Life and times on the Mountain:

The yellow plane came this morning, for the second time this spring to spray for gypsy moths. We live in Spray Block 1 and the county mailed us a notice a few months back, so we knew it was coming. The surprise was the second pass at it, but it has been raining a lot lately. The plane came to spray, starting at 6:30am and was quite a spectacle buzzing impossibly low over the house as we listened, still in bed.

From the WaPo story in 2007:

The county has 15 target areas, or blocks, where it's spraying an Environmental Protection Agency-approved insecticide from a low-flying, yellow crop-duster-style plane. Residents living in and around the areas have been notified by mail, with advisories that people and pets should remain indoors for 30 to 45 minutes after the spraying is complete and planes are no longer buzzing overhead. The spraying will not occur during times when children are walking to school or waiting for school buses.

Check out some defoliation numbers over the years.

Oh, and we pay for the entertainment, cough, I mean moth control, some $ .0025 per $100 valuation added onto our real estate tax bill.

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US 15, north of I-66, is being widened to a 4-lane divided highway. You can read the PWC Project Report.

This project was divided into two sections, a northern section and southern section. Both sections will create a four-lane divided facility with median that will widen approximately 19,639 linear feet of Route 15. The northern section will widen Route 15 north of Dominion Valley to the intersection of Route 234. This section will include the realignment of Route 234 & Waterfall Road to create one intersection with Route 15. The southern section will widen Route 15 from north of Route 66 to north of Utterback Lane. Improvements will also include extending Heathcote Blvd. from its intersection with Rt. 15 east to its existing intersection with Old Carolina Rd, and widening Old Carolina Rd. from Heathcote Blvd. north to the existing Old Carolina widened section.

Thanks to Supervisor Stirrup's office for sending this out.

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The latest addition to the You'll Love Lufkin! series is up.

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Eddie Bryant over at luftex.com, has a pile of old Lufkin photos and postcards. We even have some of the same ones.

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Enjoy a weekend in the country experiencing modern farm life and the rich rural history of western Prince William County at the seventh annual Prince William County Farm Tour.

Seven locations are open to the public with fun and educational activities for the whole family. Visit as many of the tour stops as you like, traveling in the comfort of your own vehicle. You can follow the farm tour map and look for bright yellow directional signs along the way. Parking areas are designated at each stop. Thanks to our generous sponsors, this is a free event for all.

Oak Dale Baptist Church's Outreach Team will feed Farm Tour visitors at 11:30 am to 2:30 pm on Saturday, and 12 noon to 3 pm Sunday. Lunch fare will include hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, cookies, and drinks. There is no fee, although cost-covering voluntary donations will be welcomed.

Check out the site for a map to the seven stops and an activity book for the kids.

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The day started damp, leftovers from the night's rain, but quickly cheered with an autumn sun peeking through the hickories. Breakfast, coffee-to-go, pawing at the BRO (the Bull Run Observer, not the bro) to find the location for parking, then we're off.

According to E. Bruce Davis, staff writer for the BRO:

The thousands of people who attend from 9-4p.m., rain or shine, will see from any vantage point the majesty of the town's past, alongside the new development and buildings designed to herald a future pedestrian-friendly town.

Cool, 58F, with an improbably blue sky and some light wind. Perfect for viewing the majesty of Haymarket. Ahem, right.

Parking was easy and after depositing one girl with her school group, we took up curbside residence in front of the uninspired Town Hall, waiting for the parade. I've missed the past three Haymarket Days for various reasons, but was glad to see strong (almost too crowded) attendance and plenty of parade entries. My favorites: the pug wearing campaign stickers, the high school band, and, of course, my kid waving with her preschool group.

The inimitable Bruce Roemmelt stopped over to greet his mountain neighbors, as did most of the professional politicians (it's an election year in Virginia), but it was odd to see Delegate Bob driving a car by himself in the parade. Laura suggested that I could perhaps join him to discuss our political differences.

Conspicuous by their absence, the Gainesvill Ruritans didn't organize this year's event. They'll be putting on the Pumpkin Pandemonium in a couple of weeks.

Post-parade, we dove into the scrum of booths and vendors in the lot next to Haymarket Baptist Church, and had nice visits with Bruce again, and Louise Jamison, Grand Marshall of Haymarket Day today and a Prince William educator for many, many years. We were soon to be ejected by fussing kids and wind-whipped balloons. It was declared, "this is no fun," so it's off to lunch with friends at a local pizza place, where we consumed half of the chairs in the place, along with some tasty pizzas.

All in all, a perfect small-town day.

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It's that time of year again, time for the annual farm tours of Northern Virginia and central Maryland.

• 29-30 Sep: Virginia - Prince William County Wild Western Farm Tour
• 29-30 Sep: Maryland - Frederick County Oktoberfest
• 13 Oct: Virginia - Fauquier County Farm Tour
• 20-21 Oct: Virginia - Loudoun County Fall Farm Color Tour
• 20-21 Oct: Maryland - Frederick County FamilyFestival@theFarm

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