Ryan Jacobs

I heard a new weather term this evening : Red Flag Warning. My first thought was of the type of flag flown on beaches during a pending hurricane. 

However, it is actually used to describe conditions that are dry and windy.

Wikipedia on Red Flag Warning:

A Red Flag Warning is a forecast warning issued by the United States National Weather Service to inform area firefighting and land management agencies that conditions are ideal for wildland fire ignition and propagation

Interestingly enough, many news outlets take this opportunity to make a rather odd warning. In a nutshell, the warning may be summarized as follows:

During Red Flag Warning, be careful with fire and don’t toss your lit cigarettes or matches into the grass. Oh, and if you do controlled burns, be careful too.

Indeed, it is good advice in general to be careful with fire, I am not disputing that.

However, the manner in which the advice is dispensed makes it sound like outside of Red Flag Warnings, the act of flinging a flinging a lit match or cigarette into the grass is perfectly safe and acceptable. And then, in an effort to point out that the story isn’t targeting smokers, it will point out how those conducting controlled burns should also be careful. 

I am not sure what to make of it, but find it a bit peculiar.

What is A 588 G? 

Who is John Galt?

I don’t have a clue what it means, but it was stamped on one of the bolts holding together a bridge over the Big Darby creek in Prairie Oaks Metro Park. 

A 588 G

Rebecca and I are getting the house ready for a series of safety inspections for our home study. We’ll need to come up with evacuation routes for a fire, and will need to cover our unused outlets among other things. 

Here are two ideas from “The Simpson’s”  that I am guessing wouldn’t pass muster even though they are funny and have at least a kernel of truth in them:

Fire Evacuation

 I think this poster is the situation that most people experience in a real fire. No, not grilling ribs over an open flame indoors, but panic.  Not good. 

Escape Route

This poster actually isn’t that bad. We have found we’ll need to have fire escape ladders on our second floor because the best route might be out the window. However, tied blankets aren’t likely that reliable. 

While this may seem comical, it really is a good idea to have a solid plan in place for an emergency with or without children in the house.

I made an attempt to get to Appomattox Courthouse this evening, but the park was closed and so I was disappointed that I couldn’t get closer to the site. That said, the drive was beautiful and the area was quite moving. I don’t recall visiting any other place in America that instills such a sense of history while seeming quite natural and uncommercialized. It was quite moving.

While I couldn’t get into the park, there were several historical markers. 

The one in the photo below is a monument to the Raine family and lists birth and death dates of several family members. I never realized it when I took the photo, but there is an oddity on the left face of the marker. 

You’ll notice the listing of a daughter born to J.A. and Hannah E. Raine, but there is no first name listed, just a block of text where a name should be. The birth and death date tragically reveal she was just over a year old when she died. 

Did she never receive a name, or is there some other explanation for this? 

Raine Family Memorial

I am assuming that to the Raine family, this is not a mystery, but it is to me. Please leave a comment if you know the answer.

In my 30 minute Lynchburg photo-shoot, I also learned that John Lynch founded the city in 1786. I have the picture to prove it.  I am assuming that it would be far too an elaborate prank to pull of deceit in such a public setting. 

John Lynch, founder of Lynchburg in 1786

WWI Memorial at the Lynchburg, VA courthouse

Walking up the staircase leading to the Lynchburg Courthouse has several memorials to those from Lynchburg that sacrificed their lives in wars.

Here is a pic from the WWI Memorial

I got the chance to walk quickly through the historic part of downtown Lynchburg before the sun went down.  The architecture is interesting to look at, I wish there were more of it. 

The Amazing Square building was interesting.

Death To All Insects

Here is a pic of the Courthouse, which is now a museum of Lynchburg history.  I guess this is a fairly famous view — it was one of the pictures hanging in my hotel room.

Lynchburg Courthouse

I chose to drive to Lynchburg, VA this week and had a wonderful drive there. I hope the drive back is as good. It was a gorgeous day filled with lovely scenery. If I had more time, I would have loved to take more pictures. 

James River Foot Bridge, Black and White

Since there was a small parking lot close to this scene where one could put in a small boat like a kayak or canoe, I stopped and took this picture. A bit of googling revealed that I was taking a picture of the James River Foot Bridge. I hope that is correct.

The black and white treatment worked really well on this one. Below is a different shot in color:

James River Foot Bridge

 
The sun came out today and even though it was still pretty frigid an slippery with ice, I felt like a walk was in order. I took a few pics along the way. This is a pic of ice on a shrub I saw while out walking.

 

Frozen Foliage

 This is just another piece of frozen foliage I saw that I thought was interesting. 

More Frozen Foliage

When the snow has fallen, one of the interesting things to observe is the pattern of footprints around the house.  Often, children will run through the yard, or we’ll see the trail of the gas meter reader. 

Yesterday, we found an interesting set of prints on our doormat: a single set of bird prints. From what I could tell, it appears that the bird flew directly onto our mat, perhaps knocked on our door and flew away again without taking a step.