#429 Our Blue Ridge Tunnel

On Halloween we hiked nearly a mile into an abandoned rocky tunnel under the Blue Ridge Mountains stepping over piles of fallen debris in the dark while bat colonies roosted silently overhead and water dripped slowly from the soot-stained ceiling.

Yea, that was fun.

Built before the Civil War and before dynamite, this engineering marvel was once the longest tunnel in the United States at 4,263 feet. Now the west entrance to the Blue Ridge Tunnel lies in a woodsy grotto at the end of an unmarked trail a short hike off the beaten track and unknown to the hordes motoring Skyline Drive and walking the Appalachian Trail overhead.

Locals plan to refurbish the arrow-straight passage as a rail-trail connecting the Shenandoah Valley with the Virginia Piedmont. Until then, it's our dank hidden gem.

Yours in finding the light at the end of every tunnel,
Kelly

#428 My first Purple Martin field day

For sixteen years now, Purple Martin groupies in central Virginia have congregated each summer to hear about their favorite feathered friends.

Lance Wood leads the field day cheers.  Orating from beneath shade trees with 120 nesting martin pairs as a backdrop, Mr. Wood explains the diligence required of humans looking to be successful purple martin landlords.  In two hours he hit the highlights and answered every question from the lawn-chair crowd of veterans and wanna-be landlords.

My take-aways...passive landlords need not apply... bring ingenuity, fortitude, and commitment to be successful.  Without attention to detail we humans are luring martins to their demise inside our carefully manufactured martin houses from predators like snakes, raccoons, and owls.

So it's not all fun and games at the PM field day, but the birds sure are fun to watch.  Mark your calendars, June 25, 2011 for Purple Martin Field Day 17. 

Yours in admiring successful landlords everywhere, 
Kelly

#427 Happy Mother's Day

It's been 10 years since I've been able to celebrate Mother's Day in person, but I like to look back through the years, through all the letters and homemade cards, through all the photos, and remember. 

This particular Mother's Day card must have been made by me during my horse phase.   The card's inside left page shows my incredible knowledge of horses (probably copied from the World Book) and my amazing ability to scissor.  The card's inside right page highlights my early poetry skills.

About the time I created this card, I liked to ride our pony Shortstop at our home in Fairfax, VA.

And here's my lovely mom long before she ever thought about me or my silly Mother's Day cards.

Yours in remembering Mom,
Mary

#426 Floating the Rivanna

Think about your dream job.  What would it be?

Hmmm...something that would make people say "You get PAID to do that?"

I recently met Allan Thomson. He has a dream job like that. He takes people on canoe trips to raise awareness for a healthy Chesapeake Bay watershed. Cool. He invited me to join him and a group from the University of Virginia for a day on the Rivanna River as part of Earth Week festivities. Even cooler.

So here's Allan steering our canoe.

A few international students in our group had never been on a float trip. With guidance from Allan and his colleague Pat, they did just fine. And they introduced us all to the concept of delicious boxed cake for shore lunch.

After lunch we hiked through woods to find the massive cut-stone remains of a long abandoned river lock.

Too soon our six-mile float was done and we were all smiling for the camera.

So Allan did his dream job well and we all left feeling a little more aware of our local ties to the Chesapeake Bay.

Yours in supporting dream jobs at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation or anywhere,
Kelly

#425 In the Virginia Spring

Spring is in full bloom in Virginia.  Follow along as we walk into work on Friday.

The azaleas are nearing their peak and Kelly's shirt is a nice match.

We cut through the woods and Kelly makes it successfully over the obstacle in our path.

Back out on city streets, the combined pink and white dogwood tree is blooming.

We look both ways and make it safely across the train tracks.

Sometimes we're forced to walk single file and share the sidewalk with pushy flowers.

Some of the Semester at Sea staff have moved into nice digs in Alumni Hall.  We're early, so I don't see anyone there yet.

It's a good thing The Villa is on route, 'cause we've worked up a breakfast hunger.  Notice how I forced our companions to squint into the sun!

The Aviator and Clemons Library are next door to Alderman Library.  We're almost at work.

We made it.  Kelly and I work about 100 steps apart inside Alderman Library.

My hallway is lined with old, no-longer-in-use-but-still-cool card catalogs.

Well, I'm here. Thanks for joining us on our morning commute. I better get to work now.

Yours in enjoying the Virginia spring time,
Mary

#424 In the Arena

All roads to the 2010 NCAA men's basketball championship lead to Indianapolis, so we followed them and enjoyed...

friends in the next (fast?) lane...

and friendly places to stay...

and welcome gift bags...

and friends wearing fancy blue boots...

and friends who created the fabulous Destination Indiana exhibit...

and friends at restaurants...

and friends sitting on suitcases...

and friends at the Mass Avenue Pub on Easter Sunday...

and the end of the road at Lucas Oil Stadium where we witnessed basketball magic and cheered with all our might for the bravura Butler Bulldogs. As Teddy Roosevelt said, the credit belongs to the [team] who is actually in the arena.

Check our Indy photos to see all those that wouldn't fit on this blog post!

Yours in counting ourselves lucky to have been in the arena,
Mary

#423 Mappy Oscars

Of the 10 films nominated for Best Picture, we have seen one: Up.

But even though we can't call ourselves Oscar fans, we do appreciate the worldwide settings for this year's nominees.

And for all you Avatar fans, you'll have to make your own map of the planet Pandora.  

Yours in wishing all a Mappy Oscars,
Mary