UH – OH; Car Wreck on Naked Mountain!

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Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon meadia) blooming on Naked Mountain in 2011. Photo by Gary P. Fleming.

I was traveling back to my home on Naked Mountain last Tuesday after 24 hours of soaking, drenching rainfall as well as a hailstorm that left piles of icy pellets here and there. The rain was still coming down as I started up my 2.4 mile long road.  The road was a mess — gullied as deeply as ten inches in many places and with numerous sizable puddles in low spots. But I kept on. As I started up the steepest portion, I was a little unnerved by a torrent of water coming down the left side of the road, so I erred on the side of caution and steered the car closer to the right side of the road. I failed to see a large, dark log we had

Log that I hit trying to avoid rushing water on the left side of the road.

carefully positioned there during our road work last fall. (See  November 13, 2012 post.)  I hit it pretty hard and came to a crunching halt.  I got out to assess the damage and could see right away that the car could not be driven. The right front wheel was pushed against the back of the structure that houses the whole wheel casing.  I gathered up essentials in the car – twenty pounds of just bought groceries and a few other items – into sturdy bags and hiked three quarters of a mile straight uphill to my house.  Once I had put away the food, I called my insurance company and put a rescue in motion for the next day.

Smashed right bumper and wheel.

The worst thing about the accident was missing a hike down into the barrens to see the Shooting Stars in peak bloom – 10,000 of them!  I had to cancel a visit planned for Friday with Lara Gastinger, lead artist for the recently published Flora of Virginia, who wanted to see the Shooting Star show.  Too bad!

The car was towed to Charlottesville the next morning and I drove a rental car to Arlington, Virginia to spend time with a friend while the car is being repaired.  It will take two weeks.  By the time I get back to Naked Mountain, the Shooting Stars will be done.

One positive note was this:  I wait anxiously every spring for the return of two nesting pairs

Cerulean Warbler. Wikipedia photo.

of Cerulean Warblers from their wintering grounds in South America. Cerulean Warblers are listed as a species of concern by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because of lost habitat in the U.S. and on their wintering grounds. As I walked down the mountain to meet up with the tow truck, I heard Cerulean Warblers singing in two different spots. They are back from South America! It is extremely gratifying to be able to offer these beautiful creatures good habitat that is protected, in perpetuity, under Naked Mountain’s conservation easement held by the Division of Natural Heritage within the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.  You can read more about Cerulean Warblers here.

 

The Birds have Arrived on Naked Mountain!

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Bluebird eggs in the Naked Mountain nest box.

What a day for the birds on Naked Mountain!  This morning I sat out on my deck with a mug of coffee and listened to a very intent Scarlet Tanager singing in the top of trees about 50 feet away right in the middle of the fabulous view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. You can see that view on the blog header.  The oak and hickory trees are about halfway leafed out so their color is a fresh, yellow-tinged green. I looked through my binoculars to find the bird and there he was – sitting amongst the new leaves, brilliant red with striking black wing feathers against the backdrop of blue mountains.  What a picture!

Also singing and announcing their presence were several very loud Ovenbirds, a Yellow-throated Vireo, Rufus-sided Towhee, my favorite singer – a Wood Thrush and a new singer and song I wasn’t familiar with. The bird was working the brushy growth around the deck. It was easy to see in my binoculars – beautiful bright yellow throat and chest with black stripes curving back toward the wings and black markings around the eyes.  The olive green back had rusty colored streaks on the upper part of the back and neck. What was it?  I grabbed my Sibley Guide to Birds and flipped through the warbler pages.  And there it was – a Prairie Warbler!  I think this is the first time I have seen a Prairie Warbler on Naked Mountain. As I watched the bird in my binoculars, I picked up views of two other birds working the brush – a Worm-eating Warbler and a Yellow-rumped Warbler.  Those are common on Naked Mountain, but it was great fun to see all three of these warblers feeding together!

Then I checked on the Bluebird nesting box I erected in February (See the February 18th post.)  I took a step ladder with me so I could peer down into the box from the top opening.  When I opened the box, the female Bluebird was there, sitting on her eggs, but before I could get a picture, she flew out.  I quickly snapped the picture you see above, latched the opening, and scrammed out of there.  I later saw the pair feeding on crawling bugs in my yard, so I am sure she went back to the nest and is still incubating her eggs.  I will have to disturb her again next week when I will attach the protective cage to keep snakes from eating the hatching babies.

Firepink blooming on Naked Mountain.

I also snapped a few photos of wildflowers that are blooming now on Naked Mountain.  The Firepink blooms in ten small patches in the dappled woods right next to my upper road.  The Bluets

Bluets blooming on Naked Mountain.

bloom along the middle and sides of the lower road, and the Perfoliate Bellwort blooms in many locations on Naked Mountain, but there is an easily viewed two acre patch of it about half way up my road.   I love the bellworts; the stem pierces the leaves so they move in the wind like little, fringed yellow church bells. I imagine I can hear them ringing!

Perfoliate Bellwort blooming on Naked Mountain.

Stunning Spring Ephemerals in Great Smoky Mountains

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Upper left – Carolina Spring Beauty, photo by Sharon Samford; lower left – Sharp-lobed Hepatica, photo by Sharon Samford; right – Trout Lilly, photo by author

Earlier this month, I spent a glorious week with the Virginia Native Plant Society in Great Smoky Mountains National Park gaping at what may be the most stunning display of spring wildflowers the temperate zones of planet Earth offers up!  Walking carefully laid out trails along river cove forests, hardwood cove forests and limestone sinkholes, the diversity of the flowers and their numbers, size and robustness astounded the professional botanists among us right alongside the dazzled amateurs.

Our first morning we walked the Cove Hardwood Trail in the Chimney’s picnic area. The cove contained large examples of Yellow Buckeye and Carolina Silverbell trees just beginning to bud out with a literal carpet at their feet of Sharp-lobed Hepatica!  In Virginia, in the Dutch Creek area (see April 1st post) near the base of Naked Mountain, wildflower admirers consider ourselves lucky when we see thirty Round-lobed Hepatica blooming in one area. This first walk in the Smoky Mountain National Park was a display encompassing literally acres of hepatica blooms!  Also blooming were hundreds of Catesby’s Trillium as well as beautiful examples of White Trillium (grandiflorum), Trout Lilly, Lettuceleaf Saxifrage (Saxifraga micranthidifolia), thousands of Carolina Spring Beauty (Claytonia caroliniana), Walking Fern, and Wild Ginger.

The next day we visited the Tapocca Trail, a little known walk that is in the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness adjacent to the North Carolina side of the park. We were led on this walk by Dan Pittillo, retired curator of the herbarium at Western Carolina University.  Here the diversity of both the tree and herb species was outstanding.  Blooming along a trail that ran 100 feet above and along Calderwood Lake, created when the Little Tennessee River was dammed up in the 1920’s, we saw dozens of five different trilliums in bloom:  Red (Trillium erectum), Yellow (Trillium luteum), White (Trillium grandiflorum), Sweet White (Trillium simile), Sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum). We also saw many clusters of pretty white Canada Violets, Purple Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnitifida), a few examples of blooming Yellow Mandarin (Disporum lanuginosum), drifts of blooming Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) and drifts of False Solomon’s Seal (Maianthemum racemosum).  We also saw many examples of Carey’s Saxifrage and Slender Toothwort (Cardamine diphylla).

Triple Trilliums: Red (Trillium erectum), Yellow (Trillium luteum), Sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum); photo by Sharon Samford.

After that spectacular, diverse display Prof. Pittillo next took us to the big tree section of the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness area. This national treasure has an interesting history. Early in the twentieth century, as loggers began to rapidly cull the big, old growth trees in the Smoky Mountains and in the areas nearby along the Slickrock Creek watershed, their operations were stopped cold in 1922 with the completion of the Calderwood dam and the resulting flooding of the logging railroad. This prevented a sizable old growth area from destruction. A decade later, the Veterans of Foreign Wars sought to establish a forest memorial to Joyce Kilmer, a poet and journalist who had been killed in WW I.  After considering millions of acres of forest across the U.S., the Forest Service chose an undisturbed 3,800-acre area of old growth trees along the Little Santeetlah Creek in the Slickrock Creek watershed and established the reserve in 1936.  It was this area that we visited. The tree species were very large, sometimes six feet in diameter and 100 feet tall, and diverse. We saw, along a three mile walk, hemlock, yellow buckeye, red and white oaks, basswood, beech, silverbell, poplar and sycamore.

Here is Kilmer’s poem that inspired the dedication of the reserve in his memory:

Trees

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;

Prof. Pittillo standing between two giant poplars in the Joyce Kilmer Reserve

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Joyce Kilmer

You can read more about the Joyce Kilmer Wilderness area here.

Blooming Fringed Phacelia; photo by author. Click on the photo to enlarge the scene and feel immersed in the fairyland!

The next day we hiked three miles along Porter’s Creek Trail to visit a fairyland.  But first we had to cross a troll-like bridge over a raging creek. The bridge, dubbed “the bridge of death” by some in our group, was only 15 inches wide, had just one leaned out railing to grasp, and took a little turn to the left halfway across.  The test of nerves only made the fairyland visit more rewarding.  On the other side of the bridge were several acres of blooming Fringed Phacelia – millions of little lacy white blooms forming a soft carpet under mature trees hungrily reaching for the sunlight before their tall hosts leafed out and cast them into shade.  The bees and butterflies were everywhere.

Fringed Phacelia and bee; photo by Sharon Samford.

The next day of trail walks took us along Middle Prong Trail next to a beautiful, white water river and a logged over area that is in the middle stages of growing back to maturity. Along this trail, we saw Fraser’s Sedge (Cymophyllus fraserianus) in bloom and a patch of 40 or 50 Puttyroot leaves! That will be a spectacular orchid display in a couple of months.  I have never encountered more than two or three wrinkled Puttyroot leaves together on Naked Mountain, or anywhere else in rich woods

On the final day we visited the Siegrists, a couple who are miniaturist artists that live next to the Smoky Mountain National Park. We visited their studio in their home and saw their amazingly intricate artwork done in opaque watercolors with brushes that are thinned to a width of three hairs.  We also toured their thriving native plant garden.

They led us on a walk down a trail in the park that is not yet formally marked on park service maps. The trail led to a series of limestone sinkholes and surrounding valley floor covered with a thick matt of Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata).  The phlox was not yet in full bloom, but was starting its show in many sunny spots flanked by thousands of shiny new May Apples. Here and there among the phlox were white Shooting Stars. They were just as robust as those on Naked Mountain, although not numerous.  Botanists have estimated that at least 10,000 pink Shooting Stars bloom in the barrens on Naked Mountain.  That show will begin very soon.

It was hard to finish this trip to the Smoky Mountains, my first, and leave behind the beauty of the most diverse, stunning display of spring ephemerals I will probably ever see.  I hope you will get a chance to experience a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains in April. In the meantime, visit Sharon Samford’s website here for more fabulous photos of our trip.

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Spring Finally Arrives on Naked Mountain!

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After a dump of two feet of wet snow on Naked Mountain on March 6th, spring finally showed up, as expected, on March 20th, the day of the spring equinox (at least in the Northern Hemisphere.) Here is how Wikipedia defines the phenomenon of the equinox:

“An equinox occurs twice a year (around 20 March and 22 September), when the tilt of the Earth‘s axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth’s equator…

On the day of the equinox, the center of the Sun spends a roughly equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on the Earth, so night and day are about the same length. The word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night).”

When the sun came up on Naked Mountain on March 20th, I timed its arrival, and its departure for equality. Indeed, the sun showed up right about 7:15 a.m. and set right about 7:15 p.m give or take a minute or two. Impressive!

In between the rise and setting of the sun, I checked on the progress of spring on Naked Mountain measured in other ways—wildflower blooms!

Spring 2013 has seemed much colder than last year, but whether this is normal for March is hard to know any more with the confounding effects of global warming.  At any rate, the

Emerging Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon meadia) in barrens on Naked Mountain on March 20, 2013

wildflowers are taking their time. On March 20th, I hiked down into the outcrop barrens to check on the progress of thousands of Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon meadia) that bloom there in early May. The barrens, which are comprised of seeping amphibolite rock and associated plant communities, occur all across the southeastern face of Naked Mountain at about 1700 feet. On March 20th, The Shooting Stars were just coming up; most were poking up about three to four inches above the ground.

I also found some Spring Beauty (Claytonia Virginica -see photo above)) and Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)in bloom.

Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concantenata) blooming on Naked Mountain on March 20, 2013

Later that day, I took a walk with a friend along a roadway within the Dutch Creek Agricultural-Forestal District near the base of Naked Mountain. An Agriculture-Forestal District is a rural zone that prohibits housing subdivision and any development that is not agricultural, or forestal in nature. It is designed to protect open spaces, rural character, water quality and other natural resources.  Here is a benefit of living within a Virginia AFD and having many neighbors who have gone even further and placed their properties under a conservation easement: 

Hepatica blooming in the Dutch Creek Agricultural-Forestal District on March 20, 2013.

So, spring is definitely on its way! I will keep you updated on the progress of Shooting Stars and other special denizens of Naked Mountain.

 

Shock and Hope Featured at State Wildflower Society Meeting

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The shock part of the meeting was presented by the first speaker, a geologist (of course!), at the Virginia Native Plant Society’s annual workshop held on March 16th at the University of Richmond. The general topic was, “Piedmont:  Places and Plants.”  The geologist, Dr. Callan Bentley, Assistant Professor of Geology at Northern Virginia Community College, discussed, “Geologic Roadkill:  The Deep History of Virginia’s Piedmont.”  In one short, fascinating hour he described the evolution of the Earth, basically billions of years of plate tectonics, or continental colliding and rifting, and how this activity is manifested in the rocks and soils that make up the Piedmont we see today. You can see a map and geologic information about the Virginia Piedmont here.

About two-thirds of the way through his lecture Dr. Bentley showed a slide depicting fault lines that underlie the Piedmont, particularly one that runs right under the North Anna Nuclear Plant in Louisa County! A Wikipedia search notes, as did Dr. Bentley, that although informed in 1977 of the fault by consulting geologists, Dominion (the power company that owns the site) went ahead and built the entire plant right on the fault line and then lied about it to the public. Their argument to scientists raising concerns was that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had assessed there had not been an earthquake in the area for probably thousands of years. This was followed up in 2010 by an NRC report which estimated the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at North Anna at 1 in 22,727. 

Those of us who live in Virgnia know what happened next.  On August 23, 2011 a 5.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in Mineral, Virginia a mere 11 miles from the North Anna Nuclear Plant. The plant lost power and shut down for over three months. It suffered cracks to several buildings and on-site spent-nuclear-fuel long term storage canisters shifted. Dominion denies any of this damage compromised safety.  In fact — right now — Dominion is planning to expand the plant’s facilities.

It was a little hard to focus on the rest of Dr. Bentley’s talk — especially for those in the audience who live near the North Anna Nuclear Plant!

Smooth Coneflower — USDA Photo

The hope part of the meeting was offered by the last speaker, Dr. Ryan Klopf, Mountain Region Steward for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Division of Natural Heritage, and the steward for the Naked Mountain Natural Area Preserve – my home. Dr. Klopf’s topic was, “Piedmont Community and Ecosystem Restoration.”  He began by providing a history of the ecology of the Virginia Piedmont. During the Hypsithermal period, which occurred for several thousand years beginning around 10,000 years ago, North America experienced an unusual, extended period of drought which caused a lot of fires.  During this time, prairie and savanna plant species spread eastward from the great plains of the Mid-West. From 4,000 BCE until the Europeans arrived in the 16th century, the Piedmont of Virginia was characterized by open canopies of oaks, hickories and pines. The understories were a rich herbaceous layer of at least 277 different species. As the climate changed and became more temperate with increased moisture, the prairies and savannas were maintained, ecologists believe, through regular burning by Native Americans. It is surmised that this was done to help these early Americans hunt and travel.  When Europeans arrived, they altered this landscape significantly through their agricultural practices, reducing Piedmont prairies to the sunny edges of farmed fields and naturally dry places that inhibit tree growth. Reforestration of much of the Eastern United States over the past century has also pushed out these prairie and savanna species.

For more than a decade, the Division of Natural Heritage has been invested in restoring the ecology for these disappearing prairies species. The Division has employed a process of prescribed burning in several of the state’s Natural Area Preserves where these species were found in remnant communities. Dr. Klopf presented the findings for two of these sites, Difficult Creek NAP and Grassy Hill NAP.  At Difficult Creek in Halifax County, an area of 819 acres that contains hardpan forest, remnants of prairie, and an underlying mafic geology that supports species diversity, Heritage Division stewards resolved to replace a loblolly pine plantation on the site with historic Piedmont savannah species. Using prescribed fire, tree thinning and invasive species management, the effort has produced a very positive outcome:  Oaks have increased from 11 percent to 27 percent; hickories 8 percent to 25 percent; native grasses have increased from 16 percent to 28 percent and the native herb layer has increased from just 0.5 percent to 9 percent.  One example from the latter statistic, Smooth Coneflower (Echinacea laevigata),has increased from 211 plants in 2002 to 866 plants in 2008. 

At Grassy Hill Natural Area Preserve in Franklin County a similar effort has had comparable results. The native grassland herbaceous layer is reassembling including increased presence of Andropogon viginicus, also known as Broomsedge, and  Parthenium auriculatum, or Wild Quinine. 

In between the shock and the hope lectures, two other presenters, Christopher Ludwig, chief biologist with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Division of Natural Heritage and co-author of the newly published Flora of Virginia, and Dr. Tim Spira, professor of botany at Clemson University rewarded the rapt audience with eye candy – beautiful slides of endemic wildflowers of the Piedmont and their dwelling places and pollinators.

You can learn more about the Virginia Native Plant Society, the sponsor of this excellent workshop, and its many other programs and benefits for the native plant lover here.

Boxing Gloves and Cancer – One Way to Say You Care

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Author wearing boxing glove during chemotherapy in 2008

In March of 2008, a few days before my first chemotherapy for stage IIIC ovarian cancer, a small package arrived in the mail. When I opened it I found a small gold boxing glove with a loop at the end so it could dangle from a bracelet or necklace. The note enclosed with the gift said, “To give you more fighting power.” It was signed by Judy, a friend who was also a work colleague. 

I was extremely touched by this gift and those words. I called Judy to thank her and to tell her that I would wear the boxing glove to every chemotherapy session.  It would be a reminder of her caring concern as well as the need for me to stay strong. This was going to be the fight of my life for my life. There was just a 27 percent chance I would be alive in five years.

Gold Boxing Glove pendant author wore throughout her cancer treatment

Two weeks later, back at work, I attended the first meeting since my surgery and diagnosis three weeks before of one of the coalitions I led. I was wearing my new wig and hoping no would notice, or if they did, hoping they would assume it was a new hairstyle. Just two people commented that they liked my new haircut. I replied with a simple thank you. Judy and Karen, another friend and colleague attending the meeting, arranged to meet me afterwards for coffee.  

 Settled with our coffee and muffins, Judy asked about my chemotherapy schedule. As I answered her question, she and Karen tugged at their necklines and pulled out, on gold chains, boxing gloves just like mine! Judy said, “We need to know when you are getting your chemo so we can wear our boxing gloves on those days.” 

 I was overwhelmed. What an expression of caring friendship! I couldn’t thank them enough.

I was treated with two drugs for nine cycles with a combination of intraperitoneal, which is chemotherapy delivered directly into the abdomen through a special mediport, and regular intravenous chemotherapy. I also had two additional surgeries during this time. Through it all, I wore my boxing glove and Judy and Karen wore theirs.

 It has been four years and five months since I finished treatment. I am not only alive, I am well with no recurrence so far.

Susan, a close friend of mine, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I could think of no greater gift of friendship than to send her a boxing glove pendant like mine and tell her I would wear mine on every day she had an important medical appointment, or radiation therapy. She told her radiation technicians the boxing glove story and they let her wear it during her treatment sessions!

I am happy to report that she is doing very well. 

 

 

 

 

Bluebirds Need Your Help!

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It’s time to put up the bluebird nesting box. It’s still winter, mid-February, but the bluebirds will begin checking out housing in a few weeks.

Bluebirds are one of my favorite bird species. They are about seven inches in length and the males have bright, truly blue heads, backs and wings, an orange-red throat and breast and white belly.  The females have a grayish head, back and wings, but edged with blue. They are members of the thrush family, the finest singers in the woods. Their song is a soft, melodious warble that finishes on a slightly lower pitch and with just a hint of sadness to the tone. I love the sight and song of bluebirds so much that I can pick out just a fragment of a song, or a call note, a quarter mile away.

Bluebird Photo from Wikipedia

There are three kinds of bluebirds in North America – the Western Bluebird, Mountain Bluebird and the Eastern Bluebird which inhabits areas East of the Rocky Mountains. Once plentiful,  North American Bluebirds were in decline through much of the 20th century and their numbers  had dropped by an estimated 70 percent by 1970. The reason was largely due to the proliferation  of nonnative bird species that were cavity nesters like bluebirds. These species, the European Starling and English House Sparrow, outcompeted bluebirds for nesting sites by aggressively attacking them, driving them off their nests, destroying eggs, killing nestlings and sometimes even the adults.  

To reverse the decline of bluebirds, in 1978, Dr. Lawrence Zeleny, founded the North American Bluebird Society to promote the preservation of bluebirds. The main focus of Dr. Zeleny’s efforts was the provision of nestboxes and managing of bluebird nestbox trails. He designed a nestbox that had a small enough entrance hole to keep the larger starlings out, and a hinge on the top so the box can be viewed. The English House Sparrows can still get in the boxes, but Dr. Zeleny stressed monitoring of the boxes and removal of English House Sparrow nests and eggs. The combination of educating the public about the needs of bluebirds, providing them with nestboxes and information for monitoring them has had positive results. In 2005, the Cornell Ornithology Laboratory reported sitings, once rare, of bluebirds all across the southern United States as part of its Backyard Bird Count conducted by thousands of citizen scientists. You can read more about providing and monitoring bluebird nesting boxes here.

Yesterday, I erected a bluebird nesting box on a six foot smooth, round metal pole, attached a baffle designed to keep raccoons from reaching up and destroying eggs or nestlings, and will later affix a metal cage with sharp wire points to keep out snakes. I tried it out on the box, but will screw it in place only after the box is being used by a bluebird, or

Author shows snake guard for bluebird nesing box

other native cavity nesting bird. The birds may be scared away by the cage, but once eggs are laid and nestlings hatch, they will not abandon the box.

I placed the pole and nestbox on the edge of a natural opening in the woods near the summit of Naked Mountain. It is not far from my house and deck, so I can spy on activity, using binoculars, from a distance. I will also monitor weekly to ensure English House Sparrows do not use the box. The spot I picked is exactly the spot bluebirds themselves chose twenty years ago. There was a hollow tree on the edge of the clearing with woodpecker holes on its south-facing side, the preferred direction. The clearing provides the birds with an open area to locate and pounce on crawling bugs. It also provides an intermittent drinking and bathing water source via a bowel effect in the rock formation. A shallow puddle forms there and stays for a few days after a rain shower. I have secretly spied on many kinds of birds, including bluebirds, bathing in the rock puddle. It is totally fun to watch this!  I also provide additional water in a birdbath near the house for those hot, dry weeks in July. 

Author puts up bluebird nesting box on Naked Mountain

The bluebirds fledged two broods for two consecutive summers in that old hollow tree. Then it blew down in a storm. That’s when I started putting up the nestboxes. But two summers ago, my resident pesky bear that I have nicknamed Chobani because he seems to prefer Greek yogurt, predated the nestbox. You can read more about Chobani in the January 28th post on “How To Be Bear Smart On Naked Mountain.” I didn’t put a nestbox up last spring, but Chobani didn’t bother me all last summer, so I am going to try again.

We’ll see what happens this spring. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

Three Ovarian Cancer Survivors Offer Advice

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Ginny (left) Wendy (center) Marcia (right)

Three ovarian cancer survivors recently met to share their cancer journeys and to provide words of advice to those who are newly diagnosed.  Here’s who they are and what they have to say about living with ovarian cancer —   

 Who We Are

GINNY – “I am a pre-natal genetic counselor and have worked here at Johns Hopkins for thirty-seven years. Six years ago I married my long-time partner who is a retired pediatrician. We enjoy travel and one of my favorite places is Montana where my dad’s family comes from. I sing in a church choir and enjoy that very much. I also enjoy attending Center Stage performances with a group of female friends. In recent years, my husband and I have been caring for aging parents.”

WENDY– “I am 72 and a retired consultant in the field of organizational development. I have enjoyed a career in senior level management that involved working with individuals, groups and organizations to help them discover how to solve problems and achieve goals. I have been married for 50 years and have two children, a daughter who is an artist and a professor and a son who is a clinical psychologist. I also have two adorable grandchildren. My mother is turning 99 soon and has been a rock in my life. I love people and have friends the world over; I love to swim and walk for exercise and I practice meditation and yoga.”

MARCIA – “I recently turned 65 and just retired as a lobbyist representing non-profit public health organizations in Washington, D.C.  I am a cancer survivor and a cancer widow – my husband of twenty-three years died of pancreatic cancer six months after I finished my cancer treatment. I have a stepdaughter that I keep up with. I live part-time on Naked Mountain in central Virginia and write this blog. I am also working on a memoir and volunteer as a patient navigator with breast cancer patients at Georgetown-Medstar Hospital in Washington. D.C.  I enjoy nature and music and make regular exercise a priority.”

Our Cancer Histories

GINNY – “I was diagnosed with stage IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer in 2002. I was 50 so turning 50 was difficult.  I immediately got tested for genetic mutations because of some family history and because I am a genetic counselor. I was found to be BRCA 1. So, I also worry about breast cancer. I had the standard debulking surgery that involved colon resection. I had the standard six cycles of IV chemotherapy with two drugs. Then I was offered additional intraperitoneal chemotherapy. It was not standard treatment so I did a lot to research to figure out if I should do this or not. The answers I got were conflicting, so that didn’t help. I finally decided to do it because I reasoned that if I got a recurrence and hadn’t tried it, I would always wonder.  I did three cycles and was very sick; it was awful.”

“That was my initial treatment phase. Since then I have had four recurrences. They have been localized and each time I have had surgery followed by six cycles of chemotherapy involving different sets of drugs.”  Wendy interjects – “So, they undid your zipper each time?” Ginny replies that they did open her up through the same incision site, but for two recurrences involving the liver, the incision goes diagonally across her abdomen. Marcia remarks, “I have incisions that go horizontal at the bottom of my abdomen and then vertical from the chest to the pubic area and cross over a little bit!”  

We all laughed about our crazy scar patterns. 

Ginny has been cancer free for four years. She needed a double hernia repair six months ago secondary to abdominal weakness caused by her prior surgeries.

WENDY — “I was diagnosed at age 67, out of the blue. I thought I was the incredible hulk. I had never been ill so it was a complete shock.  I have a rare kind of ovarian cancer involving two different kinds of cancer cells.  I was also stage IIIC at diagnosis and was experiencing right before some bloating and knew that my waistline had expanded. I got the diagnosis on May 6th 2008 and on May 14th I was in surgery. I was put into an induced coma for six days to help me heal given the extensive amount of surgery that was done.  A mere three weeks later I received six cycles of three different drugs to address both cancer cell types and then received three additional cycles of intraperitoneal.”

Wendy has had one recent recurrence after being cancer free for about 2.5 years, she is a little unsure how long since her medical team followed a slightly enlarged lymph node in her periaorta region for a year or longer before this lymph node began to grow and finally lit up on a PET scan indicating it was probably malignant. It took four months for her medical team to schedule surgery to remove the lymph node because two different kinds of surgeons had to be involved given its location. Wendy says, “It was very difficult to wait once the decision had been made to go ahead with surgery. But my oncologist says I have the slow, sluggish kind of cancer which is a good thing.”  Wendy’s surgery was followed by six cycles of chemotherapy involving Taxotere, Carboplatin and Avastin. The latter drug, which interferes with cancer’s ability to form blood vessels, is a new treatment addition for many ovarian cancer patients.

Wendy had a more difficult time with chemotherapy with her recurrence, particularly intestinal gas and severe diarrhea. Her oncologist recommended she continue on Avastin after completing chemotherapy which she did for four cycles. However, she developed high blood pressure and had to go off the drug. Since stopping Avastin a few weeks ago, she has been feeling much better.

MARCIA – “I was diagnosed with stage IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer on March 12, 2008. I was 60 years old. I had my first laparotomy in a Virginia hospital where the diagnosis was made, but I transferred to Johns Hopkins for my follow-up care.  I received three cycles of IV chemotherapy with two drugs, Taxotere and Carboplatin. Then I had another laparotomy followed by six more cycles of combination IV and intraperitoneal chemotherapy using the same drugs. I had very manageable side effects throughout, but became very fatigued by the end.  My biggest problem was repeated infection of the abdominal port site for administering the intraperitoneal chemotherapy. My medical team nearly pulled the port out several times because of infection. I had to take antibiotics for this and once was hospitalized for C-Diff, intractable diarrhea. That was a real low point in my treatment journey.”

“I have been cancer free for four and one-third years.”

The toughest time in our cancer journeys

GINNY – “The initial diagnosis was very tough. I was confused, upset, drained. The first recurrence was also very tough emotionally. You finish treatment and think, “I beat this cancer,” and then it’s back.”

 WENDY – “The initial diagnosis was very hard, shocking, unexpected. The recurrence has been tough too. It robs you of the innocence you felt. Living with uncertainty is hard.”

 MARCIA –“The toughest times have been the initial diagnosis and then my husband’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and his death six months later. His symptoms first surfaced one week before my last chemotherapy.” 

 How we coped then and still cope now

GINNY – “Continuing to work has helped me. It was and is a good distraction from thinking about cancer. I was very fortunate to be able to be treated in the place where I work. My office was supportive about giving me time off for surgery, recovery, chemotherapy and then I came back full-time. Being treated in the place where I work gave me immediate comfort with my medical team that others may not have.”

“My husband’s support and reconnecting to friends who have been supportive has been very important.”

“I found the ovarian cancer support group at Hopewell Cancer Support in Baltimore very helpful. No one else really knows what you are going through like they do.  It has also been a good source of information sharing on all kinds of issues.”

“My church community has been supportive and the prayers of so many friends has been a source of support for me.”

 ”I feel lucky to be still be here. I try to value the relationships I have with family and friends and don’t let things go by without fully experiencing them. The irony is that here I have cancer, but someone who thinks they are perfectly healthy can suddenly drop dead of a heart attack. So, valuing each person in my life and each experience is important to me now.”

WENDY — “I use the power of the mind. I have my own brand of spirituality, I live in the moment. If the sky is pretty, I soak it up. Awareness that death is real — I have stared into that black hole when I was in intensive care after the first surgery — helps me live in the moment, experience now. I use meditation and yoga as techniques to help me do this, to use the power of the mind.”

“Time helps healing. I had such a terrible time this last round of chemotherapy that I said to myself I would not do it again if faced with another recurrence. But as time passes and the discomfort fades from memory, I feel differently now. Time is healing in that way.”

“My husband and I have just reached a new insight – the lighter we can be about having and dealing with cancer, the better. At our age, 72 and 76, so many of our friends are dying, are ill, are losing their minds. Too much of our conversation has been about illness.”

MARCIA  – “I am very fortunate not to have had a recurrence, at least not yet. This has allowed me long periods of time when I truly do not think about having cancer, except when I am making a concerted effort to help others who are being impacted by cancer. I also do much more living in the moment as both Ginny and Wendy now do. I am more relaxed and appreciate what I have and how I feel today, right now.  It sometimes makes me almost giddy with a combination of indulgence, relief and gratitude.”

“But I am also very unfortunate in losing my wonderful life partner to cancer. My happiness is often interrupted with periods of grieving, even now, nearly four years later. What has helped me with loss is writing this blog about nature and its inherent joyfulness, as well as writing about cancer recovery in an effort to help and inform others who are impacted.”

“I am also writing a memoir about how my husband and I came to buy an undisturbed mountain in central Virginia, place the land under a conservation easement which earned it designation as one of the state’s 60+ natural area preserves, made wonderful discoveries along the way and then suddenly were faced with the challenge of battling two terrible cancers. Writing the memoir is very therapeutic for me.”

Our advice to those newly diagnosed with ovarian, or any other cancer

GINNY  – “Be prepared that having cancer is at least a part-time job, and at times a full-time job. Allow yourself to rest, but stay involved in something that will distract you from having cancer. This can be work, as it was for me, it can be your children or grandchildren, it can be a hobby, a faith group, whatever will work for you. Seek support that will be helpful to you. This may be a spouse, a sibling or parent, a friend, a cancer support group that either meets in person, or online. Understand that family members may not know how to support you, be forgiving and help them. Ask for things you need, like a ride to the grocery store.  Don’t delve too much into statistics about your cancer. They represent the average, and you are a unique individual, not the average. When the medical team gives you the treatment plan, make sure it is comprehensive – add to it whatever social and emotional supports you feel can be helpful to you, such as a faith group, cancer support group, complementary medicine, and so on.”

WENDY —  “Develop trust in your medical team before you go into surgery or chemotherapy.  Assert yourself by asking questions, and getting opinions from different sources, believe in yourself as you do this and then once you are satisfied, let the medical team do their work. Know that surgery and chemotherapy are instruments to help you, not hurt you. Keep your emotions steady, not too high, not too low. Listen to your body; let it tell you what you can bear, what you need help with. Don’t let cancer become the main dish in your life, keep it a side dish. One thing I do to help ensure this is read to young children. It is very engaging, it is the main course. Like Ginny, I have also found Hopewell Cancer Support in Baltimore very helpful and attend sessions of their ovarian cancer support group.”

MARCIA  –  “The most important tool you will need is someone who can support you, preferably the closer to you the better, but someone! Some people have legions of supporters, but you need at least one. Find ways to distract yourself from thinking about your cancer, whatever works for you as both Ginny and Wendy suggest. Try to exercise as much as you can. This is easier if you have done this regularly before diagnosis, but make a point to at least walk every day, or go to a gym and use the stationary bike or treadmill, do something! Exercise is a known mood elevator. Eat right – you know how to do this – fruits and vegetables, lean meats and dairy. Eating is difficult for many people undergoing chemotherapy, but the drugs to control nausea are getting much better all the time. This may be sacrilege for cancer patients, but stay away from sugary, fatty foods. Not every calorie is the same. There are powerful antioxidants, cancer-fighting qualities, in many foods. Help your body fight the disease. You can read more about this in the book, Anticancer, written by ­­­­David Servan-Schreiber MD, PhD a brain cancer survivor who is also a research psychiatrist. Keep a journal and write about what is happening to you, how you are feeling, what you are doing to stay busy and distracted, comment on experiences you have, write down your dreams.”

 Ginny, Wendy and I know what you are going through. We wish you the very best on your own cancer journey.

 

How To Be Bear Smart On Naked Mountain

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Chobani was not done with his (or her) visits to my house on Naked Mountain.  A few weeks later, early on a Sunday morning, a strange sound woke me up.  I opened my eyes to see a big black head looking in my bedroom window and two black paws pushing on the screens.  I jumped out of bed and ran toward the bear yelling at the top of my lungs.  Chobani scrambled back down off the Gravely mower that he had used to climb up to get up to the level of the window.  But then he just hung around in the yard.  My stepdaughter, who was visiting at the time, heard my yelling, saw the bear in the yard and raced out onto the screen porch yelling and waving her arms. That finally scared him (or her) and he ran into the woods.

Chobani’s claw imprint on porch screen

This incident frightened me enough to contact a wildlife biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The biologist told me the bear’s behavior was not normal since I had removed all enticements in and around my house months ago, including all bird feeders and bird seed containers. The bear had destroyed my bird feeders and a blue bird nesting box, in addition to invading my screen porch.  He encouraged me to warn my neighbors not to “feed” bears by leaving bird seed and pet food around.  He also encouraged me to get a small gauge shotgun which would stun the bear, but not seriously harm or kill it.

I had no intention of doing that.  I have never owned or operated a gun and never wanted to do so.  Naked Mountain is a rocky place and I am very sure I would simply injure myself with ricocheted gunshot. Not to mention that the kickback would probably knock me over.  I would also want any gun safely under lock and key to prevent accidents through mishandling by visiting friends or family.  Guns are dangerous, especially in the hands of amateurs.

Instead, I did this — got a slingshot and practiced, located my can of bear spray given to me by an Alaska-dwelling relative, and readied a very loud air horn for use.  But Chobani never showed up again that season.

Ten months later in early June, I went out for a walk down my long road and left every one of the bear-protection items at the house.  This, of course, was the day I met Chobani walking up the road!  He (or she) was bigger than the last time we met, probably by a good thirty pounds.  I stopped in my tracks.  I was a quarter mile away from the house and safety.  Chobani was about 150 feet down the road. I started yelling, loud, low, and angry!  Chobani stopped, looked and looked and looked.  I kept yelling. Chobani kept looking.  Finally, I started backing up… uphill, still yelling.  Then I flapped my arms up and down. That seemed to do it.  Chobani probably decided this was that, crazy woman from last summer – “I don’t want to mess with her.”  He turned and scrambled up the mountain into the woods. I never saw Chobani again all summer.

I intend to run a “bear smart” home on Naked Mountain which means I only feed birds between November and March and then remove all feeders and seed.  I also keep my recycle bins in the house and empty them frequently. In the summer, I keep my screen doors and windows open during the day to allow breezes through, but close and lock all of them at night and turn on the air conditioning (yuck.. but no choice; I miss the night sounds of cicadas). I avoid using the charcoal grill.

All of this is annoying, but I have chosen to live in the middle of a natural area preserve which means I am fortunate to see bears up close and personal now and then.  This is scary, but also very rewarding.  Bears are on Naked Mountain because I am ensuring they have good habitat for their survival.

So, Chobani, go out there and enjoy it and leave me alone!

Chobani

 Does anyone have other ideas on how to be bear smart and prevent adverse bear encounters?

 

 

 

Cancer and Obama Inaugurals: Community Service Helps

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Four years ago today, the first Inauguration of President Obama, my husband, Tim, began radiation therapy in an attempt to shrink back a deadly tumor in his pancreas discovered a few weeks earlier. His doctors hoped the treatment would work well enough to make him a candidate for the Whipple procedure, life-saving surgery for pancreatic cancer patients. It was his only chance at more years of life. He was 59 years old and otherwise very fit and healthy.

We lived in Reston, Virginia and had to travel that day to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Nearly two million people were expected to be on the Mall in Washington, D.C., to witness the historic event – the inauguration of the nation’s first African-American President. While we were very excited about the new President and hopeful about his leadership at a time of peril for the U.S. economy, we were terrified we would be hopelessly stuck in beltway traffic trying to get to Johns Hopkins and life-saving treatment for Tim. Fortunately, we had wonderful friends in the Baltimore area who offered us a room in their home. We traveled to Baltimore on January 19th, spent the night with our friends and were on time the next morning for Tim’s first radiation treatment.

The radiation worked to reduce the large tumor in the head of the pancreas, but chemotherapy had failed to prevent hundreds of small, granular-like tumors from developing and spreading throughout Tim’s abdomen. He was not a candidate for the Whipple procedure. He died on May 3, 2009.

One year later in June of 2010, Tim’s daughter, Susan, and I decided to do something to help pancreatic patients and their loved ones. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network was sponsoring the first Purple Stride in Washington, D.C. to raise money to advance research, support patients and create hope.  They were also holding an annual advocacy day to encourage Congress to pass the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act which would require the National Cancer Institute to develop a strategic plan to improve treatment, early detection, and prevention of pancreatic cancer, and several other persistently deadly cancers. The five year survival rate for pancreatic cancer it is just six percent.

Susan and I raised money from family and friends and walked with several thousand others joined together in grief, but especially in hope, to fight the disease that took their loved ones away. We also joined in the advocacy effort and worked for the next two and a half years to get the pancreatic cancer bill passed.

Purple Stride, DC 2010
Susan and me with Tim’s picture pinned to our backs

On January 3, 2013, President Obama signed the bill into law. In a Congress that had been marked by bitter partisan conflict, this bill garnered 234 co-sponsors in the House and 58 in the Senate.  Both political parties were heavily represented among the supporters. Susan and I are extremely gratified with this positive outcome that we had a small part in achieving. It helps ease our grief to know that we have helped to prevent this, and other deadly cancers, from robbing other families of their loved ones too soon.

President Obama and his wife Michele have asked Americans to set aside one day during this inaugural season to participate in community service of their choosing. I urge those who are suffering from cancer, and loss due to cancer, to join in this endeavor. It will lift your spirits. I promise.