Here is post 2 of the Hawksbill Cabin year end retrospective. I’m writing from a comfy perch on the brick terrace next to the fire pit – today’s post covers May through August, 2010.
May 2010 – As Spring continued, on the blog we dug further into the details of past EDA strategic plans, in a series called “EDA Action Spectacular.” There had been a number of requests for additional information about the EDA, so here on the blog we republished the material that we had found and analyzed during 2009 and early 2010. While it was becoming clear that new leadership on EDA should be part of an ultimate turnaround, what I learned from the community that there is generally a commitment to responsible growth that creates good jobs in the County (after experiencing unemployment of 18% in February 2009 – fourth worst in the state) – and the goal of my blog posts on this topic is simply to support that kind of growth.
With spring in full bloom, the Farmers’ Market was back on, and Mary and I decided to try our hands at container gardens – her usual (and prolific) tomatoes and peppers, and my experiment with summer squash and eggplant. Let’s just call my experiments a learning experience; I eventually got some zucchini but they were too far developed to use for anything except to feed the gopher that lives out in back of the cabin.
June 2010 – We delayed opening the Hawksbill Cabin pool in 2010 to get some tree work done. It’s unfortunate, but there was one very large pine tree in the front yard that had been weakened during the snow and had started to lean. It hung over the pool and was always the source of a lot of pine needles in the filters, but the danger it now presented meant removing it was inevitable. Fortunately, the hawks that nested there in the past had chosen another nearby tree in the past or we might not have even opened the pool this year!
July 2010 – Hanging in the hallway here at Hawksbill Cabin is a little plaque, given to me by a coworker back in 2000. It commemorates a consulting business trip to Seattle, calling it the “Best Business Trip Ever.” In July, that honor – at least in my case – moved on to a business trip I had to Yosemite National Park. We worked very hard during that week, upwards of ten hour days, with an hour commute each way – but in that environment, it was pure enjoyment.
I was able to bracket the work portion of the trip with a too short visit with Cathy and Amelie, highlighted by a trip to the Farmers’ Market in Mountain View, and an afternoon visit with Dave (who was stationed with me in Berlin) down in Gilroy on my way out to Yosemite. I had two days on the backside of the trip in San Francisco, checking off a life-list item of walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, enjoying a spectacular evening in the Mission District watching the fog roll in from a roof top café (thanks to coworker Arne), and then spent a day with another friend from Berlin, Brian.
That day started with a visit to Dottie’s True Blue Café (Brian keeps the Breakfast at Epiphany blog, linked in the blogroll to the right). The place is everything Brian says it is…we also took in sights over in Tiburon and then the Sutro Bath ruins over on the west side. That was a great day – thanks again, Brian!
August 2010 – August is when the annual Luray triathlons occur, and this time Mary joined me as a volunteer. We really enjoyed being part of this event for the great feeling of community it offers, and also look forward to next year.
August also was the occasion of another excellent visit to Shenandoah National Park. During my June vacation, I had discovered the Lewis Falls hike, and I invited Mary to join me in taking another look. The day we chose couldn’t have been better – all kinds of butterflies were out in the Big Meadow area where this trail starts. There was still enough water on the falls to make them worth the visit…remember, this is the headwaters for Hawksbill Creek, which eventually flows through Luray before flowing into the Shenandoah. We also took in the view from Blackrock Summit (the one near Big Meadow Lodge), where we learned that the view from there takes in Jordan Hollow Farm Inn and Wisteria Vineyards, both in the neighborhood of Hawksbill Cabin.
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