This is a late bloom for this UVA-area winter jasmine.
PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

The heavy snowfalls and cold temperatures accompanying the Snowpocalypse and Snowmageddon are showing their effects. Charlottesville flower blooming and amphibian-growing have started later than usual, and in particular, the little tree frogs known as spring peepers have just begun peeping. Is this cause for concern?

“They’re going to have to get active pretty quickly to reproduce before predators get active in the ponds,” says nature writer Marlene Condon. “They really have a narrow window in which they can reproduce.”

Condon says that a quick shift to hot weather could limit the peeper populations, which serve the dual purposes of limiting insects and feeding hungry animals. Amphibians such as the peepers need a stretch of cool weather in order to reproduce.

“There are years,” says Condon, “when the conditions are just never right.”

Over in the world of flora, the bellwether winter jasmine at the corner of University Avenue and Rugby Road bloomed on Wednesday, March 10, the latest yellow eruption in (more)

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Wendell Wood’s house on Carter’s Mountain takes shape. Click on the image for a closer view.
AERIAL PHOTO BY SKIP DEGAN

“Why would you want to write about some house I’m building?” That was developer Wendell Wood in a Hook cover story last February, when asked about the mansion he was building. The “real story” he said was the expansion around National Ground Intelligence Center and the prospect of 1,500 new jobs. “Now that’s a story,” said Wood.

Indeed, Wood’s developments along Route 29 over the last 30 years have been an ongoing story that earned him plenty of economic kudos and conservation-minded critics, but as the size of his new house becomes apparent (even from miles away), one may recall his reluctance to talk about it.

“It’s just,” he said with a smile, “that people hate me enough as it is.”

According to County records, Wood’s new house will tip the scales at 15,554 finished square feet with another 14,269 square feet of unfinished basement, decks, and porches— putting it within range of Patricia Kluge’s 23,000 square-foot Albemarle House and making it not only one of the biggest houses ever built in Virginia but also (more)

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Former park ranger Bruce W. Bytnar discusses and signs copies of his memoir, A Park Ranger’s Life Thirty-two Years Protecting Our National Parks, at New Dominion Bookshop on Saturday, January 16 at 11am.

From the author’s blog: “I started my National Park Service career in 1975 as a seasonal employee at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. I later worked at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, and three districts on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia. During this time I worked as an interpreter of historic, cultural and natural resources, a federal law enforcement officer, wildland and structural firefighter, resource manager, emergency medical technician, search and rescue worker, supervisor, manager, mentor, and instructor. It was a rich and productive career that produced an inordinate number of experiences and stories.”

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Part of a presentation to Albemarle planners.
FOREST LODGE LLC

With at least part of its $34 million loan already declared in “early stage delinquency” by the lead lender, Biscuit Run’s conversion to a state park may leave several banks with millions in losses.

In a November 6 federal filing, Bluefield-based First Community Bank notified its shareholders of the potentially massive problem but assured them that the loan was “adequately secured” by a “large tract of undeveloped land in Virginia.”

What First Community may not have counted on was Governor Tim Kaine’s eagerness to add new parkland or on the generosity of Biscuit Run owner Forest Lodge LLC, a consortium publicly headed by Hunter Craig.

Craig spent several years before County staff winning the right to eventually develop 3,100 homes on the 1,200-acre tract in southern Albemarle. On December 30, however, Craig’s group sold the land to (more)

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“It’s a serene, beautiful place,” says Hatton Ferry pole man Ashley Pillar.
FILE PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

For nearly 140 years the Hatton Ferry has been taking passengers across the James River near Scottsville, but unless local government or private funds can be raised by the end of the year, it’s curtains for America’s last remaining pole-driven ferry.

Although the historic ferry was rebuilt twice, once after it was destroyed by Hurricane Agnes in 1972, and again after a record flood in 1985, it’s finally being done in by the Virginia Department of Transportation’s multi-billion dollar budget shortfall, which has already claimed over 600 jobs and 19 highway rest stops.

“Despite the national attention in September, VDOT doesn’t want to save it,” says Steven Meeks, president of the Charlottesville Albemarle Historical Society, who had (more)

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Jackson Landers, who teaches a deer hunting course for foodies, says he wants to create a “new breed” of hunter in Virginia.
PHOTO COURTESY JACKSON LANDERS

Back in July, avid hunter Jackson Landers wondered on his blog if anyone would be interested in a semi-formal class on how to deer hunt from a locavore’s perspective. After all, what better way to eat local than to hunt for your own food? Of course, it’s hard to imagine local foodies more accustomed to shouldering a tote bag at the farmers market than a .30-‘06 through the woods in camouflage gear actually shooting and gutting a deer, but Landers says the response was immediate.

Landers, a broker with Landers Underwriting, was bombarded with emails showing interest in the class, from people as far away as San Francisco, which forced him to limit the class size. Today, he says he has about 10 people taking his class, which is in its fourth week.

“The curriculum that I’m teaching is largely a natural sciences approach rather than coming from (more)

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On Saturday, October 17 award-winning Keswick Vineyards is having its first-ever “Lucy-style” grape stomping event, inspired by the famous “I love Lucy” episode in which Lucille Ball makes a mess of things in an Italian grape vat. In fact, the folks at Keswick are encouraging you to dress up as Lucy by offering a 5 percent discount on wines if you do. There’ll also be a “best Lucy” costume contest, with prizes for the best female and male impersonations.

Sounds like a grape stompin’ good time, with music provided by Rock River Gypsies. The cost in $25 per person, which includes a glass of wine and the chance to get your feet sloppy. You may have to join Keswick’s Wine Club for this, but hey, its free. Call 434-244-3341 for more information.

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It may be getting chilly, but don’t forget the Charlottesville City Market is still open. In fact, while the Market typically runs from April through October, this year the season has been extended to November 21. Also, the Charlottesville Holiday Market, which begins November 28, has been moved to the Market location in the Water Street parking lot. While current hours are every Saturday from 8am to Noon, November hours will be 8am to 2pm. So get on down there for fresh produce, crafts, herbs, meats, and baked goods before the season ends!

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