I’ve been blogging pretty regularly for about three years. In that time I have never had as many posts as there are days in the month. This is my 30th post. I was determined to have 30 posts this month and trying to come up with a good topic for this one.

In that, I believe I have succeeded. I was updating my website today and started thinking that I would like to have some links on there from other outdoor related blogs or websites.

West Virginia Outdoors has been online for three years and already has some quality exchanged link partners located on the resources page. If you would like to exchange links with an established website just comment to this post and let me know you are interested. Sorry but only outdoor related sites can be exchanged with the website. Since it is not a blog, then as far as the search engines are concerned, it’s all relative. But never fret, if you would like to exchange links with either one or both of my blogs and are not outdoor related, we can do that too. If you don’t want to post here you can send me an e-mail to the address under my profile pic.

My other Blog

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I was up rather early this morning. My hand feeling like an elephant was sitting on it. But enough whining… I did get an unexpected but welcome visit from my new neighbors this morning. It seems the doe and fawn are doing quite well and since this is the third or fourth time seeing them, I would say they will stick around for awhile.

I know the photos are still crappy but I have to deal with that for a bit. I’m actually beginning to wonder if my camera will actually take a good clean photo.

This post revived from the old site…

Yellow Jackets or Little Yellow Devils

This is something to be careful of while out hiking in the mountains. The Yellow Jacket Wasp build their nest in the ground. The entrance to the nests cannot easily be seen. But believe me if you step on one you will surely know its there.

Not long after I met my wife, now pronounced with an x, we were out hiking in the mountains with her brother. We were coming down the side of a hill when she just started screaming, and took off running down-hill losing clothes as she went. For a minute I didn’t know what was going on. Then we heard her, beeezzzz!!!

Without further hesitation we followed her at a run. When we did catch up to her she was in bra and panties and had been stung seven times. A Yellow Jacket doesn’t have barbs on its stinger so it can just keep on stinging. Since we were coming down the hill single file, her brother, myself with her behind us, we came to the conclusion that her brother and myself stepped on the nest which had them really mad by the time she got there. I felt so bad for her then and still do when I think back on it…

That encounter taught me a valuable lesson. When walking in the woods watch out for the bees. The last run in was only last year. I was hiking and was in brushy ground cover. I came one half step from stepping right down into an open Yellow Jackets nest. The whole top of the nest was visible about 3 inches below ground level in a hole about 18″ round. I shiver to think what would have happened if I had completed that step.

That was the first time I had ever seen the top of a nest exposed like that and assumed is was uncovered by a bear.

I’ve got to add a conversation with a friend. I get a kick out of it every time I think about.

I was talking to this old friend of mine. He’s the mountain man type if ever there were a “type”. Not book smart, illiterate, but he knew the mountains. Anyway, we were talking about bees. He was telling me about a run-in he had with them.

I said,”Did they get after you?”

He said,”Sure did.”

Then I asked,”How’d you get away?”

I’ll never forget this, he says,”I runned from them till they quit runnin for me.”

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This post isn’t to complain about the whole destructive process of mountain top removal, it is, however, about the other side of the issue.

I was reading a blog recently and the author was bashing people against mountain top removal. I understand that every person has their right to an opinion. There are two or more sides to every controversy, that atmosphere would be better served if we just agree to disagree. Don’t bash me because my view is different than yours. That is just retarded and childish and in my opinion labels the person an educated idiot. Not because of their differing opinion but for bashing me for my opinion.

With that being said, the practice of opponent bashing in any sense besides full contact sport and maybe divorce court, well…

Thats just stupid…

OK, one last time.

Get the picture… For the author I was referring to, there is plenty of flat land outside of West Virginia. Your more than welcome to move. Thats all I have to say about that.

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This is me shamelessly promoting my blog…

This is a nifty little idea someone over at Smart Bloggers 2.0 came up with. I may not be the worlds smartest man, but I know a good idea when I see one.

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Just wanted to post this injury update.

Stitches were removed today. I really believe it was more painful than the initial injury. I had been dreading it for the entire week, with good reason. I was in great pain at the hospital when I calmly asked the male nurse that was removing the stitches, “how in the world can you be so quiet while torturing someone?” That tickled him and kind of broke the professional facade he had on. He said, “well, they are kind of tough to get out.” I couldn’t help it, “no kidding,” I said. My statement was dripping with sarcasm. I wasn’t being mean though, just trying to find something to laugh about. It was just a couple of unbearable stitches later that he gave me a break and something to help with the pain. I think he considered it a placebo. Because it was a pill and he came back to finish less than ten minutes after I took it. Hell, it was still lodged somewhere in my throat at that time and was in no way helpful in any capacity.

On another note, I was listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s, On The Hunt and it hit me like a sledgehammer. Playing guitar, that song is one of my favorites to play. I am going to learn to chord with my right hand. I can’t let my favorite hobby go so easily. I think the hardest part will be reverse coordination of the hands. I have to now teach my left hand how to keep a beat. uhm… And hold a pick…

Four posts today!!! Yeah I’m home and bored…
I do believe it is time for a trip to the mountains.

No, not those three…

Spending a lot of time in the mountains your bound to run into the wildlife population. I have on numerous occasions, the encounter in this post was especially cool.

I was ginsenging, it was one of those fall days where the smell of leaves was the strongest odor in the air, a little chilly in the morning but nice in the afternoon. I started in Peachtree hollow. For a little ways up this hollow, only one mountain separates Peachtree from Drews Creek. My camp was located, at that time, in Drews Creek. I entered the woods on the Peachtree side with a plan of going up and over to Drews Creek. It was somewhere around 10 am when I started up the mountain.

I’m not fast when I’m in the woods. It might take me two hours to move one hundred yards. I’m always just looking and listening. Basically it took me the better part of the daylight hours just to get to the top of the mountain. The only things I had with me were a seng-hoe and a backpack.

By the time I got to the top it was starting to get late. I had never been on this part of the mountain and wasn’t a hundred percent sure where I was going to come out. Except that I was going to be in Drews Creek, but where in Drews Creek was a mystery. That was one reason for taking this route I wanted to see where it came out.

I started from the top and traveled right down through the bed of a hollow. I wasn’t taking my time any longer. At the bottom of this hollow there was a brush and briar thicket that was tough for me to get through. I had just come up on a creek when something big and brown took off running up the mountain to my left. I’m going to tell you I nearly had a heart attack. Once she cleared the top of the brush I was standing in, I saw how big this bear was as she passed over a small ridge line. She actually went in the direction I had just came from. I had walked right past her.

I know, how could you walk past a bear? When I say thicket I mean weeds and brush all around and if your lucky you can see the ground five feet in any direction.

Anyway, I hear a noise behind me and when I turn to see the source I’m surprised to see two cubs watching me from the other side of the creek, less than twenty feet away. That’s why mommy bear didn’t jet when I first walked past her, her family was on the other side of the creek.

If their mommy thought for a second I was a danger to them I’d be in trouble. I had a stare down with them, not wanting to do anything seemingly threatening. It seemed like it lasted forever then I decided one of us was going to have to make a move. I started backing down the stream away from the cubs. Just as soon as I did they headed in the other direction crossing the stream a little ways up and going in the direction their mother had gone.

That was an unforgettable encounter.

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Welcome to MIT’s OpenCourseWare:

a free and open educational resource (OER) for educators, students, and self-learners around the world.

MIT OCW:

• Is a publication of MIT course materials
• Does not require any registration
• Is not a degree-granting or certificate-granting activity
• Does not provide access to MIT faculty

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Recently, while surfing blogs, I ran across this useful info. If I could only remember which blog it was… but anyway the above is a really cool program for people that just have a thirst for knowledge. You can download courses in undergraduate and graduate studies. There are a lot of courses to choose from and best of all, it’s free. As it says, you won’t get a certificate but I believe it is still a good thing.

I have always wanted to be fluent in more than one language. I know phrases and statements enough to get by in Korean and Spanish. I have started the Spanish course and hope to do German next. Anyway, definitely worth a look. Who knows, you may eliminate some of the things you don’t know. Provided, of course, you know what those things are.

That is not necessarily the question but a decent title none the less.

I’m a big fan of CSI, Law and Order, shows of that nature. My favorite I would have to say is CSI, Las Vegas. My favorite character would be Grissom. While watching the show last night, Grissom made a statement that is somewhat confusing but truer words are rarely spoken. In context one of his underlings was having a talk with him and they were telling him everything they didn’t know about a particular case. Grissom’s response was “It is good to know what it is that you don’t know.” If those words had been spoken by a true person, I would consider that person very wise indeed.

I enjoy learning new things whether it be the definition of a 25 cent word or the history of Bolivia, if you know what I mean. I am of the opinion that I could learn something from the dumbest person alive. With that being said, it IS good to know what it is that you don’t know, and it is ok to admit you don’t know. Otherwise, how could you ever learn anything?

I have worked with and interacted with a lot of people that already know it all. Getting through mainly with BS and no clue. This happens a lot in middle and upper management probably in every organization in the world. These people you can present with hard evidence of their lack of knowledge and there will be something wrong with your data.

This, my friends, is the definition for educated idiot. These people are smart, book smart that is, but they don’t have the sense to come in out of the rain. They don’t know what it is they don’t know. They are perched to high on their pedestal to hear.

Didn’t mean to go idiot bashing here but I can’t help myself. I have a low tolerance for ignorance, Mr. Bush. ooopps…Where the hell did that come from? Must be a word association thing, educated idiot - Mr Bush… Okay, I see the connection, so, moving on. Come on people get with the program. Ask the questions because…

It is good to know what it is that you don’t know.

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Poison hemlock is a member of the wild carrot family, and is common along roadsides, waterways, and in cultivated areas. It resembles anise or wild parsley, and is classified in the family Umbelliferae, the parsley family. All parts of this plant are poisonous: leaves, stems, roots, and fruits. Poison hemlock contains volatile alkaloids that have been used as a poison since ancient times. The famous incident of Socrates’ death in Athens in 329 BC occurred when he was given the juice of poison hemlock to drink.

How can you identify it? Look closely at the stem of any plant you may suspect of being poison hemlock. The stem is hollow, smooth (not hairy) and marked with purple streaks and blotches. These blotches and streaks on a green hollow hairless stem, and the mottled purple spots, are definite identifiers of the plant. The finely divided leaves, fern-like, resemble Queen Anne’s lace. Flowers are lacy and white, appearing from late May to August.

Sometimes the characteristic red spots found on the stem and branches are referred to as “the blood of Socrates” in reference to his death.

From Wikipedia
Medicinal Uses-
Poison hemlock has been used as a sedative and for its antispasmodic properties. It was also used by Greek and Persian physicians for a variety of problems, such as arthritis. However, it wasn’t always effective as the difference between a therapeutic and a toxic amount is very slight. Overdoses can produce paralysis and loss of speech being followed by depression of the respiratory function and then death.