloved ridge last Friday. I walked the perimeter a few weeks ago and took some cool pics. Now that Spring appears to be here finally, I hope to explore some more and maybe find a hot stash of Molly Moochers!
Now that I look at these pics…meh…but I like the stream for sure and it’s a nice property in spite of these pics!
I have no idea what we are really going to do with the property but if nothing else, the kids can have equal inheritance!
Typically, I cherish my Saturdays. A few years ago, I pondered about how many Saturdays I have and how I wanted to use them. They are special. This weekend, I learned that some can be “special”…yes…in quotes.
A got up early on Saturday to go to a farm equipment auction I had been looking forward to for awhile. It was overcast but ok. Rain was coming but it was supposed to hold off until after noon. I wandered about the auction and discovered that this year’s auction was sort of pitiful compared to previous years. Still, it was fun as I got to hear a few good auctioneers and I got to see all sorts of people. I ran into Granny Sue and her husband Larry so we had a good chance to drink coffee and talk a little. Emily and the kids were to meet me at the deluxe shed around lunchtime so I gave Larry a ride home as he lives next to our property.
Emily and the kids showed up, we ate lunch and commenced working on the inside stuff in the cabin. The rain came and then it picked up and then it got serious. I didn’t think much of it, but all the rain was saturating the ground. We do not yet have a driveway at the cabin…we just drive across the field. We have done it since day one and plenty of times in the rain.
This Saturday, the worst in awhile, was different. As we started to drive off, the car started sliding. I wanted to stop but it was sliding…in WV…which means down the hill. I was trying to go sideways across the field with my trailer in tow, but I guess the weight of the engine pulled the nose of the car down the hill. I was standing on the brakes and all tires were locked up but we were sliding…in WV…which means down the hill, nose first and I couldn’t steer or stop. Isaac and I were in for the ride as long as we had to be. Emily and Abigail were farther up the hill and watching helplessly. Fortunately we crashed through some wood and over a “hump” of dirt which finally stopped us maybe 15 feet from a tree and, more importantly, the edge of a significant cliff of sorts. All told, we probably slid 100 feet or so, totally out of control.
Emily flagged down a neighbor and asked if they could bring their tractor over to pull us out. It was so wet though that we decided that would leave them in the same boat with the tractor. Fortunately, many of the neighbor’s family live on the same ridge and one had a dozer nearby. Now I mean to tell you, WV has some of the finest people anywhere, but our ridge community shines above all other people I think I have ever met. I do not say that as a simple reply to this one incident but this one incident simply reinforces what we discovered early on up on the ridge. Our ridge community is built of wonderful people who would give the shirts off of the collective backs to help neighbors. So far, I have had very little to offer in return but I hope someday…hopefully soon, to be able to spend enough time on the ridge and be a helper in the community of such wonderful people.
Where it took a turn for the worse
So several members of the family…our neighbors, came around, brought the dozer and yanked first the trailer, and then the car up from the abyss. Somehow we managed to escape all injury and damage to us and the car. During the process, I was soaked to the bone with 38 degree rain and became covered in mud. That along with the injury to my pride was a pretty hard blow.
Scariest few seconds I have had in awhile
While Emily was waiting with the kids in the other car, somehow the battery went dead. Luckily the neighbors were still around so they jumped the battery but talk about adding insult to injury. We thought we had seen the end of the mess…I mean, two things go wrong…what else could possibly happen? Could this day get worse?
At least we stopped…
We drove home, wet and shivering. We all stripped down to get cleaned up and warmed up. Our laundry area is on our basement…the lowest point in the house. The lowest point in our house has a floor drain which was spewing water and…uh…stuff…bad, bad stuff…into our basement. I would guess there was 4 inches of stuff in the basement. Our furnace had water in it. The electric water heater had water covering its base. Lots of stuff we had sitting in the floor had water in it. In answer to “can this day get worse?” “YES!”
“#@^!%@…YES!”
We have a sump pump so I ran to the home improvement store and got some fittings so I could connect a garden hose. We pumped and the drain kept on giving. We pumped it down to a quarter of an inch or so and the drain would fill it back up. With no idea how deep it would get, Emily and I traded off all night getting up every hour to turn the pump back on and drain it out. Getting a plumber out in the middle of the night would be expensive and we didn’t know if it would matter anyhow if we needed excavation done. That wouldn’t have happened until the daytime anyhow so we decided to save the off-hours fees.
Ugh…
It slowed to where we could just pump every couple of hours so we decided to wait until Monday to get someone to come to the house and fix it (hopefully in the same day).
I don’t wish away too many Saturdays but this most recent Saturday is one I cannot wait to forget…
I post a lot about Isaac’s middle school band but they are just so good, I can’t help but post more. This weekend, they attended the Regional Jazz Band Festival in Huntington, WV and played as awesome as they always do.
(Try the links below on your phone or if the links above do not work) (Warning! They are huge and will use your data plan if you download on your phone)
The band director is a fantastic guy and loves the kids…they love him too and it shows when they play. The amazing thing in my opinion, is that there is no official jazz band program in the school. The kids and the director work before school or after school or on weekends…on their own time. I think they are amazing regardless of age, but even more impressive is that this band is 6th-8th grade kids. It is just unbelievable I think! I wish my phone captured the dynamics and quality of their sound better than it did. In the end, they got a “superior” rating which is as good as it gets. We will find out soon how they rank state-wide…here’s hoping for a top finish!
Like many folks across the country, this has been a weird winter. Honestly, it may not be so weird compared to when I was a kid, but lately, winters have been so mild. Anyhow, we had a this-year-rare nice weekend so I tromped out to my bee yard to see how my girls had fared.
Did I ever mention that there are only female bees in the hive at this time of year? You see, the males are only useful for breeding in the spring and summer when the colony may need a new queen. Queens only breed during a week or so period when they first hatch and never again. So, males (aka drones) are only good for breeding during that period when a new queen is hatched. Otherwise they just eat up resources which are precious through the winter. The females kick out all the males in the mid-Fall and make new in the spring. Males are made when the queen lays unfertilized eggs, a process she controls since all breeding happened during that one week of glory when she was first hatched.
Anyhow, I like to check on the bees on warm days to make sure they are still alive, haven’t starved and don’t have nosema (like bee dysentery). Bees “hold it” to keep the hives clean, so on a warmish day, they all need to get out and poop. Normal poop is fine but “the runs” is a bad thing so I check to make sure they are not abnormal.
So, for the most part, the colonies looked good. I may have lost one colony but that isn’t unexpected or unusual. I don’t like it, but some winter loss just happens, even in a well-managed apiary. I made some feed available in the form of sugar-water so any colony that is a little light on stores can grab a quick bit of food to get through the remaining weeks until the maples bloom and the pollen and nectar flow again. That is often at the end of February through the beginning on March but with our cold and snow, it may be a bit later. Well shall see, but for now, it looks like the bees are doing well!
It’s been awhile since I have posted anything and I cannot decide if it is because I have the winter blues or if we have been busy or if it is the effects of the water chaos and snow. Speaking of snow, we are covered again and stuck inside with the latest polar blast…like the other 250 million or so people in the country who are affected by it.
Anyhow, one interesting thing we did get into recently was Isaac’s involvement with the Marshall University Honor Band. The Honor Band is an honor for middle school students. Each school’s band director nominates their best students for a one day seminar with the Marshall University School of Music staff. Students from the tri-state area come together in one day and get excellent instruction throughout the day that pinpoints their specific instrument. Later in the evening, the students put on a concert.
What makes this concert especially impressive to me is that the band kids have never seen the music prior to the start of the day. They learn the music and somehow pull together as a group in a single day. It’s amazing but really so awesome to see and hear! So, take a listen if you please…maybe you can forget about the polar vortex and poison water for awhile!
I hate snow. I didn’t always hate snow but I hate it now. As this has been a weird winter, I sort of guess I’ll need to just deal with it. If not, my crying will likely freeze tears right to my face. If it wasn’t for the cold and wet and the hazardous driving, and the cold and the wet, I might enjoy the snow itself well enough. It is pretty after all.
Patrick Street bridge in the snow
I was up sort of early this morning and snapped this picture of a bridge in town. You know, I sort of have a thing for bridges…especially blue ones apparently. Anyhow, I thought this was a pretty scene. Of course my feet got wet and snow ran clear down my back to…well…you know…clear down my back as it melted. It’s still falling like crazy and the kids are out of school for weather rather than our water disaster. I suppose there is happiness in my house…or will be when everyone finally wakes up!
I have so many thoughts going through my head as we begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel with our water mess. Most of the affected water contamination zone has been cleared to start using water again although most people still don’t trust the water enough to actually drink it. We are definitely in that camp…we are washing with the still-smelling-like-licorice tap water but not using it for drinking, cooking or teeth-brushing.
The CDC reported that pregnant women should not drink this water even though it has been declared “safe”. Of course, that makes everyone wonder who it is really safe for….1 year olds? What about 5 year olds? There is no good answer here I think but what choice do we have? Of course, I don’t want to move as some people have threatened, but even if I did, who would buy a house in a contaminated area? No, we will stay here and this will pass. It prompts many questions though.
Many people are over-the-top mad and many of them are directing it at the water company but I think their anger is misdirected. The water company is the only entity communicating to the public so they are easy to yell at. The damn chemical tank owner is to blame here but they are no where to be found.
Someone else mentioned it first but I sort of agree…too many times in Appalachian history, we have some massive issue like this and we wear our survival of the event as a badge of honor. “This was a terrible disaster, but we are strong people…we’ll get through.” It’s great to persevere, but it is a real shame that we have to…It’s not just here in WV either of course. In my home town in PA, gas fracking is poisoning the ground as non-local companies pump thousands of gallons of chemicals into the earth, find their gas and leave town. Locals are stuck living with the long term repercussions. It’s a tragedy really but one that they wear as a badge of honor there as well.
I guess this badge of honor isn’t unique to Appalachia…maybe it is common to rural dwellers, the poor or just anyone who can’t fight back. It makes me sad and mad that the human condition is, and perhaps always has been, one of simply surviving atrocity after atrocity. Truly, this disaster has not been the disaster it could have been if a more horrible chemical had leaked, but dumb luck doesn’t really make me feel better.
It IS a sad condition and a shame to wear this disaster as a badge of honor but most here will do just that. I suppose I will too as I don’t really see any other option. We’re a tough people though…we’ll get through it…
We had a bit of a water disaster here in Charleston. It’s been called Aquapocalypse 2014…that’s probably a good term for the mess that we’ve had, but good news is coming! It looks like our zone just got cleared to flush our water system (edit: this just “undid” our area…dang it!). WV American Water has done a fantastic job (in my opinion) as far as being rightly conservative in issuing the “Do not use” order as well as providing information and getting the systems back on line. Sure, it would have been nice if our water system hadn’t been polluted, but that wasn’t their fault…it was the chemical company that apparently did not maintain proper safety systems.
Charleston Last Night
So, the plan was to monitor the treatment system to find a point when the dilution of the chemical was at a level the CDC reported was safe…that is less than 1 ppm. In laymen’s terms, what that means is if we had a million gallons of liquid, 1 gallon would be 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM). There is much discussion as to whether that is truly a safe level for consumption. I am concerned of course because the plan means I will be consuming some of that chemical…even in my “safe” water. I get that my drinking water is not straight h20 even before all this, but I wish it could just be MCHM-free again. That’s not a reality now however so we will proceed to shower in the water that has been declared “safe”. In our house, we will not be drinking or brushing with it for awhile longer but ultimately, we will have to just “go for it” I guess. Again, I don’t blame the water company of the officials on the ground for making this decision and all will probably be well…I just want my perfect world to return!
“Safe” water zones…we are in the blue!
So we will drain our hot water tanks and all of the pipes in our house. We will follow the nicely written directions provided by the water company and we will get back to normal. I think most people have done really well in handling their situations. Thursday night when this all started, it was a little wild as initial panic set in but people quickly got their heads on straight.
Water was trucked in from far and wide and distributed all over. Neighbors checked on neighbors, and friends in safe-water-zones offered the homes and showers to others to make this all a little better than it would have been. I am proud of my fellow West Virginians and of my state and local government (and maybe even the feds?) for how they handled this situation. I saw a little more clearly as it was exercised before my eyes, the importance of community and helping others. I also saw very clearly the benefit of having some extra water and water containers on hand. I now realize how very much I appreciate having a shower and even more importantly, I realize how much I appreciate other people having showers. Even so, I am proud to be a Mountaineer, stinky or not, and I am delighted to have such a great community who get down to business when the going gets tough!
