The WVU student chapter of the Society of American Foresters is holding
its annual Christmas tree sale through Dec. 12 at the Seneca Center.
Hours are 5-8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on weekends. Students
are selling locally grown and recently cut Canaan Fir – a Canaan Valley
Seed source originally researched by Franklin Cech. Trees are 6-7 feet
($35) or 7-8 feet ($45).

Looking for a greener gift for the holiday season? The WVU Organic
Research Project is selling blankets made with certified organic wool
from sheep raised on WVU’s Organic Farm. Queen-sized blankets are
available in blue, green, orange and red ($150). Twin-sized blankets and
lap robes are available in the same colors ($125 and $100). Blankets will also be available at the Plant and
Soil Sciences Greenhouse during its poinsettia sale, which began Monday
(Dec. 1).

Governor Underwood’s memorial service was yesterday. I was around for his second term, and to be honest, despite voting for him, was very unhappy with his term.

But this isn’t supposed to be negative, I was pleased to learn that both he and his wife donated their bodies to science–his donation will help the medical education of students at Marshall.

I leave you with these two articles on his memorial service:

Charleston Gazette

Huntington Herald Dispatch

(S, I’ll have you know that these things make me think of you now, as I was looking for weird euphemisms.)

Yes, it’s WVU vs Pitt!

BTHOP!

Nothing like trying to shoot photos from a moving car with dirty windows.

Sun is in the east on these two pictures–we left the house around 8:30 AM. This meant the sun was at a moderately annoying angle for half the trip.

It was about 26 when we left the house, so the trees were frosted over, and there would be a small window of time between the sun hitting them and the frost melting where they would sparkle in the light.

Very pretty, and one of the reasons I like mornings.

And here’s the drive home. Interestingly, this view is of the north east. The color to the west so so strong it was reflected in the clouds to the east.

Unfortunately, the actual sunset wasn’t photographable from the car, as it was behind us.

If you’ve only seen WV on a map, you may wonder why it takes so long to get from one place to another. After all, in DC and other urban settings you have to contend with traffic. But this is WV, and we don’t have hour long traffic jams (even football game Saturdays in Morgantown aren’t that bad.)

But what we do have are roads that follow the contour of the land. Here is Interstate 79, which runs pretty much the length of WV.

(more…)

White broke the NCAA record for career yards rushing by a quarterback in leading the Mountaineers to a 35-21 victory over Louisville on Saturday. The senior ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns to give him 4,292 yards for his career, breaking the record of 4,289 set by former Missouri quarterback Brad Smith from 2002-05.

I’m thrilled Pat is doing so well, and would like to see him end his season in the same vein.

My aunt & uncle are visiting, so no live blogging.

However…

1) They totally stole that touchdown from us

2) Pat White rocks

3) YEEEEEE HAAAAAW!!!!!

ADDENDUM the First:
Pat White
123 yards passing
204 Yards rushing

Pat White is now the all time leader for quarterback rushing!

Pat White rocks!

And it’s SNOWING again!

WHEEEEE!

So here are the pictures of the snow I took today:

Here was how things looked this morning, when it started snowing.

Here was the view late this afternoon.

There is SNOW on the GROUND!

And just because it looked neat.

BTW, these were taken with my old camera, so the quality is not so great. But hey, it’s SNOW!

It’s snowing! Big fluffy flakes!

I took some pictures of the view out “my” window at work, but I the card reader I keep with this camera seems to have disappeared, so nothing until I get home.

Still, it’s beautiful outside!

ADDENDUM the First:
It’s snowing MORE now! HA HA!

I’ve taken more pictures, but you shan’t see them until I get home.

What with WVU, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the initial distinguishing characteristic of Morgantown–its initial reason d’etre–is that it’s along the Mon river. The oldest section of town–which is still being renewed and once again become an area of town people want to visit–is the Wharf district. Of course no boats or barges have stopped there for years, but still, Morgantown was initially a river town.

What does this mean nowadays? Other than the horrible humidity in the summer, not much.

But every once in awhile we get a morning where the river reminds of of its presence.

Here are some pictures taken earlier this week:

I love mornings where the river is covered with fog, and as you drive up and down the hills, you go in and out of the fog.

As high up as I am, I frequently see the river fog just below me, and I always think it looks fascinating.

IT’S SNOWING! IT’S SNOWING! IT’S SNOWING!

(happy dance)

ADDENDUM the First:

That’s IT?!

So… I chickened out and didn’t take any pictures inside the craft fair. It’s was busy and crowded and I felt like the vendors would think I was trying to steal their ideas or something.

And I can’t take pictures of the loot, because most of it was for gifts.

What you do get is the following:

As you can see, the morning was wet and dreary. But still apple butter was made! That’s what this woman is going–making apple butter in a big kettle.

The wood in the foreground was for the guys who were grilling corn.

But the best part?

Funnel cake! With fresh lemonade! It was too wet and dreary and rainy to sit on the front steps of the lair like we normally do, so we had to go inside, where we were subjected to some man doing horrible renditions of pop songs.

But even that couldn’t dull the joy of funnel cake!

And by the time we were done, the sun had come out, just for a little bit.

Mountaineer Week Craft Fair!