I Wonder if There's Going to be an "Open Fort?"

Each summer, either going to or heading home from The Tyler Place, we pass Fort Montgomery. It is a weathered 19th-century military installation that juts out into Lake Champlain on the New York side just south of the Canadian border.

I've often thought it might be cool to visit, but it doesn't look like it is "open."

It turns out that, for just the low, low price of somewhere between 3 and 9.95 million dollars, it could be ours! The fort, and some additional land, is on sale on eBay, according to the web site The Lay of the Land:

365 acres with frontage on, and under, Lake Champlain is for sale in northern New York. The property comes with a 19th century fortification, Fort Montgomery, that while in need of some repair, is still largely intact. Furthermore, the property abuts the Canadian Border, making this an excellent opportunity to add to the defense of the nation.

I could be tempted. Ever since we started visiting in Vermont, both Karen and I have thought about moving there. It's a lovely place and that far upstate part of New York is nice too.

But Colleen and Christina won't hear of it. They want to stay here in Delaware where they have life-long friends.

I can respect that. But a fort on Lake Champlain would be pretty neat. And maybe we could get some cannons. (Via BLDG BLOG)

At Herring Point

I found a spot of local beach I'd not been on before on Sunday.

I took advantage of the bright sunshine and warmer weather to go in search of a few benchmark locations in Cape Henlopen State Park. I found that the Parks folks have opened up some new beach access points, making it easier to get onto the beach at Herring Point, near the Great Dune.

This is an interesting spot. The beach has eroded enough to uncover old tree stumps from when there was a coastal forest here. There are old jetties and breakwaters and birds and shells and dunes and grasses.

I also took some time to climb to the top of the coastal gun emplacement bunker at Fort Miles. It gives a fine view of the Point of the Cape and of the Harbor of Refuge.

Please don't tell anyone, but this time of year is really the best time of year to see Cape Henlopen State Park.

I Get So Confused

"Only count your sunny houres"
Originally uploaded by bc anna.

I get confused about daylight savings time. I have to stop and think whether we are entering it or leaving it. I think we've just entered it and now should call our hours "EDT."

The Daylight Savings switch always leads to a day or two of general uncertainty for me. We handle the clocks with no problem, but the difference in daylight as it relates to the clock leaves me feeling disconnected for a while.

I understand that measured time, as we have diced it up with our 24-hour clocks and what-not, is itself an artificial construct. But I get used to how the day is parceled out and measured. When we change that, even slightly, I feel out of sorts.

Here's An Even More Radical Idea

There's been some discussion lately here in the First State about selling off one or more of our Toll Roads as a way to fund transportation improvements.

If you think that that would be a drastic step, you're not likely to endorse the proposal put forward (we hope with tongue in cheek) by a blog called "The Needs of the Few" out in the Midwest: "Let’s outsource Delaware."

It sounds radical, maybe even a little extreme. But it’s a win-win proposition. We’ll sell off Delaware to the highest bidder. I’m thinking it would probably go to Europe, because Europe seems to be fond of lackadaisical countries that seemingly have no purpose (reference Portugal, Belgium, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg). We’ll be rid of the deadweight, and the profits from the sale will go towards the budget deficit. Probably no one would even notice that Delaware was gone, as it’s merely the 46th most populous state in the nation. No one even lives there.

I live here. I might notice.

...and Then It Warmed Up

Here's what the Snow Girl looked like late this morning. We've warmed up considerably since Wednesday's pretty snowfall and Thursday's icy roads.

We found a trace of snow, the buttons that made up parts of the face, and the carrot nose. I'm impressed that the ball that formed the head was still visible as a separate part.

Walking in Dover, yesterday, I found a small patch of snow hiding in the shadow of a bench.

I imagine that's gone now too.

The Final Crop?

We live in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, an area that has grown at what sometimes seems an alarming pace in the 21 years we've been here. Sussex has traditionally been a rural county, with an economy dominated by agriculture. Eastern Sussex, where our town of Lewes is located, is a retirement and resort area, featuring beaches, ocean and bays. We still have farmland, but it is devolving into developments around us.

That's why I'm fascinated by an art project in Arizona, near Phoenix. Matthew Moore is an artist who is watching his family farm fall to encroaching development. His response has been a series of art projects using the remaining fields as his canvas.

Rotations: Moore Estates is an exact replica of the first planned community being built on my family's land. The homes have been planted in sorghum and the roads in a black-bearded wheat. The project is a third scale of the actual development, which can be seen to the east of the project.

Mr. Moore has also carved a new-home floor-plan into a 20-acre field of barley.

I've always enjoyed corn mazes, but this is something bigger.

(With thanks to WFMU's Beware of the Blog)

Snow Day? Snow Girl.

We didn't get a huge amount of snow yesterday, but it was enough to cover the roads and the night was cold enough to turn that covering to ice, at least on the back roads. The result was a day off from school for Karen and the girls.

Christina made her traditional Snow Girl. Much of the snow had melted by the time I returned this evening. Snow Girl was gamely hanging on.

Paul's Back

Paul has brought his Progressive Postings out of the garage. He says the fall election was enough to keep him happily qiuet for four months

It took awhile for me to return from cloud nine. Progressives had a slew of victories last November, however it is time to get back to work.

And he does, looking into issues both national and local. Welcome back, Paul!

Did I Jinx It?

There I was on Saturday, thinking spring and digging higher temperatures. I called the change of season too soon, I guess.

This evening, we're looking out at about three inches of snow that fell during the day today. It's not a spring snow, either. This is a fluffy cold-weather snow.

We could see school delays in the morning. The main roads look mostly wet, as evidenced by this image from shortly after 8:00 p.m., just outside Rehoboth Beach. Things could be a tad slick in the morning.

Thanks to the DelDOT Interactive Traffic Map site for the image.

Feeling The Urge to Get Outside

It feels like spring is just around the corner. Stormy skies have given way to sunshine and rising temperatures. The days are getting longer.

In younger days, this sort of weather made me want to drive down back roads in rural Maine, listening to acoustic Grateful Dead and looking for water -- ponds, lakes, the Gulf of Maine -- and mountains. Water and mountains represent nature for me; I always want to get out into or onto them at this time of year.

Now that I'm older and more settled, this time of year has me looking at the yard with a gardener's eye. I'm not very good at it, but yard work brings me that same natural feeling.

This is also when my urge to walk and take photos comes on strong. I've spent the last two months nursing back and sciatic problems. Yesterday, though, I took a short lunchtime ramble (about a mile and half) in Dover. It was a test-walk and I wasn't crippled by pain.

Things are looking up.