Thursday Thirteen #950

Things that March teaches you -

1. Patience, because the ground thaws when it’s ready and not a day sooner.

2. Timing, because there a narrow space between too early and too late. Plant too early, you lose your seedlings. Wait too long, and the heat will burn them.

3. When to wait, especially when mud or weather would only punish you for pushing ahead. Take a tractor through a muddy field and you'll pay for it later when you have to mow.

4. When to act, catching the small openings March gives you before they close again. That means grabbing a warm day to clear the weeds from the garden or a wet day to catch up on reading.

5. How to read mud, because its color, its pull, all tell a story about the week that was and the week that will be.

6. How to read sky, noticing which clouds mean “go” and which mean “wrap it up.” Stay too long and you'll find yourself in an early thunderstorm.

7. How to read yourself, the places where winter still lingers in your body. You'll know it by the ache in your bones.

8. The value of a good list when everything feels half-started. It's so easy to forget that you've already bought zucchini seeds.

9. The value of ignoring that list when the day rearranges itself. Take the time to forget the list and watch the sunset. There's enormous value in that soft beauty.

10. What’s predictable: the same gates, the same low spots, the same chores returning on cue. They're rather endless on a farm. Actually, they're endless in life, they just change their shape.

11. What never is predictable are surprises, equipment breakdowns, fast-brewing storms that rewrite the day.

12. What returns, like green grass, birdsong, light in the evening, and the sense of a year beginning again.

13. What doesn’t return, like the birds that nested in the tree that fell over during the ice storm, and how to keep working with what remains, like what to do with those broken limbs.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 950th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

How I Am

Not that anyone's asked, really, and I don't normally write about health issues, but at the moment, I have:

1) a superficial thrombophlebitis, which is to say, a blood clot in my calf that is not a deep vein thrombosis but instead is on the outside of my leg. It hurts and aches, and there's swelling. It started February 20 and has not yet quite resolved. I can still see a remnant of the clot through the skin in my leg.

2) an impingement in my right shoulder along with a sprained acromion bone. I did this by falling off the treadmill. My physical therapist says I should be back to playing the guitar in a few weeks.

3) my normal health issues of chronic abdominal pain, ulcers, and other issues that I won't go into. 

It's also been a difficult six weeks since my father died, for reasons I won't go into now, but death has its own weight to it and each of us must bear whatever that poundage may be and in whatever way we find it best to handle. 

When friends or family pass away, there is always a change, for good or ill, and we can only navigate it the best way we know how to at the time. We may look back and wish things had gone differently, but humans move forward through life, not backwards, and all we can do is the best we can at the time with the knowledge we have at that moment. 

Most of us do the best we can. Those who like to judge may find that my best is wanting in their mind, but that's on them, if they must find fault. As for me, I deal with my own demons and let others fight their own. There are plenty to go around.

Colonel William Preston and the Greenfield Legacy

With Virginia and the nation celebrating 250 years of freedom from England in 2026, I thought it might be fun to occasionally bring up some local history. At one time, Botetourt County stretched all the way to the Mississippi and into Wisconsin, which means my county's history is also the history of much of the nation.

The Botetourt Center at Greenfield, now an industrial park in Botetourt County, VA, was once part of a 20,000-acre spread owned by Revolutionary War hero Colonel William Preston.

Preston came to Virginia from Ireland in 1729, when he was nine years old. As a young man, he was active in the formation of Botetourt County. He was named First Surveyor, coroner, Escheator, and Member of the House of Burgesses. He also served as Colonel of the Militia when Botetourt County was formed from Augusta County in 1769.

He purchased Greenfield in 1759 and lived there until 1774, when he moved to Smithfield in present-day Montgomery County. In 1775, he was one of the signers of the Fincastle Resolutions, one of the earliest local documents to express support for American independence.

When Preston died in 1783, he was thought to be the wealthiest man in the state.

Six of Preston’s 12 children were born at Greenfield, and his legacy has left a large footprint on the nation. Preston descendants founded six universities and influenced two others — including Columbia College in South Carolina, now the University of South Carolina, and the University of Chicago.

Additionally, Preston’s descendants served in the Virginia House of Delegates and in the U.S. Congress. His son, James Patton Preston, served as governor of Virginia from 1816 to 1819.

When the county purchased Greenfield, the supervisors authorized an extensive review of the historic assets on the property. The remaining structures are pre-Civil War and include a slave dwelling and kitchen.

The kitchen measures 16 by 18 feet and faces the southwest wall of the original mansion, which no longer stands. The slave dwelling is a log saddlebag double slave house located west of the house site.

The house foundation is the remains of a structure built in the antebellum era. Historic photographs indicate the structure was a two-story brick dwelling before it burned. There is also an outbuilding dating back to approximately 1834.

One cemetery contains a number of Preston family graves. Another has been partitioned off with white fencing and is thought to be the burial ground for the Black servants of the Prestons.

Up until about 2007, the historic structures were untouched and unprotected, with old logs exposed to weather, until the county stepped in to secure the buildings.

The Botetourt Center at Greenfield is a 922-acre site the county purchased for $4.5 million in 1995. The land was divided into an industrial area, a parks and recreation area, and a school area. The county built Greenfield Elementary School and the Greenfield Education and Training Center in 2000, then completed a couple of ball fields and a $3 million sports complex at the Recreation Center at Greenfield.

Even though the county has not yet created the Greenfield historic area, the remaining structures are often visited by people who come to walk the fields or the Cherry Blossom Trail.

A memorial to Colonel Preston can be found on the grounds of the Botetourt County Administration Building. It features benches and a history of the man and the property.

Courtesy of The Fincastle Herald

From Wikipedia:

William Preston
Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from Botetourt County
In office 1769–1771 Serving with John Bowyer
Preceded by	position created
Succeeded by	Andrew Lewis
Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from Augusta County
In office 1766–1769 Serving with John Wilson
Preceded by	Israel Christian
Succeeded by	Gabriel Jones
Personal details
Born	December 25, 1729 Limavady, Ireland
Died	June 28, 1783 (aged 53) Price's Fork, Montgomery County, Virginia
Resting place	Smithfield Plantation
Nationality	American
Spouse	Susanna Smith
Occupation	surveyor, officer, planter, politician
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United Colonies
Branch/service	Virginia militia
Years of service	1765–1781
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	Draper's Meadow massacre Sandy Creek Expedition Lord Dunmore's War American Revolutionary War Battle of Guilford Courthouse

Sunday Stealing

 

National Oreo Cookie Day

1. Are you able to pass by a plate of cookies and not take one or are you a bit of a "Cookie Monster?"

A. It depends on the cookie. Chocolate chip? I'm there. Something with coconut in it? You can keep those.

2. Tell us about your favorite cookie. Have your tastes changed since you were a kid?

A. My favorite cookie is chocolate chip. I think it has always been my favorite cookie.

3. Enquiring minds want to know if you are a dunker and, if so, do you dunk in milk, coffee, or tea?

A. I am not a cookie dunker.

4. It is that time of year and they are selling them on every corner and in front of every store!  Do you buy Girl Scout cookies and if you do, which is your favorite?

A. I do not buy Girl Scout cookies. I suppose someone sells them locally, I just don't know where.

5. Raw cookie dough. Yay or Nay?

A. Yay!

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Linger

Saturday 9: Linger (1993)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries sings that her lover has her wrapped around his finger. Do you feel that anyone has you wrapped around their finger?

A. Not particularly, no. I know people who have tried but I am an independent sort. Yes, I have been married for 42 years, but it's a mutual sort of marriage.

2) This was one of the first songs Delores and Noel Hogan wrote together. They performed it often live and perfected it before going into the studio to record it approximately two years later. Because they had polished the performance and arrangement, it's not a surprise that it was the biggest hit off their debut album. Tell us about a time when your preparation paid off.

A. I worked hard to create a non-credit class for the community college about journaling. It seemed to go over well. 

3) The Cranberries believed the moody black-and-white video (linked above) playing on MTV contributed to the song's popularity. MTV and VH1 were highly influential when they showed music videos and interviews 24/7 during the 1980s and 1990s. Do you recall watching music videos on MTV and/or VH1?

A. I was partial to VH1, they played songs that were more to my liking, but yes, I remember when they actually played music videos. That was before youtube and the Internet.

4) The Cranberries were founded by brothers Noel and Mike Hogan in their hometown in Limerick, Ireland. The River Shannon runs through Limerick. Do you live near a river? 

A. I live near a pond and a creek. The closest rivers are the James River and the Roanoke River.

5) Fergal Lawler soon joined the brothers and became the Cranberries drummer. Today he says he enjoys listening to his early work with the group because, "Songs are like a snapshot in time." Do you often flip through photo albums and look at snapshots?

A. I do not flip through photo albums, but I do like to read the archives of newspapers.

6) Dolores O'Riordan showed up for her Cranberries audition dressed casually in a black tracksuit with her own Casio electronic keyboard tucked under her arm. The Hogans were impressed not only by her vocals but her no-nonsense, "let's get to work" attitude. Share a memory from one of your job interviews.

A. I was on my way to a job interview when I wrecked the car. I called and asked if I could come another day, because, well, car smashed. I also had a bad contusion on my knee. Of course, the office was up a flight of stairs that I could barely climb because my knee was so swollen, so I hobbled in there and knew immediately I wouldn't get the job, there was all of this, "Aww, look, she's limping to make it look good," kind of talk going on around me. I don't know why I bothered.

7) In 1993, when "Linger" was released, The Nanny premiered on CBS. It's remembered today for its catchy theme song, which tells the story of "the nanny named Fran." Can you recall the lyrics to theme of one of your favorite shows?

A. Here's the story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, the youngest one in curls. Here's a story, of a man named Brady, who bringing up three boys of his own. They were four men living all together, but they were all alone. Until one day when the lady met this fellow, and they knew that it was much more than a hunch. That this group, must somehow form a family, and that's the way we all became the Brady Bunch.

8) In 1993, gas was $1.11/gallon. Could your vehicle use a fill-up right now?

A. No, I am one of those people who top off the tank when it gets below a quarter full.

9) Random question: How many pairs of shoes do you own?

A. I have no idea.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

Warmer Weather

The snow and ice are gone, and now we have temperatures that are too warm for this time of year.

But thankfully, we also have things greening up, and a little yellow to make things cheerful. Thank goodness for daffodils.