September - When Summer Glides into Fall

September has always been about beginnings – it’s the beginning of both the school & liturgical year.  For 25 years of my life & 17 years of my daughter’s life September was about buying school supplies, finding where the classrooms were, meeting the teacher & seeing just who was in your classes.  For 3 years my daughter was even the teacher, half way around the world in Japan where school begins in the late spring.  There is a franticness to September, an almost mantic level to it that even the natural world mirrors.  Mushrooms appear, spiders are everywhere, various critters try to move into the house & every bug in the world is trying to find a mate.

This Spider has a Web the Size of the Picture Window

But September is also about ends.  The motorcycle rallies have come & gone and 3 of the 4 rendezvous I usually attend are over.  The annuals in my yard are fading & there will be no new growth until next spring.  The berries have ripened & are now past there prime.  And the first few leaves have begun to turn.  I love fall, its my favorite season – but there is a pensiveness to it, a beginning that calls one to reflection on endings.

A Different Spider Made This Web

At the Labor Day Motorcycle Rally I rode my favorite rides in the Buena Vista area, rides I’ve done many many times since my 1st motorcycle rally there in 1983.  Buena Vista is as it was then, rather a stepchild to Lexington with a good 3rd of its downtown empty storefronts.  Various business come & go although it has some family run eateries that are still going concerns.  Once the town had 3 factory employers, 2 closed their operations by 1988 and only in the last year has a 2nd factory operation moved into the old Blue Bird bus factory location.

But it’s the surrounding countryside that has changed.  The Lexington Horse center is grand & has had a spinoff business effect in its immediate area; but farther on into the countryside the family run restaurants, independent convenience stores, small farm supply places and the like have all gone with the years.  I rode through several once quietly prosperous villages that now have only a post office & for sale signs in empty buildings.  Even a few of the 7-11s that replaced the independent places are now derelict.  Changing demographics, changing economy, changing times – changing seasons.

Front Yard Mushrooms

August was a very active month for me, what with 2 motorcycle rallies & a weekend with Da Urchin.  This last weekend it was time to rest, relax & tie up a few loose ends.  Gypsy Jane is here, working in the area this week.  Her RV roof got damaged in the storm on June 30 & it was time to finish fixing her rig.  We got sanding disks from Lowes, a fiberglass kit from Advance Auto & had at it.  The gel coat removal went well with both of us taking turns at the sanding.  Jane mixed & applied the fiberglass patches as per instructions.  Once it has cured properly we’ll sand it lightly, apply the new gel coat & paint the patched area. 

House Last February

Remember the white pine limb that fell on my roof last February?  Well the roof was patched right off, but the limb removal & cutting up the pieces has taken a much longer time.  The pieces big enough to need a chainsaw I cut & stacked last weekend.  This weekend I finished up the smaller pieces & stacked them ready to be burned in my fire ring.

The Little Branches Stacked Up to Use

I also cleaned the too-far-gone-to-burn-wood from my fire wood stack.  (The big stuff in the photo is the backside of my knife & hawk target area.)  As long as I was cleaning up the yard I also trimmed up the maple in the front yard & put the trailers back alongside the house. 

There was also some routine house cleaning, computer maintenance and whatnot done.  I even got a new field point hot glued onto an arrow for Gypsy Jane.  Saturday evening Gypsy Jane & I played some music, which put a pleasant glow on the whole weekend. 

A Time for Beginnings – A Time for Endings

Vacation Days–Monday & Tuesday

There are 2 more days to my vacation – days I intend to spend at home working on this & that.  Right off, the lawn mower wouldn’t start & the lawn was quickly reaching weed whacker status.  I had already changed out the spark plug but the air cleaner was way past its expiration date too.  Once that was replaced everything ran like new.

It ain’t pretty & it took 5 hours of work but the LAWN IS MOWED!  Since its supposed to rain a bunch more soon this is a very very good if somewhat boring thing.  OK, everything in life isn’t a Grand Ride on a Clear Day on a Harley.

This fellow was hunting in the jungle of the lawn – he got moved so he can go & find a lady friend to propagate his kind.

Its late summer when the grasshoppers can fly & there are katydids out of an evening.  Fireflies at night too, just not many.  The days of Elven cities in the trees here about are gone.

Its also the season of mushrooms & toadstools.  These are usually the first of the fall fungus to appear.  They only grow in the front & side yards.

Here’s a before & after photo.  They start out round with no stem, then they sort of explode, turn black & send little spores everywhere.  Way cool.

Once the yard was mowed & it had stopped drizzling it was time to cut up the white pine limb I finally got totally off the roof last work break.  The fresh cut log ends are the limb, nicely waiting an evening campfire to return their carbon to the air.

It has been a glorious, wonderful & relaxing vacation – which I ended by spending several hours fishing.  I caught & released 7 sunfish, fed Mike’s Salmon Eggs to a whole lot more, watched the hummers in the jewel weed, saw 2 mud dabbers collecting soft mud for their nests, & was overflown by a kingfisher.   And all around me little copper & brown butterflies vied with even small pale blue butterflies for the best sunny sports.  Life is Good.

Vacation Days–Sunday–SLR Rendezvous

The Motorcycle Rally ran through Monday but I had planned to only stay until Sunday.  My Faithful Readers may recall that I am typically at Belle Grove in the lower Shenandoah Valley for both Memorial & Labor Day weekends.  The Rendezvous was there this year too & so were my friends so I took the scenic way home.  US Route 11 is a wonderful relaxing way to travel the Shenandoah Valley.  There was a heavy overcast when I left the Rally but the rain didn’t catch me until New Market.  Oh well, that’s why I own a rain suit.

Gypsy Jane was there having left my place on Thursday morning. 

So were Mark & Holly – that’s Long Beard on the left

The range doesn’t open until 1 PM on Sunday out of consideration of the local church services so most folks were staying dry in camp when I got there.

Some folks were drying out in camp.  Apparently it had rained quite hard over night & earlier that day.

Almost every camp had a fly set in Rain-Mode

Of course a little rain doesn’t stop Rendezvous – even a lot of rain doesn’t stop Rendezvous.  And socializing is the order of the day.

There’s nothing quite like late morning coffee with friends & family

Missy of Barkertown Traders was there all the way from western upstate New York.  It was really really good to see her.  Too bad there wasn’t time to a good song session together.

Long Beard was there too – its been several years since he has attended this event & it was good to see him again too, even if only briefly.

Of course some folks know what’s best on a misty rainy morning – a good nap.

After about 4 hours a window of weather opportunity opened up & the open hopefully dry road called.  So I was on the road again & headed this time for home & hearth.  There was a bit of rain until after Flint Hill & a 5 minute monsoon near Banco but other wise the ride was fine & dry. 

It is good to be home.

Vacation Days–Saturday

Saturday arrived & brought a light drizzle, gently overcast skies & mare’s tails of mist dancing through the trees on the hills.  It was definitely a Carry-Your-Rainsuit kinda day & not a Ride-the-Parkway kinda day.  But the roads beckoned to Da Harley & who am I to question that?

Goshen Pass

It wasn’t a technical curve day either, but then the road through Goshen Pass isn’t very technical.  The roads were dry & there were even a few folks at the picnic area.

The picnic pavilion is new – the previous one was damaged enough by the Maury River floods so as to be unsafe.  There are also new picnic tables spread around the wayside but none were in the pavilion.

No danger of flooding at the moment though, the river normally covers the grass in the foreground here, although a day or two of steady rain could change things dramatically.  This water level is normal for summer’s end. 

These ladies were holding a picnic of there own in the pavilion, but even their numbers were few.  There is something sad about an empty picnic area on a warm holiday weekend.

Another view Goshen Pass looking upstream

Thank you to the Perrys for preserving the Pass for us all to enjoy.

From here the road lead Da Harley along Va Route 43 on the north side of Little North Mountain towards Buffalo Gap.  It started to rain a bit by Augusta Springs so a ride break was called for.  There is a lovely Wetlands – Upland Forest Natural Area here, well work the walk around.

Although having bits & pieces of the Augusta Springs Resort pop up here & there gives this wetland preserve an odd twilight zone sort of feel.

A whole system of fountains & canals once channeled water at the Augusta Springs.  They were fed by the natural springs in the area.

This is one of several manmade stone works around a spring.  Yes there is water in there.  The water in the ponds and such was right for this time of year.

There are 2 ponds on the site, one is natural & one is beaver made.  Both are surrounded by flowering plants and hard to actually photograph.  On a warm sunny day, the area is a riot of butterflies.

Several small streams now cut through the area

These berries were much in evidence in the groves along the trail.

Of course there were the hummingbird attractors in profusion where there was full sun

While these small flowers dominated the shade

The beavers use this area for dam material

After the Spa closed in the 1930’s the area supported a spring water bottling plant.  That too is long gone & only some concrete & cement blocks remain.  The Shenandoah Valley was once a very prosperous place. 

Thanks to the folks that keep this place beautiful

It rained in earnest from Buffalo Gap to just past Staunton but was gone soon after.  Several deer  & a great blue heron watched me pass along the South River Road.

This is the house where the Rally was held – it used to be a way station for the railroad.

There were tour bikes

And a Duel Sport bike

And a really cool owner applied custom paint job on this sport bike

Family & Friends of the Rally Host

Touring Bike Riders

More Family

It isn’t a Rally without a Pooch

Or Two – this is Dixie

And of course Your Faithful Blogger with her new Wisconsin based friend

P.S. A special thanks to the guys who helped me change out a tire on my trailer at the rally.  One of the trailer tires had sidewall checking & I hadn’t been able to block the tire so it wouldn’t turn on its axel by myself.   The spare is on now & all is well.