About Me

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I am an ex-urbanite who escaped the city life and has lived for the past 28 years in a rural, mountainous area of Virginia that in colonial and early-American times was part of the "Backcountry." This is the true melting pot of the U.S.A., its culture and traditions dominated by "born fighting" Scotch-Irish immigrants and enhanced by German, Highland Scot, Dutch, Welsh, and yeoman English settlers. Having absorbed and inculcated the history, values and views of the Backcountry, I would like to share insights, information, and viewpoints from the place where America began. - - Jay Henderson

"My weariness amazes me . . . ." - - Bob Dylan ("Mr. Tambourine Man").

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - - George Bernard Shaw.

“The law often allows what honor forbids.” - - Bernard-Joseph Saurin, French lawyer, poet, and playwright.

"Work is the curse of the blogging class." - - Me.

FRONT PAGE

                             Sometimes old news is the best news 

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Friday
03Jul

J. B. Cole 1940 Catalogue Sold

DateFriday, July 3, 2009 at 09:13PM

An original copy of the J. B. Cole 1940 Catalogue sold on eBay on June 29, 2009, for $158.05 - - plus $3 for mailing.  Here's the eBay link - - it will disappear in a few weeks: J. B. Cole Catalogue.

The reprints have been selling for about 50 bucks, which I thought was high until I learned about this recent sale of an original copy.

Article: The J. B. Cole Pottery 1940 Catalogue

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Friday
03Jul

Mercatus Center at George Mason University Ranks States By Freedom

DateFriday, July 3, 2009 at 11:23AM

Normally I hesitate to inflict scholarly papers on others, but a recent release by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University appealed to my libertarian sensibilities. Freedom in the 50 States analyzes and ranks the states by factors indicative of economic and personal freedom, and the results are enlightening.

{Continue reading here}

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Thursday
02Jul

Flower Garden in Late June

DateThursday, July 2, 2009 at 07:20AM

These pictures were taken in our upper side yard on June 28.

Click on each image to view a larger version.

AuthorJay Henderson | Comment1 Comment |
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Monday
29Jun

Dwight and the Ace of Spades

DateMonday, June 29, 2009 at 09:32AM

April 11, 2002.  As usual, names may have have been changed to protect the guilty.

The Norfolk neighborhood where we lived in the 1960s, called Ghent, was quite different then than it is now. When we moved in, it was early in the process of “gentrification.” The neighborhood had deteriorated and there were quite a few rental properties, including the house my parents bought, that were in need of renovation and repair. Ghent now is overrun with doctors and lawyers and stockbrokers, but in 1965 there were longshoremen and Navy Yard workers and auto mechanics. Drinking and fighting were more widely practiced than golf and tennis. My friends Dwight and Dickie were born and raised in this environment.

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AuthorJay Henderson | Comment3 Comments |
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Sunday
28Jun

Relay for Life 2009

DateSunday, June 28, 2009 at 02:05PM

I am a 10-year cancer survivor and I like to support the Relay for Life event which raises funds for the American Cancer Society.  The local Relay took place yesterday in great weather.  I managed to mosey around the track enough times to make a mile.  There were a whole lot more survivors in the "survivors' lap" this year than there were in the first one I attended, in 2000.

You can find an event near you by visiting the Relay for Life Website.

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AuthorJay Henderson | Comment2 Comments |
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Wednesday
24Jun

Cousin Bull meets an electric fence

DateWednesday, June 24, 2009 at 07:21AM

As a kid, I didn’t go in much for “practical jokes” . . . exceptions including one time when my obnoxious cousin Bull* drove me nuts bragging about how he was better, smarter, faster, and otherwise superior in every way. Bull was visiting the family farm in North Carolina with his parents that day. We were walking along a lane by a field where my grandfather had an electric cattle fence when Bull said, “I wonder if that’s on.”

An evil thought crept into my mind; I resisted the temptation, if only briefly, but I was weak, so I gave in . . .

{continue reading here}

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Tuesday
23Jun

Summer's Here, So Are Day Lilies

DateTuesday, June 23, 2009 at 07:50AM

In my area, day lilies are a reliable indicator that summer has arrived.  Folks in these parts like day lilies in many varieties and often collect a bunch of them.  Our day lilies haven't bloomed yet - - tomorrow, probably - - because our yard is very shaded. These pictures are from my in-laws' place, taken this past Sunday. Click on the image to see a larger version.

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AuthorJay Henderson | Comment2 Comments |
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