Richmond VA

I am aware that it is a while since I last wrote something here and I think it is because it takes me a while to become inspired by a city. Please don't misunderstand me, Richmond is not an uninspiring place, quite the contrary, but after the daily sensory explosion that was Antigonish and the Canadian east coast it has been harder to motivate myself to get out and look around. Last week I decided enough was enough and that it was time to get out of the sprawl, and so I called up my good friend 'Poncho' Nik and asked him to join me on a trip out west to the Appalachian foothills and Shenandoah National Park. I hadn't seen Nikolai since Rochester and it was good to catch up, with me sharing stories of Arizona and Nova Scotia and Nik talking me through the Spring Collection of hooded rain protection (expected out in early 2011). It was supposed to be a relatively short trip, estimated to be about 2 hours by Tom, our enthusiastic, but somewhat useless Satellite Navigator. Nikolai decided however, that he would turn Tom off whilst we were still an hour away from our destination, and using his instinct instead tried to guide us on his own route. Perhaps he was having a Luke Skywalker moment, "Let go Nik, stretch out with your feelings....feel the Force flow through you". Evidently the only thing flowing through him was the sweet tea he had

been drinking from a
preposterously large can, because it wasn't until we had driven for an extra 30 minutes in the wrong direction, stopped to use the bathroom and turned Tom back on, that we eventually found ourselves at our destination an hour later than planned. Nikolai redeemed himself by buying me lunch and a coffee and then planning our route for an afternoon hike. We opted for a circular hike because I hate the feeling that you have to turn back at some point on a straight path and do the same bit again, it seems to take the excitement out of it. After lunch we headed out to find the trail and before long Nikolai told me to pull the car over and we began our hike. The ground was very uneven with tree roots popping out here and there through the red and yellow leaves which were crunching under-foot and glistening in the brilliant sunlight pouring through the gaps in the canopy overhead. Although it was a beautifully bright day it was the coldest I had been since I was in Poland in March, but it didn't take long to warm up with Nik leading at a brisk pace and the pathway heading slowly further into the valley: sometimes on mellow winding curves and other times on quick steep slopes.

The map we had was highly inadequate and although we checked it at regular intervals, neither of us had a clue where we were. It wasn't until we had walked for a good 50 mins that we were certain we were not on the circular walk we had planned, but on a straight path leading out into the wilderness. Technically it was only the same distance back again only this time it was all up hill. Why do I always find myself in these situations with the wrong footwear? After showing they were thoroughly useless for protecting my ankles in Arizona they really should have been the last thing I wore on a hike, but there they were, the long suffering Nike Air max trainers wrapped around each of my feet like a pair of marshmallow moccasins. It was my lungs and leg muscles though, and not the trainers that were finding the uphill hike the biggest struggle and while the younger, and somewhat cocky Nikolai bounced up the slope with an irritating boyishness, I lumbered up, swaying from side to side and grabbing onto each tree as if it were the mast of a ship in a severe storm. An hour later we saw the road ahead which meant that we had finally arrived at the car, where we celebrated with a satsuma and a bottle of water and I sat to recover. On our way out of the park we sighted a small white-tailed deer in the trees, followed up by a bear cub
bounding up the road towards us, before turning quickly and heading into the woods, but not before stopping to look back over its shoulder at us. It was quite a wonderful moment. The journey back was uneventful and quite pleasant, listening to music supplied by Nikolai and enjoying the exquisite colours of the trees throughout this part of Virginia. We arrived in Richmond just before sunset and had the happy fortune to witness a spectacular natural phenomena. There were thousands upon thousands of starlings swirling and diving overhead in large clouds, now in tight formation, now spreading out over the sky. It really was completely mesmerising. I took my camera out of the boot and tried to take some pictures, but I quickly realised it was pointless. The light was awful and without experiencing the movement and changes in direction, the whole show would have been a waste, so I just looked up and enjoyed the poetry of it all.

From just over my shoulder I heard a loud splat and a harsh polish expletive which brought me back to where I was and I saw that Nikolai

had been very unfortunate,

with the bird scoring
a direct hit in the eyeball of my now fallen comrade. As you know I am not one to laugh

at the misfortune of others, but I made an exception in this case and howled until my belly hurt. Nik used what was left of our bottled water to flush the unpleasantness from his eye and I took him home, with him complaining of his bad luck. If there was ever a need for a hooded plastic cape, that was it.

N.B: See if you can spot the little Cardinal camouflaged amongst the autumn leaves in the third photo from the bottom. I was so excited I finally got to see one as it was the one bird I wanted to see in Arizona, but didn't. On our last night in Richmond Whitney and I witnessed the starlings at their evening air show from our balcony. I was able to take the few photos of them swirling past the moon and dancing in front of the building which was also reflecting the sunset.