Making of a Hockey Fan April 5, 2009

My husband got tickets to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals the year the Carolina Hurricanes won, and that caused his somewhat latent love of hockey to come out into its own.  This season, he and his pal Joe got a 12 pack of tickets.  Well, thanks to Joe’s dad, who is an every game, season ticket holder, Joe and Chris frequently have extra tickets (the how and why of this has been explained to me, but its complicated).  Consequently,  I have been to a lot of Hurricanes Games this winter.  More than I ever have before, total, in my life.  We spent my birthday, Christmas and New Years with the ‘Canes.  It looks like we are on track to spend Easter with them too.

Here is the thing.  At first, I liked the games for the spectacle of it; lights, fan games, Dancing Granny, etc.  And the company I was with, of course.  Then I got captivated by the game.  Its so exciting!  Reminds me of Roller Derby:  those guys go hard, without a break, for the whole game.  You know how sometimes you see chubby baseball players?  You would never have a chubby hockey player. The play is so fast, action packed, and some of those shots are amazing.   I have really fallen in love with hockey.

I don’t really want to go into the whole reason of what really makes the ‘Canes special, because there are many many great blogs that do that well.  But after spending this season with the team I can truly say that I am  a fan. For example:  last night we went to a dinner party, and I was horrified by the fact that basketball was on instead of the very important Hurricanes/Penguins Game.

Which the Hurricanes won, and clinched a playoffs berth. Yay!

Making a city great: Raleigh Comprehensive Plan January 3, 2009

Raleigh has an unfortunate nickname:  Sprawleigh.   Though most would say it is deserved, it is clear that a lot of folks hope we can shed this nickname.   The city officials want it also, hence the updating of the The Raleigh Comprehensive Plan (RCP).   This is a document that guides how the city grows and how decisions are made concerning that growth (“policy framework” was the term they used).  This really effects everything in Raleigh from waste to parks to street maintenance. Our current RCP has been in use for 20 years, and it is time for an update.  The city also notes that from now on the RCP will be updated every 5 years, instead of 20.

I have been impressed so far by the way the RCP has been developed:  they really do want our imput.  Lots and lots of it!  They have had oodles of public meetings as well as the opportunity for online comments.  I attended a meeting last spring to comment on a draft of the “Vision” for the RCP.  We were broken into small groups to discuss certain issues of our choice: I chose transporation (more bike lanes, please) and green development and I was excited by all the great suggestions that I heard:  have a mandatory park and ride lot at every subdivision,  have the city give enormous trax credits for green (LEED certified) renovations and buildings, and public transit, public transit, public transit.  Also, city officials have been at all sorts of public events armed with maps, documents, websites, etc.

So, now a draft of the RCP is available.  It is bold and exciting.  Here it is at a glance.   The plan acknowledges that we have a sprawl issue, and suggests that many of our current issues are because of that.  Having to maintain miles of roadway, inefficient water use, etc.  The RCP proposes funneling 60% of future growth (72,000 homes)  into eight growth centers that are in locations with combined highway and targeted transit access.

The centers include downtown Raleigh, Brier Creek, the Midtown area near North Hills, Crabtree Valley, west Raleigh, the area around Cameron Village and North Carolina State University, the area near Triangle Town Center mall and New Bern Avenue around WakeMed.  The plan also focuses on growing and revitalizing 18 areas around town that could, frankly, use a little fiscal love, including Capital Blvd, Raleigh’s ugliest street and the one I live near.

Transit is a HUGE part of the RCP, both the creation of some sort of rail system, making things easier for pedestrians and lots and lots of bike lanes.

So, if you want to participate, go read the plan and comment, or attend one of the upcoming meetings.   The local libraries have paper copies of the RCP (note, you cannot remove it from the library) or there are some meetings coming up where they will explain the whole thing to you.

Most of you who know me know that I am a big believer in making the place you live better by being involved.  This is a great way to do that.  Hopefully Raleigh can one day shake its horrid nickname.

Holiday treat December 16, 2008

This weekend my folks were here, and one of the things we did was tour the NC Governor’s Mansion. The Mansion is open only a few times a year to the general public, and I had never been before.  Well, it was really cool.  We toured only the first floor (I guess the Easleys were in residence, and didn’t want the riff raff on the second floor) and it was all decked out for Christmas and really quite impressive.

The rooms are large, of course, for entertaining heads of state (and the governor of Maine, when he comes to play basketball, no that is not a lie).  There are two parlours, one pinkish and one blue.  The pinkish room had an enormous Christmas tree,  probably 20 feet high, decorated entirely in fake dogwood blooms (NC state flower) and Northern Cardinal (NC state bird) ornaments.  Truly spectacular.  The dining room has an enormous mahogany table that seats 24, and there is a music room, morning room, and one other room (that didn’t get to see all of because there was a choir performing in.  The house is a Queen Anne Style home made of clay from Anson and Wake counties, and marble steps from Cherokee county.

I had really wanted to tour the gardens: I get just enough of a glimpse of them when I wak past the house and look in the wrought iron gates to know that there is a lot going on in there.  I would love to see what the grounds crew has done.  I know they have a huge vegetable garden in back.

Interestingly enough, walking around the house on the brick sidewalk, you can see people’s names etched into the bricks. This is become I the bricks were made in a prison, and the prisoners wrote there names on the bricks!  Its kind of a neat thing.

The house is haunted of course,  by the very first governor to live there, whos lastname was Fowle.  He likes to pluck things off the Christmas tree, though the folks I spoke to said they had not seen him.

I am sorry that I have no photos, but I promise you, touring the governors house was really very cool!

My favorite week November 24, 2008

Hey all, this is my favorite week of the year.  And this year it is especially awesome.  A few things that make me happy:  I love holiday weeks at work.  Everyone is a little more relaxed, and folks are happy and excited.  Secondly, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I love having a feast day, where it is all about preparing food and hanging with friends and family.  I prefer it to Christmas, because I like eating better than the pressure of giving gifts.  Third, this week is my birthday.  Yay!  Fourth, my pals Christy and Jud are visiting from Atlanta and that is a lot of fun.  Finally, Friday is the Black Friday Beer festival.

I don’t know what you are doing for Thanksgiving, but you should come to my house.  My favorite local barbecue joint, Holy Smokes (they catered our wedding party for those of you that were there) are going to smoke my turkey for me.  Its going to be great!  No gravy, only barbecue sauce this year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Madame President October 26, 2008

I apologize for the scarcity of post these days, but I am about to take over as the new President of the Wake Audubon Society and we are having some cash flow issues.  I have been knee deep in writing a fundraising letter (oh, quit snickering, I have multiple editors on that project, thank you) and reading up on all sorts of interesting things like membership (how to expand) fundraising ideas (besides the letter) and getting ready for our annual board retreat (I sort of don’t like calling it a retreat because really, its just an all day meeting).  After next weekend I promise, more posts!

A now, a word about our backyard July 27, 2008

We used to have a lovely, deep, in ground pool.  In the winter, it looked like this.  Then we got rid of it which was a lot of work for us and took 2 years.  But it came together, see here, here, and here.   In the meantime, I discovered gardening.  Which is sort of funny…for years people would show me around their gardens and I always thought “eh”.  Then, all of a sudden, I got hooked.  I think it was due in part to my boss, a plant geek, because as we traveled around the state he was always pointing out nifty plants, and that got me interested.  Additionally, one nice thing about working where I do is that I am surrounded by native plant experts who are always wanting to share either plants on information about them.

Fast forward, and the back yard looks pretty good (I need to go get a photo).  Last year we had quite a drought, which was unfortunate for many reasons, one of which being that had I bought all sorts of plants with some wedding money last May and then many of them did not survive.  I learned the hard way that in NC its best to plant in the fall! Some things hung on, and combined with things already in there it looks pretty good. Currently blooming:  Black and Blue Salvia,  Swamp Hibiscus,  some variety of Black-eyed Susan, Joe-Pye Weed, and New York Ironweed.

I really prefer using native plants, for one they are adapted to the soil and the climate.  Secondly, they tend to be very useful to bees, butterflies and birds.  Yesterday a Ruby-throated Hummingbird came to the salvia while Chris and I were standing there!  I recently read an article in Audubon Magazine about native bees so I am on a kick to make some bee houses.  (We have bird houses already, of course)!  I have tried veggies….last summer my sister in law and I grew vegetables together at her house (she has an all-sun yard) but the drought did a number on them, plus it turned out to be a lot of work.  Not necessary when we have so many farmer’s markets in the area!  Annuals don’t do much for me; I think its too much work.  Perennials, however, I do love.  And vines.  In fact, I think I may have a vine problem!  Thank goodness we have so much chain link fence left over from the pool days.  The vines can climb around all they need.

I already have a list together of plants to buy this fall, now that the backyard is doing well I am focusing my attention on the front yard, which is a weedy mess.  I have a few things in there, but the soil is just so crappy!  I hope to glean from my coworkers a list of NC natives that LOVE red clay.  I can hardly wait for the fall plant sales.  Chris, you better lock up our credit cards!!

Final Swamp Dispatch July 21, 2008

Well, its done. Field season is over!  Now I get to work in the office and resume the daily game of trying to find a parking space in Raleigh.  I just lost the space I have been using for the last year, and I haven’t gotten my new bus pass yet.

Not much to say about the swamp last week:  we had lovely weather,  extremely pretty full moon nights, and our boss took us out for a fancy dinner, even.  The bird work was dull (currently our birds are just chilling out, eating and feeding babies before migration) and we spent a lot of time packing gear.  Moving day, and just in time.  I really thought parts of our trailer floor was going to give way from rot at any moment. It sagged like a hammock!

This weekend was a big celebration, a rowdy night of drinking on Friday at Landmark with a lot of pals (thanks, ya’ll for coming!) and Saturday a nice dinner at J. Betskis with Carter and Chris.   It is good to be back.  I really like August because for me its a nice break between the chaos of constant field season travel and the chaos of the school year routine of managing interns, part timers, and students.   August for me is a time to get ready for big fall projects (and I have a lot this year, thanks to the meetings in Oklahoma this spring) and reflect on what I want to accomplish at the museum.   Also on the agenda is cleaning my office, which (and this comes as no surprise to those of you who have seen my house or car) looks like a tornado went through it.

There are also a lot of really fun things to do in Raleigh this summer, and I haven’t gotten to take advantage of most of them yet.  Outdoor movies at the art museum, the Raleigh paddle trail, doing lots of mountain biking which is my new favorite thing, and going to a Bulls or Railhawks game.  Plus, cooking in my own kitchen!  Its going to be a great month.  Y’all should come visit!

Dispatches from the Swamp #2 June 9, 2008

People, it is hot, hot, hot out there and no one is more aware of it than those of us working outside. Thank goodness I am in the swamp, where at least there is lots of shade (versus working in a field, for example) and this year, amazingly, the mosquitoes are not terrible! We are also very fortunate to have a great swimming hole nearby. On the con side, our double wide trailer is an oven when we get home from work and our window A/C units cannot cut it. Nonetheless, it was a week filled with birds, snakes, and sweating.

Lets talk about snakes, baby

This week I had a lot of snake encounters. I guess because its so warm. I saw a bunch of non venomous kingsnakes and ratsnakes which are pretty nifty because they come in a variety of different colors and patterns (I searched for a good link, but no luck, go check your local library). The prettiest I saw had black spots surrounded by white outlines, really good looking. Probably on its way to eat some bird babies. I also saw a baby Copperhead and despite their bad reputation, they are a truly spiffy snake. Mostly nocturnal, so I don’t really ever see them.

Now you get introduced to my pet peeve: people who think that every snake is venomous. I understand, completely, that a lot of folks don’t really like or are afraid of snakes. That is understandable: I don’t like and fear heights, and lots of other things too. But the mass hysteria surrounding snakes is really unbelievable. Do you live in a suburban or urban area? Guess what, that is NOT a venomous snake in your yard! North Carolina alone has about 25 species of snakes and only 4 of them are venomous. And venomous snakes are not only rare, but they can’t tolerate people and development.  It makes me sad because so many other species of snakes are killed because they are mistakenly identified.

Anyway, enough preaching.  Here is a handy link that can answer all your snake questions!

The Power of a Cleanup April 5, 2008

Today I took part in the Neuse River Cleanup here in Raleigh. It made me think about volunteering and littering. (Well, I was out there picking up trash not usually within conversation range of anyone else for about 4 hours!)

I am a big believer in giving back to the community. I thought about that a lot today. Because I was knee deep in wet vegetation on a Saturday morning. And I am out doing volunteer work on many Saturday mornings.  Maybe I should spend more time doing things for myself?  None of my pals volunteer to the extent that I do, and so perhaps I am missing some sort of self indulgent element of life? But you know, I volunteer because I want to. In a different way than getting a massage is self indulgent, but, it makes me happy. Plus, you get that warm fuzzy feeling of doing something good. Best of all even with a small number of people (we had 7 folks from Wake Audubon to do our section of the river) you can get stuff done. Our section certainly looks much nicer than it did yesterday.

Ok, on to littering. First of all, people who litter drink a lot of Nu-Grape. Who drinks Nu-Grape? No one I know. I don’t think I have ever tried it myself. They also drink a lot of alcohol, but that is to be expected. We picked up 48 bags of trash, 3 tires, a bike (I found another but it was so buried in the mud it is now part of the ecological web), a metal frame for towing a car on a trailer, a tennis racket, a purple martin house, and a saw blade for a table saw.

As a bonus I saw my first Blue Grey Gnatcatcher of the year!! Also heard Blue-headed Vireo and a few warblers I could not identify. I need to refresh my birding by ear, clearly.