The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Canoerebel]

With wife out of town, with John III at work, and with no television to occupy my time, I spent a raw and gray afternoon hiking a lonely mountain trail. It was a wonderful outing - I'll post some photos in a bit. I got back to my truck, turned on the radio, and heard: Georgia 35, Florida 0 (in the third quarter of the game). It doesn't get much better than that for a Georgia grad.

During the hike, it struck me how fun and funny this game is. John is raiding Pago Pago while my carriers are raiding the Yellow Sea. The World Turned Upside Down.

[Canoerebel]

This is the Pinhoti Trail, near it's Pocket Road trailhead, about 20 miles north of my house. My hike covered three miles to the crest of Horn Mountain. It was spitting rain and quite cold. But beautiful.

Yesterday, the leaves were barely changing color. Today they got serious. Most of the color here is southern dogwood, which takes a wine-colored hue.

[Canoerebel]

Possum, deer, and some people love persimmons. In fact, most humans love them, if they ever try them and catch them when they're ripe. (If they get them before they're ripe, look out!)

The old timers say that the persimmons are ripe after the first frost. But they're wrong. I've found ripe persimmons as early as August 28. But the peak of the season is mid October to mid November, which is about when we get our first frost.

I ate this one. It was ripe.

[Canoerebel]

At about three miles, I reached Horn Mountain's rocky crest-line. Then I turned around, took this picture, and headed back down the trail.

The white trail sign is the Pinhoti marker, which uses a turkey track logo. "Pinhoti" is Cherokee for "turkey."

[Canoerebel]

Days of wine and roses and a hint of mint.

Red maple leaves provide the "wine and rose" colors.

Southern red oak leaves provide the mint color.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Moose, you're right. I discovered the mistake early this afternoon, prompted in part by your previous question. Then, while working the turn and checking my two carriers, I found that they were shy about 35-40 SBDs and SBCs. That set bells to ringing, so I checked the combat report again. The strike was indeed listed, but I thought it was a strike by Malaya LBA against shipping near Victoria Point (the fact that the bombers had no escort, and the fact that I didn't recognize the place name, through me off the scent. I was reading fast, looking for an escorted carrier raid). So my carriers did react; the dive bombers did fly unescorted (whether against John's AO TF or his carriers, I don't know); and I did lose a bunch of dive bombers. I'm not sure why the escorts didn't fly. John got pretty lucky, I guess. I had a decisive detection advantage and almost got in a strike against his carriers without a counterstrike against mine.

Good you found what happened.

For on-lookers, this is not an OpSec violation. CR should have known what I related; John did as Japan's replay is always true. This just brings things back to balance.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel


Yesterday, the leaves were barely changing color. Today they got serious. Most of the color here is southern dogwood, which takes a wine-colored hue.

Out leaves are down, and yesterday we got a day of snow. Didn't stick but to grass, but still a harbinger. I wish leaves could hang around longer in their colors.

[JohnDillworth]

thanks for the photos. I do love a good walk in the woods. Took a long one n the shore today. much better weather. Heavy stuff headed in tomorrow. You might have inspired me to get out in the rain

[Lokasenna]

Huh. I've got that dogwood tree in my yard. It's still reddish-green here. Really slow to change colors. The one in my front yard hasn't even started yet, but admittedly it's still only a foot tall.

I googled both Persimmon and Southern Dogwood. Instead of trees, the top result for each was some swanky restaurant. I think Google knows a bit too much about what I'm googling for when I google.

[MakeeLearn]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Days of wine and roses and a hint of mint.

Red maple leaves provide the "wine and rose" colors.

Southern red oak leaves provide the mint color.

Although a lot of the ~60 species crossbreed , those look like white oak leaves ??? Rounded lobes? I zoomed the pic and I could not see the spine or bristle at the tip.

Ive got a small batch of Chestnuts this year, small number but they are big in size.

Persimmons are known to taste better after a temp drop. With Persimmons there are male and female trees. For firewood, Persimmons burn a long time.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

This is the Pinhoti Trail, near it's Pocket Road trailhead, about 20 miles north of my house. My hike covered three miles to the crest of Horn Mountain. It was spitting rain and quite cold. But beautiful.

Yesterday, the leaves were barely changing color. Today they got serious. Most of the color here is southern dogwood, which takes a wine-colored hue.

I have massive red and white oak trees in my yard but all of the dogwoods have died over the past 25 years as a result of that fungus. It has been sad to see. Dogwoods were the jewel of the Washington area but I would say that 90% of them are gone now. Both in the burbs and in the wild. The only real survivors are those that get enough full sun to stave off the fungus. It will never be the same. They have been replaced by redbuds which are lovely but not as striking as dogwoods.

[Canoerebel]

Trees are "right in my wheelhouse" (using a baseball term). I have a degree in forestry. Here's some information along the lines of what you guys posted. This comes from ol' memory, not Google:

The sprout trees with the green leaves are southern red oak (Quercus falcata). Juvenile leaves are notoriously difficult to identify in the oak species. They can be a-characteristically oversized or misshapen compared to the adult leaves. But this one is very distinctive. The base of the leaf is the real giveaway. Notice how it's almost bell-shaped? And the tips are actually fairly pointed rather than distinctly rounded, as you'd find with a white oak. Juvenile white oaks leaves are generally pretty characteristic of the adult leaves. But this is a pretty easy call - these leaves are almost identical to mature southern red oak leaves.

American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was nearly wiped out by chestnut blight, beginning in 1904 in New York City and spreading south through the 1940s. The tree survives, but mostly by sprouting from old root stock. Usually, the sprouts are killed before they reach nut-bearing size, though occasionally the trees are able to reproduce. Spanish chestnut and Chinese chestnut are resistant to the blight and have been widely planted in the USA. They are inferior trees, in terms of size and quality of wood and nut. You probably are enjoying one of those species. The American Chestnut Society and various educational and research groups have been crossbreeding American chestnut with the resistant varieties for forty years or longer. They now have hybrids that are something like 15/16th American (going from very old memory there) that have the desired resistance to survive in the wild. These hybrids are far superior to the non-native species and close to the original species. I think they are available for sale. There is an acre-sized plot at our local Berry College with young trees perhaps 20 years old. The American Chestnut Society is located somewhere in southwestern Virginia (Roanoke or Blacksburg?).

Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) fruits only taste better after frost or temperature drop purely by coincidence. The ones I enjoy in August and September taste just as good as the ones I eat in October and November. The wood of persimmon is very hard, very dense, shock resistant, dark and beautiful. It was used for the old "wood" heads on golf clubs.

Southern dogwood (Cornus florida) was hit hard by dogwood anthracnose beginning around the 1990s. The disease (I don't know if it's a fungus or something else) seemed to arrive here but then disappear. As best I can tell, the southern dogwood population in northwest Georgia is as high as ever. The wood of dogwood is very hard and dense. In fact it's the second densest wood in North America, trailing only live oak (which Old Ironsides was made of, largely). Dogwoods don't get big enough to provide lumber, but the dense wood was used for specialty items, especially the old loom shuttles in textile mills. Also, children's toys.

Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) is a member of the legume family. The pretty lavender flowers are edible and taste distinctly like raw peanuts. Redbuds are small trees. Legend is that Judas Iscariot hung himself from a redbud (I think a European or Asian member of the redbud family), thus dooming the tree to it's short status.

Edited to correct typo (I couldn't let "dentate" remain uncorrected).

[JohnDillworth]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Trees are "right in my wheelhouse" (using a baseball term). I have a degree in forestry. Here's some information along the lines of what you guys posted. This comes from ol' memory, not Google:

The sprout trees with the green leaves are southern red oak (Quercus falcata). Juvenile leaves are notoriously difficult to identify in the oak species. They can be a-characteristically oversized or misshapen compared to the adult leaves. But this one is very distinctive. The base of the leaf is the real giveaway. Notice how it's almost bell-shaped? And the tips are actually fairly pointed rather than distinctly rounded, as you'd find with a white oak. Juvenile white oaks leaves are generally pretty characteristic of the adult leaves. But this is a pretty easy call - these leaves are almost identical to mature southern red oak leaves.

American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was nearly wiped out by chestnut blight, beginning in 1904 in New York City and spreading south through the 1940s. The tree survives, but mostly by sprouting from old root stock. Usually, the sprouts are killed before they reach nut-bearing size, though occasionally the trees are able to reproduce. Spanish chestnut and Chinese chestnut are resistant to the blight and have been widely planted in the USA. They are inferior trees, in terms of size and quality of wood and nut. You probably are enjoying one of those species. The American Chestnut Society and various educational and research groups have been crossbreeding American chestnut with the resistant varieties for forty years or longer. They now have hybrids that are something like 15/16th American (going from very old memory there) that have the desired resistance to survive in the wild. These hybrids are far superior to the non-native species and close to the original species. I think they are available for sale. There is an acre-sized plot at our local Berry College with young trees perhaps 20 years old. The American Chestnut Society is located somewhere in southwestern Virginia (Roanoke or Blacksburg?).

Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) fruits only taste better after frost or temperature drop purely by coincidence. The ones I enjoy in August and September taste just as good as the ones I eat in October and November. The wood of persimmon is very hard, very dense, shock resistant, dark and beautiful. It was used for the old "wood" heads on golf clubs.

Southern dogwood (Cornus florida) was hit hard by dogwood anthracnose beginning around the 1990s. The disease (I don't know if it's a fungus or something else) seemed to arrive here but then disappear. As best I can tell, the southern dogwood population in northwest Georgia is as high as ever. The wood of dogwood is very hard and dense. In fact it's the second densest wood in North America, trailing only live oak (which Old Ironsides was made of, largely). Dogwoods don't get big enough to provide lumber, but the dense wood was used for specialty items, especially the old loom shuttles in textile mills. Also, children's toys.

Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) is a member of the legume family. The pretty lavender flowers are edible and taste distinctly like raw peanuts. Redbuds are small trees. Legend is that Judas Iscariot hung himself from a redbud (I think a European or Asian member of the redbud family), thus dooming the tree to it's short status.

Edited to correct typo (I couldn't let "dentate" remain uncorrected).

American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was nearly wiped out by chestnut blight, beginning in 1904 in New York City and spreading south through the 1940s. The tree survives, but mostly by sprouting from old root stock. Usually, the sprouts are killed before they reach nut-bearing size, though occasionally the trees are able to reproduce. Spanish chestnut and Chinese chestnut are resistant to the blight and have been widely planted in the USA. They are inferior trees, in terms of size and quality of wood and nut. You probably are enjoying one of those species. The American Chestnut Society and various educational and research groups have been crossbreeding American chestnut with the resistant varieties for forty years or longer. They now have hybrids that are something like 15/16th American (going from very old memory there) that have the desired resistance to survive in the wild. These hybrids are far superior to the non-native species and close to the original species. I think they are available for sale. There is an acre-sized plot at our local Berry College with young trees perhaps 20 years old. The American Chestnut Society is located somewhere in southwestern Virginia (Roanoke or Blacksburg?).

One of my greatest surprises whilst hiking through the woods in the Shawangunk Mountains near New Paltz was a stand of American Chestnuts. They were about 10 feet high. I understand they usually get the blight and start to die off when they get about this size. Governors Island, In New York Harbor, has a number of hybrid American Chestnuts. They are small, but we hope for the best. Forest change over time. When I was a kid we used to jump the fence and swim in one of NYC's reservoirs. The City no longer used these reservoirs, and after a couple of kids drowned this particular reservoir was drained. Maybe 30 years ago. First weeds grew, they some mulberry and swamp grass. Then some pines and locust. Now, 30 years in, the hardwood oaks and maples are starting to grow. Forests change

[MakeeLearn]

Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) fruits only taste better after frost or temperature drop purely by coincidence.

Maybe. What elevation are they growing at. Like fruit and grapes grown on a mountainside, only a small temp difference with air circulation is needed to made a change, such as a summer day to night.
I have both bottom and hill land and the Persimmons higher do taste better. It use to be a wood used for fiddles, don't know if still used for that.

The oaks on the right do seem to have a point on them. The reds here are very pointed from the start.

Chestnuts...

Some from one tree, not all are producing each year.

[MakeeLearn]

ORIGINAL: crsutton






I have massive red and white oak trees in my yard but all of the dogwoods have died over the past 25 years as a result of that fungus. It has been sad to see. Dogwoods were the jewel of the Washington area but I would say that 90% of them are gone now. Both in the burbs and in the wild. The only real survivors are those that get enough full sun to stave off the fungus. It will never be the same. They have been replaced by redbuds which are lovely but not as striking as dogwoods.

Redbud flowers taste better, they taste like peanuts. I eat them raw. People use to batter and fry them.


Ive eaten a lot of Stinging Nettle and Staghorn Sumac this year, been a good harvest.

[Canoerebel]

1/16/45

KB East: John's carriers are retiring to the Solomons. Mine are preparing to refuel and will then likely hole up somewhere, positioned to intervene against future raids but hopefully hiding from the likely increased sub threat.

[Canoerebel]

1/16/45

KB Central: John may well strike hard in the Gulf of Carpentaria soon. The sea lanes are full of Allied shipping. That will continue for about three weeks. I won't post about this sector any more unless another raid appears to be developing. But there's a lot of key Allied LOC activity taking place here.

[Canoerebel]

1/16/45

Fancy Pants: Hong Kong looks lightly defended; the Allies begin crossing the Yangtze in numbers tomorrow; and the last of the opposition at Shanghai should be eliminated tomorrow.

[BBfanboy]

The crossing into or out of HK does NOT trigger a shock attack. Use F6 to see the hex side.

[CaptBeefheart]

Someone a few pages back gave erroneous information on Hong Kong. There is no river crossing, so there's no shock attack entering HK like there is for Singapore. I would not assume low AV in this case.

Of course I don't have the whole picture, but I'd think messing around with Malaya/Borneo/DEI would be less productive at this point than going for the jugular.

That was an interesting sideshow in SoPac and since you didn't divert any resources to handle the incursion, I don't see it as a waste of your time. You marshaled forces that were transiting or otherwise in the area, and it almost paid off.

EDIT: The man from Winnipeg beat me to it.

Cheers,
CC