Mount Up

I took a lunch-walk around the Green in Dover today. It was a crisp, blue-sky day, so I took some pictures.

The Green has a few marble mounting-blocks on the brick sidewalks outside some of the more venerable Victorian houses. These were most likely once used to help ladies and gentlemen climb into their carriages. I imagine they may also have been used to help folks mount their horses.

I've always thought they were a quaint addition to the historic-ness of the Green. I was charmed today to find a Mustang waiting patiently by one of the mounting blocks.

Filed in:

• irony
• dover

Two Word Protest

A new commercial building is going up in what once was about an acre-sized field near Lewes. It is behind, and I assume will replace, an older single-family house that has been turned into a real estate office.

Today I noticed a new protest by the folks who live in the next field over. They've posted their feelings about the new office building rather, well, prominently.

I'm not certain how long this protest has been in place. I only pass this property at the right angle to see this face of this fence once a week. At best.

I hope this doesn't go the way that that incident with the painted spite fence went up in Red Lion back at the end of 2003 and the start of 2004. A property-line dispute there led to a fence being built, being painted a fluorescent green and orange, and eventually hung with a variety of underwear.

We don't need that.

Filed in:

• growth
• development
• Sussex

Fare Well, Young Del

Del, also known as The Delawarean, has decided to hang up his keyboard. At least where his blog is concerned.

Last week he reached 10,000 hits; a milestone he had picked for blog-reevaluation.

He has decided to focus on other projects. With a new home, new job, and new challenges, I think Del has plenty to keep him busy.

We'll miss him, but I think we all understand.

Can I out your real name now, Mr. D?

Filed in:

• Delaware
• blogging

A Small Update to the Blogroll

I've re-tagged two of the blogs I track with "inactive-blog." This moves them off my blogrolls in the sidebar.

I try to go through the blogs in my list each month. As a general rule, those that have been silent for a month are removed.

I am sorry to see that Tim Slavin has stopped posting to his blog. I thought it was an interesting experiment in blogging by an elected official. The other inactive blog is DelaVision, which ironically fell silent after bragging about how the long-silent DelaVoice now redirects to DelaVision.

Now that I'm managing the blogrolls with del.icio.us, it should be easier to recheck these blogs and re-add them if they wake up.

Filed in:

• blogging
• blogroll
• inactive-blog

New Toy

This is my anniversary gift from the lovely Karen. She had decided that I should have one of these Chimineas, which I have wanted since I saw my friend Andy's, but she asked me to find the right one for me.

This is a nice gift. I like to burn wood.

I took a vacation day yesterday to take Christina to an orthodontist appointment. After I dropped her back at school, I had time to wander around under cloud-flecked blue skies and take a few photos.

I found this Chiminea at a shop along Route 113, north of Selbyville. I liked the flower motif and the fact that it has two openings.

I had time for a first fire late in the afternoon. I'm told one needs to start small, with modest fires that are allowed to burn slowly out, to cure the Chiminea. I hope to try another this evening, if we have time.

Filed in:

• chiminea
• fire
• deck
• outdoors

What Makes an Icon?

Dolles is a candy shop on the Boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I've photographed those red letters up there a few times. This one is one of my favorites.

Scanning through photos from "my contacts" on flickr this afternoon, I noticed that salnunzio has also posted a nice shot of the Dolles sign.

It turns out that we're not the only ones.

It got me thinking about those images -- signs, views, vistas -- that have become icons. The Dolles sign is an icon for the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk, I guess.

It's hard to think of the boardwalk without it.

Filed in:

• Rehoboth
• Dolles
• Sign
• icon

55555

This afternoon, driving home from work, I rolled 55,555 miles on my Prius. I rolled 50,000 back in June.

I've made a habit -- or tried to -- of snapping pictures when the digits line up. I caught it at 44,444. I missed 33,333. I captured 22,222, but I don't think I managed 11,111.

Maybe with the next car I can be a bit more obsessive.

It's Nice to Know That It's Not Just Around Here

I got a kick out of a blog posting on DenverInfill Blog about the naming of suburban developments.

In Guide to Suburban Denver Subdivision Names, Ken Schroeppel has created a sort of cheat sheet -- Chinese Restaurant Carry-out Menu-Style -- for the naming of subdivisions.

Thus, we might get "The Sanctuary at Hawk Tree Crossing" or "The Estates at Silver Gate Meadows."

I'm often amazed (appalled?) at the names tacked-on to the multitude of suburban developments here in coastal Sussex. And I see a trend similar to that Mr. Schroeppel notes.

We have more than a few subdivisions with pretentious names like "The Enclave" or "The Preserves." Near my home, you will find Wolfe Runne, which we here in town refer to as "Wolf-EE Run-EE." That's one that shares with places like "The Meadows" or "Red Fox Run" another trend: name the subdivision after that which it displaces.

My current favorite (and I use that word advisedly) is "The Ridings at Rehoboth." "Ridings," I guess to highlight the horsey-ness of our area. Actually, the horsey area is a bit farther west. But we'll let that go.

What gets me is that "at Rehoboth." This "Ridings" is west of Lewes, out on Beaverdam Road and about 8 to 10 miles from Rehoboth Beach. Depending on how you make the drive.

Some of what is between Rehoboth Beach and its "Ridings:" West Rehoboth. Midway. Five Points. Belltown. And Robinsonville.

Of course, naming something as "At Rehoboth" or "[insertname], Lewes" raises the price considerably.

There's a development down near Bethany Beach which has a fancy, gated entrance on one road that is never open. It has several other entrances on another road that are not gated and are always open.

I always wondered why that was.

A colleague who used to work in the County Mapping and Addressing office explained that a development with an entrance on the one road would get a Bethany Beach ZIP Code. An entrance on the other road would mean an Ocean View ZIP Code. Not that the development would be actually in either town; the only difference would be that ZIP Code and which named post office would be in their address.

Ocean View is a great little town. But a Bethany Beach address is worth several tens of thousands of dollars more. Never mind that the residents use the Ocean View Road.

Perception, it seems, is reality.

Filed in:

• growth
• development
• sprawl
• irony

Out From Under The Clouds

It's not that I haven't had anything to say the last few days. It's just that I have felt too cruddy to want to put together a blog entry.

My first cold of the new school year started Wednesday, and built to a crescendo of congestion, sneezing, and headache yesterday. I tried lots of fluids, some rest, and moderate medication. I awoke feeling a bit more human this morning.

Yesterday, feeling too lousy to get about much, I started playing with LibraryThing. It's not particularly new, but is new to me. It allows you to create an index of your library.

I did wander outside at one point while a crop-duster was working on one of the fields just outside of Lewes.

Today was nice enough, and I was feeling chipper enough, to get out and mow the lawn. I was finally able to get an almost decent photo of one of the many spiders that have set-up shop around the outside of the house.

This evening, while Colleen was exercising her horse, I got to play around with, and photograph, the new kittens at the barn.

Filed in:

• blogging
• health

Art From Ashes

Ever since I've had a blog-roll, I've had a link to Wooster Collective, a site "dedicated to showcasing and celebrating ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world."

The September 11 entry on Wooster is a bit of history; Wooster Collective: Our Story. The site founder explains that at the time of the attacks, he and his partner were living near the World Trade Center in the West Village.

He watched the second plane hit. He watched the towers fall. More importantly, he watched the city come together as a community.

And it was at this time, in the days immediately after September 11, that we discovered ephemeral art. Until then we had no idea what street art was. But the attacks of September 11th had made us hyper-aware of our surroundings. We began exploring Lower Manhattan like never before. We were now seeing the city in a completely different way, with new eyes and a new heart. Everything, and everyone, around us was now suddenly important. And it was in these days immediately after September 11th that we began noticing street art everywhere we went.

He started photographing. Eventually he put what he found on-line. It caught on, and Wooster Collective was born. I am paraphrasing. The full post is well worth a read.

It's heartening to find another positive result of the attacks of 9/11. It shows that humans are capable of creating good from evil. You have only to keep looking, and keep your heart open.

Filed in:

• art
• 911
• history