Bits and Pieces (BAP)

Fast and furious here lately.. hope you’re keeping up!  trying to stay short.. (i think i failed)

Well, the Eshelman lecture on Wednesday night was very good.  It’s hard to imagine all those steamboats plying the Patuxent, making landings every couple of days like this.  

Steamboat Dorchester at Brome's Wharf

Courtesy of St. Mary's County Historical Society

The whole presentation was videotaped and eventually will be aired on our local Channel 95.  I’ll try to pay attention and if I get some notice I’ll pass it along.  It would be worth an hour of your time if you are at all interested in the history of our fair county.  Mr. Eshelman is one of those natural speakers that is easy to listen to.  ,

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So anyway we survived the Deluge of Wednesday, although I must admit that we didn’t get too much rain here at the digs.  The arrival of the front that caused all the flooding havoc up in DC ushered in warmer air, so this morning we got treated to some interesting fog features.  I grabbed the trusty camera and went out in our back yard and took a shot of a growing fog bank just off the end of the Solomons.  While composing the shot, I noticed a bird was coming along so I craftily waited and took what I thought would be an “artsy” shot with the bird in the image (top left center)

But when I downloaded onto computer in preparation for presenting it to you, I first thought “Hey! I got a(nother) spot on my chip”  Then I remembered it was our feathered friend the crow.

In the end, I thought it distracting rather than enhancing so with the magic of Lightroom, I excused the bird for an uncluttered look at the fog bank with the unusual shape

I must admit the fog was more dramatic to the human eye than Canon’s.. Anyway, the fog eventually came in (on little cat feet?) and enveloped the digs for a while.  Always something.

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And another always something brings us back to the power poles.   Guess what showed up yesterday?

The way they string the wires between the lovely poles is with a flying machine

That tows a wire, going from pole to pole like some mechanical spider constructing a web, which isn’t far from the truth.  At the end, there is some brave soul up in a bucket to I guess catch the end of the wire.. not for a million bucks would I do that..

Anyway, I guess it’s the American way

Progress, and remember this is for our own good..  Enjoy the view

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When we went past our new Golden Corral last night, the (recently paved) parking lot was pretty much filled with cars.  I guess maybe the “opening soon” sign is becoming a fact.  And, I did notice between the opening soon messages is now “training in progress”.  Since the GC has a buffet format, maybe they don’t need speeches like: “Hi I’m….. and I’ll be..; Are ya still werkin’ on that; anything else for you guys; is everything okay?”.  Not sure what duties staff will have..  clearing perhaps, filling water glasses, I’ll never know.  I notice their website lists over 50 items (!) available..

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And (finally) lastly, I got some interesting feedback on my little rant about Acronyms the other day.  It was pointed out that I was “Hysterically Hypocritical” in my criticizing the use of acronyms. Well, LOL!  LMAO!, but TBT I think it might be a fair criticism.  I DO use a lot of arcane acronyms, such as MFO, FOJTE, DMOTRWAT, and so forth.  True statement.  But, they always have a purpose.  They are not indiscriminately thrown in for what effect?  Do people really laugh out loud, don’t they ever just chuckle to themselves (CTT)?  Anyway appreciate somebody pointing out the dichotomy.. good point, and keep me on my toes!.  And especially for you

DFD

Special Remedial Edition and Event Notice..

Well, in the last posting about Le Refuge, I mentioned a couple of times about “getting old”; another feature of same is the loss of memory (and I can’t remember the other..)

Anyway I was taken to task (by MFO) for failing to include notice a neat event that will take place tonight over in Leonardtown.  I give people stuff for late notices, and this certainly qualifies, but maybe better than no notice at all.

Dr. Ralph Eshelman is a nationally known historian who has written many books on history and cultural resource management.  We are lucky to have him living in our area, and even more lucky that he will be speaking tonight on “Steamboats and Wharves on the Patuxent River”.  I believe it will cover the late 19^th and early 20^th century when steam power gave way to other forms of aquatic propulsion. 

His talk will begin at 6:30 in the “Commissioners Building” which I believe also goes by the “Chesapeake Building”.  It’s the newer of the two where the Board has lived lately.  I have heard him speak before, and it’s worth going out for.  It is presented by the St. Mary’s County Historical Preservation Commission and is free and open to the public (as they say).  Since I am fairly well acquainted with the chairperson of said Commission, I’ll be there..

Unsolicited feeder comment:  given the start time, the question is, when do you

DFD?  before or after???

Lunch in a Safe Haven

You know you’re getting old when you figure out what day it is by looking at your daily pill box… which hole is empty??

Yesterday we found (well, by design, more later on that) ourselves on the Virginia side of greater DC around lunch time so we decided to take lunch before returning to the land of chains.  We were near Old Town Alexandria and saw Le Refuge, a restaurant I had heard about and always wanted to try but never visited.  It’s right on King Street; with kind of an unassuming front, looking like it has been there for years, which, in fact it has!  We were a bit surprised that they were open, as most respectable French restaurants are closed on Monday.  But we were glad they were, and went in.  Due to the relatively early hour there were few tables occupied and MFO and our friend were seated at a nice table that afforded us a good view of the restaurant.  It also cried out “been here forever” with has all sorts of “stuff” on the walls

Kind of puts you in mind of our own French Restaurant, Café Des Artistes.  

We were soon greeted by our server, a mid-aged gentleman who delivered two separate menus (regular and specials) and asked if we wanted something to drink.  The menus were all encased in plastic, tri fold for the regular menu and single casing for the dailies.  The other side of the specials menu contained a rather uninteresting wine by the glass list, which looked like it had… been there forever..  whites were a sauvignon blanc, a white Bordeaux, and a chardonnay.  There were a few more reds, but I stuck with the white Bordeaux.  MFO tried the sauvignon blanc, and our friend stuck with a beer (Stella, as I recall).

Turning to food, there were several daily specials mostly of seafood one of which was “fresh soft shell crab” at which we kind of raised our eyebrows, but did also include coq au vin, and pot au feu.  The “regular” menu contained most of the French dishes you might expect.  After a bit of thrashing around between Poissons and Viandes, I settled on “Escalope de Veau Francaise”, described as sort of a Piccata presentation, and our friend also stayed on land with a Filet du Porc au Roquefort.  We also decided on a shared a starter of Mousse De Foie Gras De Canard Au Cognac.    By now, I would hope the alert readership can figure out what we had.  MFO staying light had two appetizers, a beet salad and stuffed mushroom caps.  Our entrees came with choice of salad and we both took Salade Caesar.

It will be (painful and) difficult for me to describe the meal.  An unfortunate side effect of this miserable, never ending, coughing and hacking &%^$#@ cold/flu I keep having is that my senses of taste and smell have become almost non-existent.   I keep hoping that “maybe today” I can taste something.  Well, yesterday still was not that day.  The Pate was mostly texture to me, although a hint did sneak through a bit. The presented main course plates were fairly nicely put together, but certainly not nouvelle cuisine style, mine containing about four palm sized veal cutlets, quite thin, with a nice sear on them, and a nice (looking) sauce, some Dauphinoise potatoes, and little serving of what I was told was red cabbage and onions..  looked good.  Our friend’s pork was nicely cooked and a fork traded sample had a nice mouth feel, but the Roquefort could have been mayonnaise as far as I could discern.  I can think of no worse affliction that to have your sense of taste eliminated.

One oddity (?) was that when our plates were served, we were told that the plates were very hot. (thank goodness NOT by the standard “watch that plate…” speech).  Just a statement of fact: The plates are hot.   And indeed they were!  Pretty much couldn’t touch them.  There was a large temperature difference between the plate and the food.  The food was just at a good temperature and it showed none of the usual signs of being tucked under a heat lamp like skin on sauce, or dry top of entrée.  A bit of research uncovered that fact that some French restaurants would keep the plates in the oven and get them out just before plating or holding the item just short of being done and finish it in the oven before adding sides and sauces.

So I THINK the food was good.  My computer says their website is “dangerous”, so I have not been there,  but a reference from the Washington Post says: “The menu is retro; the specials are up-to-date; the side dishes are reliably good”.  Don’t think I could quarrel with that.  One time visit, one day, yadda yadda, bu I think they seem to be kind of resting on the “been there forever” reputation.  They did not make the Washingtonian’s 100 best restaurant list for the past two years..  Probably some better French options around.  Still, I was glad to go..

The Acronym Graveyard

Mercifully, there is I think a “graveyard of phrases”, where the corpses of things like: take it to the next level; game changer; jaw dropping; and so forth are resting peacefully.  Being a sports person, I would wish that soon we will see (basketball) “three ball” taken off life support.  As far as I know Brent Musburger, is one of the few (only?) user of the phrase.  And some of those comments might apply to Brent himself, but we won’t go there.

Anyway I think it is time to open an annex for acronyms.  And as a lurker on FaceBook, I would like to commend LOL to an eternal rest.  We get it, okay? It is in virtually every clever post, I guess put there to make sure us sluggard readers know they are joking.  BFF about ready to go? LMAO is maybe next, although that is a bit more colorful.    I see recently there has been a proliferation to TBT, which to be honest I had to go look up to find it’s meaning.  Does that mean the writer is sometimes lying to us?  In looking it up, I found others.  Do you know BOF means “Whatever?”  back to the top: you know you’re getting old when….

C U L8R!

DFD

Just a little of this and that...

Well, it has been a week since I’ve pestered you, but it has been a busy week here in Lake Wobegon.   I have been fighting a losing battle with the germs that kept MFO down for almost a week, so have felt pretty bad all week.  And, as a few may remember or know, I also write a little piece for the Tourism folks for their website.  Although they update it monthly it seems like their deadline is every week so that absorbed time and brain power as well.

In casting about for a suitable subject for them (I can’t really rant about the power poles, or proliferation of chain restaurants for instance) I somehow delved into Rye Whiskey (ingredient of original Manhattan).  Imagine that.  During prohibition, St. Mary’s County was very active in the business of making and “distributing” the illegal spirits.  Even before the fateful day in 1919, Maryland was famous for its Rye Whiskey, and in fact there were many products called “Maryland Rye”.  I found it very interesting to read about the history, and fashioned my “view” out of that.  Of course I couldn’t do an extended treatise there, and won’t here, but you can read at least what I found out if you go to the tourism site and scroll down to "blogs, and see my charming face.   Select “latest post’ and enjoy..

Speaking of power poles, I still can’t get over the atrocity of those damn power poles.  Right through the middle of town (in this case, mostly California).  Some local politician even said on facebook something about they were working for us to bring more efficiency.  And I just discovered (doing my usual due diligence) that our local power company SMECO has a site devoted to the "Southern Maryland Reliability Project" that tells us how we will benefit from this upgrade; complete with maps, timeline bar charts, and details of the project.  I was especially taken with the tab about the “upgraded poles” (which features a picture much like ones I posted in the previous blog) and  leads off with the sentence: “The Southern Maryland Reliability Project’s poles have been engineered to the highest standards and balance functionality with visual aesthetics”. Really?  Looks like function over form to me…  I think functionality tipped the balance hands down.. And they even list the benefits of those poles:

Average height of new poles will be 140 feet with 800 feet between poles

Average height of existing poles is 75 feet with less than 400 feet between poles

Taller poles means fewer poles – nearly half as many as the existing line.

Galvanized steel to naturally blend into the horizon

Gee, I feel better already… “naturally blend into the horizon”  sure, you betcha.  What crap.   Ever heard the phrase: “Lipstick on a pig”?  And either today (Friday) or shortly a helicopter will appear to link all them together with big black wires..  that certainly will help the blending..  If you would like to learn more about how we’re better off, here’s the (IMHO) ridiculous site.

Traditions

And lastly, right about now as I write this, (4 pm on Friday) the annual ritual of the opening of the Tiki Bar on the Solomons  will be taking place.  Mai Tai’s will be flowing; people will be partying, and lots of the three “B’s”… Beer, Beads, and Boo…other things”.  It truly is a traditional southern Maryland phenomenon.  Just not for me.

Well, there must be something else, but time is approaching to do research on Rye Whiskey and Manhattans.  They say a cure for the flu is to drink plenty of liquids…  doctor is always right

DFD

ps, i don't think there is a new chain this week!!

Power over the People

Well, despite highfaluting slogans from our local development folks like “carefully controlled development” and “doing what’s smart” the line between our community and Waldorf continues to blur, and the process of Waldorfization seems to be in full roar.  And now it isn’t limited to the ground with chain restaurants popping up in front of you like mushrooms after a rain, we can now cast our eyes skyward and see

these things ...  which also seem to have sprouted like surprise lilies.  To turn a phrase: “Now you don’t see them, now you do!”.  Well, Mr. Bottom Feeder, what’s the harm of those (giant ugly) things if they’re out in the country where nobody can really see them?   Wrongo, oh powerful one.. Here is a view of the new skyline over Hickory Hills, (home of Nicoletti’s Pizza)

Or, turning around and looking north by La Quinta Inn

5967

Those poles are just a few hundred yards off Rte. 235, and in fact, it appears that they will cross over to the other side of 235 somewhere in the vicinity of Cracker Barrel (we use box stores for geographical reference now) and head for the river.  And don’t forget those are not Christmas ornaments hanging on them

They are pulleys that will help them install the big heavy wires that will string the poles all together to make them even more obvious (and obnoxious).  And during construction, the pieces and parts litter the ground like bones from a giant prehistoric creature

And somehow it’s fitting that the remains are temporarily resting here.  Waldorf, I tell ya

I try to stay kind of current on local stuff, but I swear to gosh I never remember anything about a hearing or public information meeting.  I can’t believe they just did that.  It’s just awful.  MFO tells me I won’t see them after a while.  I am not sure I agree.  I don’t even know who is benefitting by them.. certainly not anybody who cares about how their community looks. and here's looking at you, kid..

And while I am on a roll here about ugly, our newest chain, Golden Corral which is of course

speaking of lines....

and is moving right along, yes sir!

You might remember when I ranted about them a bit ago, I commented on the brightness of that (opening soon) sign… well, you should drive by the place at night!  That golden strip around the roof lights up!  Brilliant gold..  sigh…..  I’m sure it will provide enough light to see the power poles, or maybe that’s where the power is going

“doing what makes sense!”  ya you bet..  what makes sense is to

DFD