9 October, 2016            Keeping your water dry

It was raining so hard in Hopewell, VA yesterday – I swear I’m not making this up – I saw a guy walking down the street holding an umbrella over a shrink-wrapped twelve pack of Aquafina water bottles. It was just the way he happened to be carrying the umbrella and the water bottles, but I couldn’t help smiling. He was using an umbrella to keep the rain off his water. 

It was appropriate that the race logo had a ship on it:

Finisher’s medal – Hopewell Sprint Tri – 2016

Andrew and I raced in the Hopewell Sprint Triathlon yesterday. We left the house for Hopewell yesterday morning at 5:30 in a pitch-black, solid, downpour. When we arrive in Hopewell forty-five minutes later it hadn’t let up. The 650 meter swim (less than half a mile) was in the Appomattox River. It rained the whole time. The fifteen mile bike was two circuits of downtown Hopewell. Kept raining, but at least it was warm. The 5k run was also in downtown Hopewell. That’s where I was when I saw the guy holding the umbrella, keeping the rain off his bottled water.

Andrew got a selfie of the two of us at breakfast at the Hopewell Quick Lunch, in business since 1927:

Andrew & me, post-race chow-down at the Hopewell Quick Lunch

That’s the only pictures from the day – it rained non-stop. Here’s something incredible – I was fourth in my age group! There were only four people in my age group, but still. I only missed third place by four minutes. I’ll have to work harder next year! 

Ophidiophobes – those with an abnormal fear of snakes – be warned. I was at Bryan Park this week and photographed a Northern Water Snake. I also photographed an Eastern Phoebe sitting on a frisbee golf basket. I’ll put that before the snake. So you’ll be prepared. Here’s the phoebe:

Eastern Phoebe on a frisbee golf basket

One more pre-snake reprieve – thanks to Evelyn our nasturtiums continue to thrive: 

Nasturtium in our yard – what an amazing sight for October

Now the snake – same day as the phoebe, same park, almost within sight of that frisbee golf basket:

October Water Snake at Bryan Park

A couple of more birds and another hasty, lame apology for the thin content of this post – my only excuses are feeble ones so I’ll skip them. This week I did see a Red-bellied woodpecker on my feeder for the first time ever:

Red-bellied woodpecker on the feeder outside my window!

This bird has a bit more significance for me. I was surprised to see a Red-bellied woodpecker on the feeder, but it’s a familiar bird for me. I first misidentified it as a Flicker, but that was just a miss on my part. I know both birds. I came home and saw this bird on my feeder for the first time on September 29. I had no idea what it was! I finally figured out that it’s a Brown-headed nuthatch (Sitta pusilla). The thing that really got me is, before I saw that, I had no idea there was such a bird. I thought sure I knew every small bird in central Virginia. Not so! Pretty little bird:

Brown-headed nuthatch – a lifetime first for me!

I don’t like to promise when I’m not sure if I can deliver, but I hope next week I’ll add some content at the end. Have a great week!

All best,

Jay