Polar Bear Plunge

A couple of weeks ago I heard about a charity benefit at Sandy Point State Park at which people collect donations to take a cold dip in the Bay. We were way ahead of that game last weekend when my three sons along with Daniel's wife Tiffany flew up for their first visit to our new place. They seemed to really like it, especially the dock and beach beside our house. My youngest son Jacob, who is known for (ahem) somewhat unconventional behavior, solicited a dare to dive in. I took him up on his $12.00 bet. It took him about thirty minutes to get up his nerve to enter the 34 degree water, but he finally threw off his shirt and ran full speed from the beach. The pictures tell of the story somewhat unexpected results! We all laughed till we cried, then laughed again when we saw the pictures. I'm still laughing. You can see the whole story by clicking here. I suggest you put the slide show on the fastest speed! -S

Reflections

As I'm blogging tonight I'm watching a bright gibbous moon coming up over the Eastern shore of the Bay. Another thing I've found fascinating since moving here is how brightly light is reflected off the water. When I was a kid, one of my favorite nighttime activitis was to walk down to Cherokee Lake and watch the water at night. About a mile across the water from where I lived there was a boat dock which had a flashing red and green light mounted on the roof. I'd throw out a line hoping for catfish and watch the colorful reflections in the dark water. Since there's so much more open water here, I guess it only makes sense that the reflections would be greater. Still, I'm frequently surprised to glance out and see how bright the water looks. We're far enough away from Baltimore and Washington DC so that we can get good views of the stars as well. I'm looking forward to warmer weather when we can go out and sit on the dock and watch for meteors. I've mentioned earlier that, by water, we're only about a mile or so upstream from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. When it was built in 1952, the bridge was the third longest in the world. I really like this photo taken soon after the bridge opened by Marion E. Warren. -Shawn

Boxes, boxes, and more boxes!

I can't say that I learned too much about the Bay today as my daylight hours were spent learning the ins and outs of the new job. After arriving home this evening, it was back to the same activity we've had every night since we arrived.... unpacking boxes! Dianne has done the lion's share of the unpacking, but I've had my list of chores as well. Our Bay house is a somewhat smaller than the one we left in downtown Knoxville, so even after selling, giving away, and tossing out tons of stuff before we moved, we still seem overstocked. That's resulted in three trips so far to Ikea so we could add shelves to the closets and put up more book cases. The boys are flying up for their first visit this weekend, so we have some motivation to get things in order. I can't wait to hear their observations about the house and the water. I've only been away from them a few days but I miss them badly. As for getting the place in shape, I'm sure we'll want to have a house warming party soon. You can bet one thing, we won't be accepting any gifts unless we can eat or drink it! Okay..... back to the boxes! -S

Spring Tide

Granted, we haven't been here long, but I'm nevertheless amazed at the drastic differences in the Bay from one day to the next. Tonight, the water is as smooth as glass and we can see the reflections of lights from Gibson Island shimmering softly in the darkness. After Saturday night's relentless winds, I was surprised to awaken Sunday morning to dry land beneath our dock and for acres around the beach and rock jetty. Having previously watched the water fluctuate no more than 6 or 8 inches, I was amazed at the drastic change. Some internet research reveals that, with a full January moon, we're experiencing something called a Spring Tide. I've heard the term before but thought it referred to a season. It doesn't. It's just something that happens when the earth, sun, and moon are in a straight line and gravitational forces cause higher high tides and lower lows. The strong winds from the North enhanced the fluctuation by blowing Chesapeake waters out into the Atlantic. This picture of our high and dry dock shows the result! I hyperlinked to a couple of sites with more information. It'll be interesting to see how often we see the tides this low here at Lake Placid. I'm sure this is all very elementary to long time Bay dwellers, but I'm enjoying the daily nature classes! -Shawn

Midnight Moonlight

And the ocean is howling
For the things that might have been
And the next good morning's sunrise will be
The brightest you've ever seen
-Peter Rowen from "Midnight Moonlight"

There's plenty of howling out on the Bay tonight. With gusts over 45 miles per hour, the sustained wind speed is higher than I've experienced since I saw a couple of tropical storms when I was stationed in Hawaii. I went out to the dock earlier but thought better of walking out for fear of being blown off. The waves were washing over it and also crashing against the rocks around the yard so that the spray blew on to the front deck and windows. The water here is almost 100% fresh, so I don't know if I'll need to wash the windows tomorrow or not. The weather tonight is a big contrast to last night's calm and full moon. Dianne shot some pictures. I thought the one above captured the eerie sky and light reflection better than any. The perspective is looking out toward the Gibson Island Light House from our front porch. You can see our jetty and a navigation buoy illuminated by the moonlight. -S

Rolling In With The Fog

I packed up some final things from my office yesterday and pointed my truck north up I-81. Rolling in to Lake Placid just before midnight, I found our section of the Bay enveloped in a thick fog. I had to get a physical for my new job today but finished in time to return to our foggy cove and unpack a few more boxes. As I was struggling with cables for the TV, I was surprised by the deep low rumble of a fog horn from a passing ship. I looked out toward the Bay but there was nothing to see but banks of white. Funny how such a common thing could strike me as so interesting. I'm sure I'll see lots of fog and hear lots of horns, but you never forget the first time! It stayed foggy all day today, not burning off until just before dark.Tonight it's clearer and there's a beautiful full moon reflecting off the bay and illuminating our front yard in eerie twilight. Dianne took some pictures which I'll post soon. -S

Watching & Learning

We spent the weekend at the new house after driving up with some final items in the back of my truck. We got a call from the movers Saturday morning to say they wouldn't be there when scheduled because they were broke down near Roanoke. Hopefully they'll make it today. I'm back in Tennessee until Thursday or Friday.


We spent most of the day Saturday and Sunday familiarizing ourselves with the area by driving around and noting the nearest grocery store, restaurants, gas stations, etc. That, and about 4 hours doing nothing but sitting in front of the upstairs deck windows staring at the water. A flock of 22 Canadian Geese flew in to welcome us and stayed for about an hour in the water around our dock before flying off toward the South. The cats don't quite know what to think of all the outside activity after having been cooped up inside the house for the past two years. I think they'll eventually love it and make themselves useful by keeping seagulls off the dock!

There's not much traffic on the Magothy this time of year. I only saw two boats all day yesterday. However, you can see the main channel of the Bay off to the right, and we watched ship traffic coming and going to the port of Baltimore. I want to get a telescope soon so I can watch the shipping and wildlife more closely. I still don't have my fishing equipment unpacked. I can't wait! -Shawn

Tying Up Loose Ends in Tennessee

Time is getting short here in Tennessee. This week I've given notice to my present job and accepted an offer for work in the Baltimore/DC area. I didn't think leaving Tennessee would be so hard, but it's proving to be more difficult than I thought. My biggest concern is my boys. We've worked enough into our budget so that they can hopefully travel to see us frequently. I think I'm closer to them now than ever before. Keeping that relationship is the most important thing to me.

I'll also miss the frequent gigs with Mountain Soul. The boys plan to continue the current schedule and I know they'll be amazing. I hope to join them some on weekends, maybe an occasional Thursday, and perhaps book some gigs around our new home. Watch the Mountain Soul web site for updates!

The movers packed up all our belongings today and will unload in Maryland Saturday afternoon. It was really nice of Cornell University to pick up our moving expenses. The movers were great, seemed very careful and conscientious, and got the job done when they said they would. I still have one more week of work here in Tennessee. Then, the adventure begins!! Stay tuned! -Shawn