Into the Woods – Page 117 – Watching a bewildering world from the middle of nowhere

Poldark is returning to PBS

If asked to name my favorite Masterpiece Theater series of all time, it would be “Poldark.” The series started in 1975. It starred Robin Ellis as Ross Poldark and Angharad Rees as Demelza. Rees, unfortunately, died in 2012 of pancreatic cancer. Robin Ellis, now 73 years old, lives in France and has an excellent web site and blog.

The Poldark series is based on a series of books by Winston Graham. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, I read at least nine of the books. Graham, who was English, died in 2003. He was a fine historical novelist. He has a cinematic, masculine style, and yet his novels rival the novels of women writers in that Graham is able to explore and exploit the emotional entanglements of his characters.

The Poldark story is set in Cornwall right after the American Revolution. Ross Poldark returns to Cornwall after fighting in America. Everyone had thought he was dead. His father had died, and his family home had fallen into ruin. The woman he loves had become engaged to a cousin. He was broke and in debt. The story revolves around his trying to put his life back together. Poldark is a man ahead of his time. He is a man of the Enlightenment, but all around him it’s still the Dark Ages in many ways.

The new Poldark casts Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark. It is, like the 1975 series, being filmed in Cornwall. Where else do you get those romantic cliffs overlooking the channel? Turner, now 31, who is Irish, played Kíli in “The Hobbit.”

British viewers started watching Poldark on March 8. In the U.S., the series will start in June, on PBS’ Masterpiece.

The books have been re-released, apparently with cover images from the new PBS production. There also are Kindle editions.

Watch out. If you read these books, you’ll become obsessed with visiting Cornwall. On my first trip to London in the early 1980s, I took a train to Truro.

By the way, Winston Graham wrote another novel set in Cornwall, The Grove of Eagles. As far as I can tell, that book is out of print, but it is one of my favorite historical novels, and this reminds me that it’s time to read it again.

A new Neal Stephenson, May 19

I wish the list were longer, but there are only two science fiction writers whose books I eagerly await and buy the day they’re released — John Twelve Hawks and Neal Stephenson. Stephenson’s new novel, Seveneves, will be released on May 19. I’ve pre-ordered the hardback version from Amazon.

By the way, the Kindle version is $16.99, and Amazon discounts the hardback at $21.04 with free shipping. Not many authors can command Kindle prices that high. If I’m paying that much, I want something that I can hold in my hand. So there’s another thick book that I don’t have shelf space for.

Seveneves is another huge book — 880 pages. One of the things I like about Stephenson is that he is unapologetically and unpretentiously intelligent. He has a weird mind. I suspect that he is fairly far along on the autistic spectrum, because his characters are oddly lacking in affect. Stephenson does not write social novels. His social IQ is probably as low as his intellectual IQ is high. This makes for strange fiction, but in science fiction, strange is good. His characters are nerds. Nerds are good.

Another factor that makes Stephenson’s long tomes a pleasure to read is that Stephenson doesn’t mess around with language. His prose is concise, clear, and transparent. I don’t know whether this is because Stephenson has mastered English or because his books make so much money that he is assigned the best editors. I generally decide within the first three pages whether I’m going to finish — or at least continue reading — a book. If I have to fight with sloppy prose or with a writer’s attempt to cultivate some sort of unique personal “style,” I fling the book and give it a one-star review on Amazon. Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall was such a book. How such writers keep from being murdered by their editors is beyond me.

What’s blooming at the abbey

Daisies by the millions

Rhododendron

Blackberry blossoms

Red apples

Eight chickens

Peaches

Green apples

Honeysuckle, just getting started

Mint

Phlox?

Milkweed

I’m not sure what this is, but it comes in many colors.

So, who reads this blog?

Age breakdown of readers of this blog

As I mentioned in a post a few days ago, I’ve been reflecting on the next chapter in the future of this blog. One of the things I’ve done is look at the blog’s analytics, to see what draws readers here. Which reminds me that I never disclosed that I’m running analytics, and I probably should have. I’ve been running a basic, free, not terribly snoopy version of Google Analytics here for about 18 months. It knows (or guesses) your age, your approximate location, your language, whether you’ve been here before, what you Googled for if you came here on a Google search, etc.

One of the interesting things I discovered is that most people who visit this blog are young. More than a third of the readers here are age 25 to 34. Even the elusive 18 to 24 crowd comes here! I find this incredibly flattering, given that I am 66. If you’re older than that and read this blog, then you should be flattered too, because I think it means that we’re young at heart and that our view of the world aligns with that of young people in their prime. For comparison, below, I’ve included a chart on the ages of all Internet users, for comparison. So this is a genuine factoid about the readers of this blog, not just a statistical fluke, though of course it’s true that a lot of people my age just aren’t on line.

By gender, the breakdown is about evenly divided between men and women.

Of the about 25,000 people who’ve been here in the last year, most are one-stop visitors who have Googled for a subject I’ve written about. However, about 5,000 people come back regularly, and 1,800 of you have been here more than 200 times. In all, 37 percent are returning visitors. Again, I am flattered.

Of the people who pass through based on Google searches, chickens, mushroom logs and recipes are of particular interest — anything having to do with healthy country living.

Only 76 percent of you are in the United States. About 3.5 percent are from Britain, and another 3.5 percent from Canada. About 1 percent of those who have visited the blog are from Russia, Brazil, France, Australia, Germany and India.

So, now that I know that y’all are either young or young at heart, I’ll keep that in mind. You’re interested in living better, but living simple. You have literary and historical interests — some of you even Googled for “Divitiacus.” Some of you Googled for the history of the Internet (I’ve been on the Internet since 1985 or so). You’re nerds, builders, bakers, cooks, writers, readers and audiophiles. You’re picky about what you watch on TV. At least 30 of you Googled for examples of anapestic rhythm!

In short, you’re smart, hip and eclectic — my kind of people. Thanks for visiting!

Ages of the on-line population

Fugue in Ursa Major, now in hardback

The hardback version of Fugue in Ursa Major has been released. It’s available from Amazon, or it can be ordered through your local independent bookstore.

The ISBN for the hardback edition is 978-0-9916132-2-9.

What’s next around here?

The county convention of the Stokes County Democratic Party, April 21

In July, this blog will be eight years old. Soon I’ll reach the 1,000th post. Any blog that has been around this long is bound to go through changes and fallow periods. But I’m not going away. I’m just trying to get clear on what comes next.

One of the things I’ve had to figure out is just how much involvement I want to have in local politics. I learned during last fall’s political campaign just how exhausting local politics can be, especially when you lose. It took all winter to recover from the burnout. It’s tempting to stay hidden in the woods. I also think that local politics doesn’t make very good blog material, except insofar as the political drama here in Stokes County echoes what’s happening in other places.

I have rolled up my sleeves and decided to stay involved in local politics. Earlier this week, at the county convention of the Stokes County Democratic Party, I was elected county chairman for a two-year term. I also will continue to be involved with No Fracking in Stokes.

Rural counties like this one are in trouble. We are losing population. Our young people leave us because of the lack of jobs and lack of anything to do. Increasingly, jobs don’t pay living wages. Our social services and health departments are overwhelmed. Our schools are begging for help. Even worse here in Stokes County, it is thought that some frackable gas reserves might exist in our river basin, the Dan River basin. Conservatives and progressives have very different views on what needs to be done. Conservatives think that fracking is economic development. As a progressive, I can’t think of a quicker way to ruin and impoverish our county than to let fracking in. Our other assets, such as our state park (the most popular park in the state), our river, and our unspoiled rural beauty, have far greater economic value, economic value that would be ruined by fracking. But conservatives are suspicious of tourism, because it invites people into the county who will never vote Republican.

Conservatives want to fiddle while Rome burns and measure their performance by how low the tax rate is. The burning political issue in this county at the moment (other than a county budget that is not going to balance without a tax increase) is whether emblazoning “In God We Trust” on the side of the county courthouse requires that the county similarly emblazon “In Reason We Trust.” This comes on the heels of a drawn-out and divisive fight in the town of King about flying the Christian flag at a veterans’ memorial. It led to a lawsuit, which conservatives predictably lost. Conservatives somehow convince themselves that symbolic and sentimental issues like these are the things that matter most and around which our futures turn. Meanwhile, Republicans in Raleigh are busy selling off the state to the highest bidder. A test well to look for frackable gas is going to be drilled soon in the little Stokes County town of Walnut Cove. Our own state tax dollars will be paying for the drilling.

Our work is cut out for us.

An all-Republican board of county commissioners hears about “In Reason We Trust.”

The new painting is on the wall

Some months ago, Ken commissioned a painting of Acorn Abbey from Frank Duncan, a local artist. The painting is now hanging on the wall at the abbey. It’s a large piece — 56 inches wide. We put a lot of thought into the painting, and we chose to submerge the house into the woods and emphasize the fecundity of the setting. There are lots of little details hidden in the painting — a black cat on the front porch and lots of little animals hidden in the foliage.

I still intend to write a book about the building of Acorn Abbey, and I’ll use this painting for the book’s cover. But the sequel to Fugue in Ursa Major, now in progress, must come first.

Fracking video wins award

Last year, No Fracking in Stokes produced a video, aimed at our rural constituents, to help them see how fracking would threaten their rural lifestyles by turning rural areas into industrial zones. This week, that video won first place and audience favorite at the Sustainability Shorts Film Festival at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

You can watch the video on Youtube through this link.

In search of Buffalo Mountain — and some darkness

Buffalo Mountain seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway

Today I did two things that I’ve planned to do for a long time: Find and climb Buffalo Mountain in southwestern Virginia, and do some reconnaissance for stargazing in the remote dark-sky area that Buffalo Mountain lies in.

Find a mountain? It can be harder than you think, even with GPS, and even in a half-civilized state like Virginia. I had no GPS address or lat/long coordinates with which to specify my destination and find a way in. Plus the mountain is deep in the backwoods, accessible only by muddy dirt roads, poorly marked, that GPS mappers don’t know much about. I had to stop twice and ask the locals for help.

Many years ago when I was a student pilot making solo cross-country flights (not completely solo — my dog was always with me), Buffalo Mountain helped me navigate, though of course I had avionics. It’s an easily recognized prominence (3,971 feet) that can be seen for many miles. The scariest experience of my brief flying career, actually, was when I got too close to a thunderstorm front over Buffalo Mountain and scared myself pretty badly. But that’s another story…

Anyway, I learned a year or so ago that Buffalo Mountain is now a Virginia wilderness area overseen by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. It’s in a very primitive state, and I don’t really know what plans there might be, if any, to improve its trails or make access easier. The road in is rough and muddy. My Smart car handled it OK, but some cars might founder in the ruts and mud, especially in bad weather. I would have been much more comfortable taking the Jeep to Buffalo Mountain, and, next time, I will.

There is a small parking area at an altitude of 3,421 feet. The trail up is along a shoulder of the mountain that faces southeast. It is rough, steep, and barely visible in places. I did not make it to the summit today. I was foolish and didn’t prepare for a hike that long — no water, no extra clothing, etc. The temperature was 49 degrees — a perfect hiking temperature. But I knew that the temperature would start dropping soon and that my light fleece jacket was sorry outfitting for someone alone and not exactly young in a wild area in January. I turned back at an altitude of 3,813 feet, not knowing at the time the altitude of the summit. If I had known I was so close, I’d have kept going, but I could not see the summit through the trees.

As a stargazing spot, being up there after dark probably is not allowed. Also, lugging a telescope up there would be a llama’s work, and I don’t have a llama. For stargazing in the area, probably the best plan would be to find a quiet spot with a clear view of the sky around Milepost 170 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Did I mention that the Blue Ridge Parkway cuts through this dark-sky area?

It’s an interesting part of Virginia, really, and an interesting part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The little town of Floyd, Virginia, is not too far away. Floyd has put itself on the map as a country-music destination. The Chateau Morrisette winery also is not far away. That’s a very civilized place to eat. Rocky Knob park and Mabry Mill are in the dark-sky area. Tuggle’s Gap Restaurant is not far. So there are plenty of other things to do in the area and plenty of places to eat and camp. But do your research — most places close during the winter. And winter, of course, is the best time for stargazing.

There is very little information online about public access to Buffalo Mountain, so I hope this post helps others find it. I’ll post again in the future after I get up to the summit. Here’s a link to the page on Buffalo Mountain on the web site of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

If you’re looking for a GPS address to find Buffalo Mountain, try this: Moles Rd SW, Willis, VA 24380. However, there are two ends of Moles Road, and one end is completely impassible. One of the images below contains the lat/long coordinates of the parking area at Buffalo Mountain.

I plan to go back soon, better prepared, and with my telescope.

A view of some of the dark-sky area from the Blue Ridge Parkway

Looking toward the summit from the parking area

The parking area and the road in

Looking through the trees on the climb up

Mark Cox, a stone mason who gave me directions when I was lost

This might help folks find the way in

A cow on the Blue Ridge Parkway

On Highway 8 near Woolwine, Virginia

An eatery just off the Blue Ridge Parkway on Highway 8

The motel beside Tuggle’s Gap Restaurant

Mabry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s in the dark-sky area.

Typical scenery on the backroads

A doorknob in the old house that Mark Cox was helping to restore

Light-pollution map, Washington to Atlanta. The blue areas are pretty dark.

The blue spot is the dark-sky area closest to the abbey — about 50 miles north. Buffalo Mountain is inside the blue area.

iPhone screen capture shows lat/long coordinates of the parking area at Buffalo Mountain

Into the Woods: a review

Like many people, I have been waiting nervously to see what Disney Studios would do with Stephen Sondheim’s wonderful musical, “Into the Woods.” I saw this show on Broadway with the original cast, so I was braced for a disappointment.

But I was not disappointed. It is lush, it is beautiful, and not only was Meryl Streep absolutely stunning as the witch, she easily outsings Bernadette Peters, the witch in the original Broadway cast. I believe this film is destined to be a classic.

It would quibbling to try to find any fault with the production. The visuals are gorgeous. The snappy editing holds our attention. The special effects support the magic but never go overboard. I will quibble some about the singing.

Meryl Streep was flawless. To me, the high point of the film is her version of “Stay With Me.” I still believe that Daniel Huttlestone is a little too young for the role of Jack, but he sang Jack superbly. Lilla Crawford as Little Red Riding Hood was very disappointing and comes nowhere close to Danielle Ferland’s performance with the original cast. Tracey Ullman as Jack’s mother was a disappointment, compared with Barbara Byrne with the original cast. Johnny Depp surprised me. He was a perfectly fine wolf. Chris Pine was a little over the top as Cinderella’s prince, but at least he was clearly having a good time.

The last few movies I’ve gone out to see have all been in IMAX. “Into the Woods” was not released in IMAX. The sound seemed thin by comparison. Even compared with my home stereo system, the sound seemed thin. The orchestra did not sound as lush and Stephen Sondheim said it would in some promotional videos.

It puzzles me why people take children to see “Into the Woods.” It’s a fairy tale for adults. Both the music and the tales will go over the heads of most children, though children who are musically gifted will probably think they’re in heaven. Sondheim requires some musical sophistication.

Some readers might wonder whether this musical inspired the name of this blog. Not really. I named the blog “Into the Woods” for the same reason Sondheim chose the name — because it’s such a powerful metaphor for bravely facing our existential predicaments. Some people think the answers to their existential questions are to be found, say, in a church. Screw church, and the warhorse it rode in on. Brave folks go into the woods. After dark. Alone.