Sunset Report: Pitiful, pouring, precipitation
Yesterday Karen took me to Great Falls, Virginia. At Great Falls, the Potomac River builds up speed and force as it falls over a series of steep, jagged rocks and flows through the narrow Mather Gorge. The Patowmack Canal offers a glimpse into the early history of this country. Great Falls Park has much history and nature, all in a beautiful park only 15 miles from Washington, D.C. A trading place. A place to fish. A canal and town. An amusement park and a place to discover nature. In the past, Great Falls of the Potomac has been the all of these. The park depictions at the Falls show traders navigating the rapids in their boats with goods being delivered to Washington in the 1800's. Imagine! Donny, James and I did a twelve-mile kayak paddle past a mountain castle in Belgium in fair rapids. Very impressive to get a boat of goods on the water conditions we saw tonite!!
I mentioned earlier that my daughter and I share a love of waterfalls, and whenever I can put myself in the same area as a water fall, I do. This time, though, Karen took me as I wouldn't have thought to drive there by myself. Thanks, Karen! When we left the house I thought we were going on a thirty-minute excursion to Ball's Bluff, but she faked me out. In Connecticut I love going to the water falls at Devil's Hopyard, and there's a long family history of our going there. It was often one of the day-rides I took in the Corvette, or on our motorcycles with good friends, like Beth!! Hey, you!
Legend has it that the Prince of Darkness himself has been seen sitting atop a huge boulder near the top of the falls, playing a fiddle while his minions stirred nefarious brews in the naturally formed cauldron-like potholes at the bottom of the falls. (The potholes have also been thought to be the marks burned in the rocks by the Devil’s hooves.) Native Americans are said to have used the area for rituals, further spooking the locals and adding to the mythos. Over the decades, dark shadows and phantoms have been purportedly seen moving around the woodland. In more recent times, people have allegedly experienced spirit orbs and mists, as well as strong feelings of foreboding. Others have heard demonic voices and inexplicable laughing. EVPs have also been supposedly recorded. And yes, there’s evidence that in the 18th century there was a malt house near one of the tributaries of the Eight Mile River, near which hops were grown. Hence, the “hopyard.”
When we got home, Karen broke out my old pressure cooker and made a pot roast to die for. Emma used to joke about me being married to the pressure cooker because I enjoyed it so much! I love that my family has all the stuff that was once mine. Small enough to fit in my camper/sailboat, right? YES!
Donny didn't send me flight info. Don't know what that means, but I didn't go to pick him up and we're still in Leesburg. We had tropical depression 16 open the skies over us today, so it's probably just as well that we didn't venture to Norfolk. Today is a crossword and scotch on the rocks day. I was only compelled to write this because I'm a water fall seeker and we had a great time. Thanks, Karen!!!
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