The Rivanna Rambler

 September 25, 2008

 

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This show originally aired in September 25, 2008 on “The Rivanna Rambler,” a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net

I recently spent a few days on Cape Cod, that sandy fist off the coast of Massachusetts — prime vacation destination and historic homeport to whalers and fishermen and native Americans even earlier.  On the morning of my departure, I took one last dip in the buoyant salt water of Nantucket Sound

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September 18, 2008

 

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This show originally aired in September 11, 2008 on “The Rivanna Rambler,” a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net

When we arrive at the informal parking lot at Sugar Hollow Reservoir, it isn’t surprising to find almost every available parking slot between the tall trees already taken. It’s a hot Sunday afternoon with moist air pushed northward by the hurricane – most are here to get cool, to swim or sit by the water. But Cole Peale-Grody, his father, Charles, and me have another goal. Along with another father-son team we meet here, we’re going snake hunting on the north fork of the Moormans in Shenandoah National Park,

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September 11, 2008

 

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This show originally aired in September 11, 2008 on “The Rivanna Rambler,” a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net

Last night after a meeting at UVA’s Newcomb Hall, I strolled across Emmet Street to The Dell for a quiet moment on the water. At the end of the hot day, the air temperature was falling as the undersides of clouds darkened with gray. From a bench across the pond I could see blue and orange shirts and shorts moving on the basketball court. The pool before me reflected the action in segments clipped by a row of young arbor vitae planted along the edge of the court. Above me, bats streaked through darkening air, criss-crossing over the water partaking of misquotes. The sound of Emmet Street traffic was constant, but the longer I sat, the more it started to blend with a new sound – one of flowing water from somewhere beyond a large English boxwood leftover from a former landscape.

I was sitting by a section of Meadow Creek that has been rehabilitated and restored, brought to the surface after being contained in the 1950’s.

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September 4, 2008

August 28, 2008

 

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Photo of cranefly orchid, Tipularia discolor, courtesy of Rose Brown.

This show originally aired in August 28, 2008 on “The Rivanna Rambler,” a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net

When Teddy Roosevelt, known to be both big game hunter and amateur botanical collector, was asked to give an account of his interest and experience as an amateur naturalist, he replied, “The former has always been very real; and the latter, unfortunately, very limited.” I imagine most of us amateur naturalists feel pretty much the same way: it’s nigh impossible to imagine knowing very many organisms to the species level with the latest count around 2 million named and millions more suspected.

So we amateurs fall somewhere on the spectrum between curious and crazed, seeking to manage the acquisition of knowledge in ways that personally give pleasure. Birders pursue life lists

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