InFauquier Magazine Winter 2018

WINTER 2018

Cold Comfort Creating a glow this winter: So many ways

INSIDE:

Warm hearts make for warm homes: Habitat for Humanity The loving embrace of Hospice Discover the mesmerizing effect of fire, through history – and today Did your momma warn you not to go out in the cold without a hat?

Find out if she knew best

PLUS:

Meet Fauquier Community Coalition founder Lynn Ward Learn how he's helping

WINTER 2018

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WINTER 2018

IN THE

Winter 2018 – Cold Comfort

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PHOTO BY RANDY LITZINGER

LIFE & STYLE 20 Finding comfort in the old-fashioned romance of a wood fire: Everything you need to know to keep the glow 23 All about alpacas, and their darn(ing) yarn 25 The caring hands of Heartland Hospice 26 Fact? Fiction? Take what your elders told you about cold and see if it's true. (We asked a doctor to find out for sure.)

PHOTO BY BETSY BURKE PARKER

FACES & PLACES 30 What's on your holiday wish list? The best of the best from local business owners 33 Meet Darryl Neher, new director of local Habitat for Humanity 34 Lynn Ward: The dynamo behind protecting those in need 35 Pastoral comfort crosses ecumenical boundaries

40 PHOTO BY SANDY GREELEY

FOOD & WINE 38 Mull your options for a warming drink this winter season 38 Discover the trade secrets behind winter stout, a beer that stands up to the cold (even if you drink it warm like the Brits) 40 A blueprint for holiday entertaining, complete with personalized and unique recipes designed to please even the most discerning tastes

EXTRAS

ON THE COVER

n County tidbits ........................ 8

Cover photographer, Piedmont Media graphic designer and videographer Sawyer Guinn says after a few cold winters relying on a massive wood stove in an old farmhouse, he's developed a deep appreciation for woodfueled heat.

"I (find) a primitive romance in a warming fire," he says, "and time seems to slow in a fire-cozied room. Sitting in front of an open flame, it’s easy to remember that book you never finished reading. Fire has an ability to make time for such luxuries with nothing other to do except occasionally feed the flames another log."

For the cover design, Sawyer explains he wanted to embrace the notion "that when you rely on a woodstove for heat, you're on the fire’s time. Not much else matters."

Model Leah Chaldares was more than content "to sit for the shoot as long as need be," he adds. To even better aid the tone for the photoshoot at Sawyer's small cabin outside Marshall, it took place the same evening as the first snow of the season.

n Then and now ...................... 11 n Side-by-side: We're game...... 12 n The Last Word ..................... 50

12 PHOTO BY BETSY BURKE PARKER

45 PHOTO BY PAM OWEN

HOME & GARDEN 43 They're taking the holidays by force, but nobody's complaining: Discover the beauty of the bulbs, at the time of year when we need a boost 45 May be draped in a plain gray cover, but the common junco is anything but common 45 Feeding frenzy: What they want and why should be your field guide for birds

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Published quarterly by Piedmont Media Address 41 Culpeper Street Warrenton, VA 20186 Phone: 540-347-4222 Fax: 540-349-8676 Publisher: Catherine M. Nelson cnelson@fauquier.com Editor: Betsy Burke Parker betsyburkeparker@gmail.com Managing editor: Jill Palermo jpalermo@fauquier.com Advertising Ad director: Kathy Mills Godfrey 540-351-1162 kgodfrey@fauquier.com Consultants: Evelyn Cobert ecobert@fauquier.com Renee Ellis rellis@fauquier.com Patti Engle pengle@fauquier.com Tony Ford tford@fauquier.com Marie Rossi mrossi@fauquier.com Design Page designer: Taylor Dabney tdabney@fauquier.com Ad designers: Taylor Dabney tdabney@fauquier.com Cindy Goff cgoff@fauquier.com Sawyer Guinn sguinn@fauquier.com Shelby Pope spope@fauquier.com Annamaria Ward award@fauquier.com

Dog days of winter? Here's how the inFauquier team finds comfort in the cold. (Hint: cats – and catnaps – are part of the equation.)

Food writer, restaurant critic and cookbook author Sandy Greeley is passionate about supporting local farms and farmers and writing about every aspect of the food world.

She says her dream for winter comfort is hot, not warm. “A fiery Tex-Mex spread garnished with jalapeños.”

Pat Reilly of Marshall, a former newspaper editor and government spokesperson, says her personal favorite winter sport is “cuddling with Midnight the cat while bingewatching Game of Thrones, where winter is always coming.”

Author-editor Steve Price enjoys the sidewalks and streets of his native New York City when new-fallen snow mutes the sound of the city’s hustle-bustle. “And, corny as it sounds, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree offers a comforting sense of continuity.”

Historian and retired NASA engineer Norm Schulze says, for him, winter means relaxing “in my beautiful Clores walnut rocker by the fireplace with a glass of Glühwein and not having to go outside to deal with the nasty weather. With a catnap or two thrown in.”

Master Gardener Sally Harmon Semple took early-retirement from her career in environmental policy to revel in her passion for natural history. Her winter comfort is looking out on the winter landscape with a warm cup of chai spice tea in hand.

Connie Lyons wrote the award-finalist book, “Trend Setters: The Making of the

Modern Irish Setter.” Her notion of winter comfort is pretty specific. “A howling storm raging outside, a roaring fire blazing within, the latest Stephen King (or a rerun of Middlemarch) and a large bottle of red wine.”

several compilations, leads a writers’ group and is a ministry leader in her church. Alissa says her favorite winter comfort hasn’t changed over the years: “Enjoying a homecooked meal in front of a fireplace, watching movies with family. Heaven.”

Designer Taylor Dabney recently moved to a tiny apartment in Washington, D.C. and is missing her favorite winter comfort, her fireplace, very much. “There's nothing like sipping your morning coffee while sitting in front of a nice fire.”

John Daum has been a teacher at the Hill School in Middleburg for two decades.

John’s winter comfort comes from the liquid refreshment of Fauquier’s breweries.

He likes to land on his fireside sofa with a velvety barrel-aged stout or Belgian-inspired Quad.

Robin Earl is a freelance writer from Bealeton. Her version of comfort involves a fuzzy blanket, a mystery novel and her giant beanbag chair. “It's hard to clamber up out of,” she notes, so choosing that seat is a bit of a commitment – appropriate for long wintry evenings.” inFauquier editor Betsy Burke Parker says her favorite winter comfort after a day on the farm she operates near Flint Hill is “a nightly bubble bath, hot enough to turn my skin red,” afterwards retiring with a cat, or two, acting as hot-water bottles to retain, and share, the residual heat.

After observing nature on a cold winter day, writer, editor, photographer and passionate nature conservationist Pam Owen enjoys sitting in front of her woodstove with a glass of wine, poring through her nature references.

Writer Alissa Jones has been published in

Freelance photojournalist Randy Litzinger says his favorite winter comfort meal is toasted cheese (“grilled cheese to the rest of the world,”) with tomato basil soup.

Middleburg photographer Chris Cerrone works as a financial analyst. His favorite winter comfort is three-fold: “a good book, by the fireplace, with my dog at my side.”

Eighth-grader Roxanna Beebe-Center says what comforts her in winter is sipping hot chocolate in a warm bed with her Jack Russell curled up at her feet and “knowing my fuzzy pony is napping in the barn.”

Virginia native Sawyer Guinn grew up exploring the farmlands and woods in and around Fauquier. With many memories of hiking, hunting, camping and fishing, Sawyer’s favorite cold comfort is literal – a thick camouflage jacket to spend a brisk fall morning outside.

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FALL 2018

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Hot or not, we learn to find comfort in winter through our own experience

Winters were frustratingly mild in Tennessee – more reliably so than in Virginia – but the year I was in first grade we got lucky. Snow fell, and, for the first time in years, it accumulated. My school was canceled, my dad stayed home, his demolition business briefly on hold. Old Nashville could stand a few more days, he said. My mom shepherded my little sister and I out to the “hill” behind our little frame farmhouse and turned us loose with a battered old disc sled.

It was less a request than an eviction.

The standard poodles went crazy as we played, barking and plunging into the snow as Jennifer and I tugged the sled up the hill – maybe 12 child’s paces with a 3-foot vertical drop at most. We were barely heavy enough for the critical mass required to propel us down, but with an occasional shove from a boisterous dog, we thought we were flying.

The somnolent beef cattle in the adjacent pasture presided over the circus – up and down, up and down, up and down we went, all morning long.

We clomped in our little rubber boots back onto the front porch a few hours later, our senses ignited, our little cheeks flushed and our little hands half-frozen from the wet snow already melting under a now sun-filled sky. We demanded hot chocolate and after that fell fast asleep on the sofa near my dad snoozing in front of the coal-stove and a very young Tom Brokaw yammering about the blizzard of ‘78 paralyzing the northeast on the muted console TV. I was secretly glad it was a blizzard, I thought, as I drifted into a midday nap.

“

To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.

– Aristotle

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WINTER 2018

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The comforting smells in the tiny house told us our mom was in the kitchen, cooking up something wonderful for later, I’m sure, though certainly cuisine pre-teen girls wouldn’t fully appreciate.

Funny how we hold onto these snapshot memories. Those exact cold comforts still sooth my winters, some 50 years later.

Like most adults in the Piedmont, today I cringe when I hear snow in the forecast because now I’m the one responsible for snow-clearing – accumulation here is pretty dependable, and I have sole responsibility for the livestock. But I still laugh when the dogs try to play “catch” with a snowball, and I’m first to suggest a gallop through the snow the minute the sun breaks out. Now, as then, nothing warms the belly like hot chocolate, and the smell of beef stew cooking from the kitchen feeds the soul.

Today wood is my fuel of choice for a fire, and today it’s a flatscreen and satellite-fed Fixer Upper reruns, but a snowday feels sorta like a throwback. Time slows down, our angle of vision is narrowed and we tend our most basic needs.

This winter issue of inFauquier magazine takes its cues from the cold comforts of the season. The writing and photography team plunged into the theme with the enthusiasm of a snowball fight. Alissa Jones discovers the comforts offered by a range of faiths, while Pat Reilly finds out how the new head of local Habitat for Humanity is ensuring safe housing for everybody. Lynn Ward gives insight on the comforts of a caring community through his Fauquier Community Coalition.

Connie Lyons meets someone who – quite literally – warms our winters: Bob Kelly and his Hunt Country Yarns in The Plains. Robin Earl takes it a step further back, talking to Mary Forte and her herd of fiber-bearing alpacas.

Roxie Beebe-Center debunks the cold myths your own mom may have told you, while Sawyer Guinn goes back to the very start – the discovery of fire – to trace how humanity and heating evolved in tandem.

We’ve got the usual array of winter recipes – Sandy Greeley gives us ideas for our own olfactory comforts from roasted holiday goose, and the usual adult beverage recommendations from ale expert John Daum. Pam Owen makes sure the region’s littlest residents – the birds – aren’t left out on the roadmap to navigating Virginia’s infamous cold season.

Come, Experience

Warrenton!

GUMDROP SQUARE & SANTA’S SECRET WORKSHOP PRESENTED BY EXPERIENCE OLD TOWN WARRENTON

Nov. 30–Dec. 2, Dec. 7–9, Dec. 14–16, and Dec. 21 Fridays: 6 pm-9 pm, Saturdays: 10 am-1 pm, Sundays: 1 pm-3 pm

Santa will be on hand for photos and hearing your wish list! Children can shop for family gifts with the help of happy elves in Santa’s workshop. *NEW!* Friday evenings from 5 pm-8 pm, in coordination with GumDrop Square festivities, join Old Town merchants for a Christmas Market on Main Street with handcrafted vendors, delicious food, a beer garden and music!

OLD TOWN COOKIE CRAWL Presented by VonCanon General Store, Yarnia of Old Town, Kelly Ann’s Quilting, Walk

by Faith, Sherrie’s Stuff, DejaVu, Carter & Spence, Bike Stop, Framecraft, Latitudes Fair Trade, Earth Glaze & Fire, Haute Cakes Pastry Shop, Great Harvest Bread Co, Vallie’s Vintage Jewelry, Main Street Wellness, Gâteau Bakery & Tea Room, Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail, Law Office of Marie Washington and Past Reflections

December 15, 10 am-2 pm Experience the 1st Annual Cookie Crawl. Snack your way through Old Town, and vote for your favorite cookie at VonCanon General Store. Everyone who votes is eligible for the raffle prize which will be drawn at VonCanon at 3 pm. Need not be present to win.

NEW YEAR’S EVE IN OLD TOWN

PRESENTED BY ALLEGRO COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

Dec. 31, 7 pm–midnight Experience a charming small-town, family-friendly New Year’s Eve celebration on Main Street. $10/adults, $8/seniors, $5/kids (3–12 years)

Interested in being a volunteer, sponsor or vendor? Contact us at experience@oldtownwarrenton.org www.oldtownwarrenton.org | Find us on and @experienceOTW WINTER 2018

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COUNTY TIDBITS

It may be cold outside, but we’ve got so many ways to warm up winter There's a ton going on through the holidays, New Year's and beyond. This list is just a starting point: Check the Fauquier Times weekly and fauquier.com.

Masters Gardener program The Virginia Cooperative Extension 2019 Master Gardener program is being taught in Warrenton through the winter and spring.

The long-running program educates and trains community residents on

Salvation Army volunteer Alexus Banks cheers the season at her post outside the Marshall Food Lion.

emerging and proven gardening and landscaping practices that preserve and protect the environment. Master Gardeners volunteer in the community in more than a dozen community service projects related to organic gardening, native plants and trees, vegetable gardening, healthy lawns, youth education, senior horticultural therapy and more.

The 16-week program runs Tuesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m., starting Jan. 8. Classes are held primarily at the VCE office in Warrenton and taught by horticultural experts and professionals.

Classes include botany, trees and shrubs, soil and fertilizers, pest management, fruit and vegetable gardening, propagation, lawn care, pruning, insects and more.

In addition to the classroom sessions, participants also complete 50 hours of community volunteering. fc-mg.org.

Fauquier fun this winter

Ice skating in Marshall The Northern Fauquier Community Park in Marshall is installing a synthetic "ice" skating rink for use all winter.

540-422-8570 GumDrop Square in Old Town Downtown carolers, orchestra and choir music, open houses, live nativity, food trolleys with hot cocoa and warm snacks and horsedrawn hayrides. oldtownwarrenton.org Holidays at Airlie Warrenton Fridays and Saturdays in December, visit Airlie’s holiday-decorated property. Tour the formal gardens, see the light display and warm up with cider and gingersnaps in front of a bonfire.

The events are free to attend. airlie.com

Cut your own Christmas trees • Hollin Farms, Delaplane 540-592-3701 hollinfarms.com • Hartland Orchards, Markham 540-364-2316 hartlandorchards.com • Stribling Orchard, Markham 540-364-3040 striblingorchard.com • Evergreen Acres, Nokesville 703-203-2641 evergreenacres.biz

African American Heritage Association, The Plains “Telling your own story” aahafauquier.org Paws for Reading program Bealeton Library In this free, ongoing program, children age 5-10 read their favorite books to trained therapy dogs.

540-422-8500 Breakfast with Santa Airlie, Warrenton Buffet breakfast and kids’ activities in Santa’s Workshop with holiday crafts, cookies to decorate and, of course, Santa himself. airlie.com

Public School Number 18, Marshall Historic renovation of original one-room schoolhouse.

Fauquier Master Gardeners upkeep the landscaped grounds.

540-422-8570

SUMMER 2018

WINTER

Cold Comfor t

2018

FALL 2018

That’s the PAGE 45

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Spirit...

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Spooky spiders

The storiets that mus be told t

and more

Haunted houses Paranormal patrol Spirit photography

tales tha Discover the ’s tapestrya how-to guide nty PLUS: weave the cou

2018 SUMMER

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Creatin g a glow this w So man inter: y ways

INSIDE:

Warm he homes: arts make for wa Habitat for Huma rm nity The loving of Hospi embrace ce Discover effect of the mesmerizin g fire , throu history – and today gh Did your you not momma warn the cold to go out in wit ho ut Find out if she kne a hat?

PLUS:

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Meet Fau FALL 2018 Coalition quier Commun ity Hear how founder Lynn Wa he's helpin rd g

B-13.75 -- CMYK

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-- CMYK WINTER

2018

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Don’t miss your chance to advertise in the next issue of

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WINTER 2018

Contact your sales consultant by November 14th to place your ad in the Winter 2018 issue, out December 12th.

540-347-4222 | kgodfrey@fauquier.com PIEDMONT MEDIA

December 16

Gingerbread house workshop Vint Hill Village Green Community Center recreation.fauquiercounty.gov.

December 17

Fauquier Community Band holiday celebration Fauquier High School, Warrenton fauquiercommunityband.com

December 31 New Year's Eve at Airlie airlie.com First Night in Old Town Warrenton Welcome the New Year with a community celebration of the arts. Fifty performances at more than 10 indoor locations in downtown Warrenton – jazz, classical, puppet shows, bluegrass, folk

COUNTY TIDBITS

music, magicians and more. virginia.org

Dog-sledding event

Expert dog-sledder Ron Gagne will demonstrate and discuss all the aspects of dog-sledding at a March 16 event at Crockett Park near Midland.

The event is free.

Learn about working dogs, sled arrangement and the history of the canine-human partnership both in the north and across the globe. fauquiercounty.gov

January 1

Jingle Jog 5k fun run Vint Hill recreation.fauquiercounty.gov

January 5

Astronomy viewing session Also Feb. 9 Crockett Park, Midland

January 12

Birdfeeder building Crockett Park recreation.fauquiercounty.gov

February 18

January 16

Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration Afro-American Historical Association, The Plains aahafauquier.org.

Who's hibernating this winter?

Northern Fauquier Community Park recreation.fauquiercounty.gov

February 23

Unicycle show and class Vint Hill Community Center

Warm and fuzzy for the holidays Give the gift of yourself and donate your time to a local animal shelter. Dogs always need walking and interaction with human handlers to optimize their adoptability. Cats always need tending and active play, kennels need cleaning – the list is endless.

This year, instead of adding boxes and paper to the landfill, volunteer to help out at any of the local shelters. fauquierspca.com

Perfect performances for the winter doldroms: Dark Horse Theatre Company 'Craving for Travel' plus comedy improv In The Plains Jan. 4-19, there will be a local production of the off-Broadway comedy "Craving For Travel" by Greg Edwards and Andy Sandberg.

Two actors play more than 30 characters in the unique show.

Former spouses Gary and Joanne, now rival travel agents, are vying for their industry's most prestigious honor.

With their reputations on the line, they'll tackle any request, no matter how impossible, and any client, no matter how unreasonable. Full of overzealous travelers, overbooked flights and hoteliers who are "just over it," the play stars Jay Tilley and Arianne Warner, directed by Natasha Parnian.

The play is performed at Grace Church on Main Street in The Plains on Fridays and Saturdays through January.

Performances include post-show talkbacks with cast and crew.

Founded in 2009, Dark Horse Theatre Company is a Northern Virginia area collective of performers, directors, designers, writers, visual artists and other specialists.

Dark Horse also hosts improv comedy nights at the Vint Hill Theatre Dec. 29 and Feb. 16. darkhorseva.com PHOTOS BY CHRIS CERRONE, BETSY PARKER

New Millennium

Century 21 New Millennium is excited to welcome Jackie Douglass to our family. “ I’ll guide you through your most important purchase with Professionalism, Patience and a Positive Attitude. Enthusiasm, knowledge and personal concern for my client’s interests combine to make me an outstanding resource for your real estate transaction. Your Town & Country Realtor. I’ll go where your dreams take you.” - Jackie Douglass

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WINTER 2018

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Introducing

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Check out beautiful new photos of furniture and learn more about our business.

Watch for Rankin’s Furniture’s new videos on social media

Where’s Mr. Rankin?

Family coming for the holidays? Last minute seating couches, chairs, and more with last minute delivery on December 21st until 5pm and December 24th until noon.

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WINTER 2018

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THEN & NOW

SPOT THE DIFFERENCES

Then: Snowy scene from 1940 Now: All but unchanged in 2018 (except now we have multiple choices for snow removal) 2

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1940

2018 2 3

Key 1. The stone bridge over Cedar Run still in place.

2. Frame farmhouse still nestled against Wildcat Mountain eastern front.

3. Main house constructed of native stone still in use.

4. Driveway from Cannonball Gate Road

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THEN PHOTO BY NORM SCHULZE NOW PHOTO BY BETSY BURKE PARKER

The early northern Virginia snow this year made historian and writer Norman Schulze hearken back to a similar day at his family’s home on Cedar Run between Marshall and Warrenton in 1940. A blanket of snow draped the region, their driveway and the sturdy stone bridge across the creek on the eastern side of Wildcat Mountain near Bethel that day.

“I was 4.” Schulze remembers the snow seeming “very deep,” though looking at the photo wonders if that's because he was very small.

“It seems like we had more snows, and deeper, back then. People were more independent then: they counted more on themselves and less on government. (Tire) chains were

standard equipment for people living in the country. They gave a ride that vibrated the vehicle and were noisy.

“We still had lots of roads in the country that were dirt, not asphalt, so we didn't drive fast anyhow. There were snowplows but not many – not like today with plows sitting on the side of the road loaded with sand waiting for an accumulation.

“I also remember farmers using snow fence, red boards, wired vertically together that were set in the fields during early winter and taken up at season’s end, the purpose being to stop snow from blowing across roads at strategic points.”

Regardless, there was very little traffic on nearby U.S. 17. Across from Cannonball Gate Road, Schulze recalls the old Warrenton Orchard attracting people to the intersection, selling apples and fresh cider from fall into winter.

The main residence, to the right of the bridge, is a beautiful stone house, Schulze says, hand-built by a local young mason who lost the farm in the Depression.

After the Schulze family sold the property in 1945, the owners of the Rockwood Dance Hall in Warrenton – where McClanahan Camera is today – purchased the Bethel house.

Schulze visited 20 years ago, finding the stone house and property virtually unchanged.

WINTER 2018

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SIDE BY SIDE

All fun and games for local entrepreneurs Take a snow day this winter, by cozying up to Warhammer at a wooden table at The Game Store or adulting at a Sip and Sketch at Infinity.

The owners ask: ‘Why should the kids have all the fun?’

Story and photos by Betsy Burke Parker

David Willingham: Infinity Art and Comics, Remington

Cameron Rivenbank: The Game Store, Warrenton

SCHOOL: Fauquier High, class of 1994 BUSINESS: Comics, art, action figurines INSTAGRAM: @infinity_art_and_comics His interest in art started early, though he did think he'd be the teacher's pet: “My (high school) art teacher was my cousin Kathleen Willingham. But she didn’t cut me any slack because of my name. In fact, she pushed me to be better.

“My parents bought me a how-to-draw book with Darth Vader in it, and once I started trying to draw him and Spider-Man, I was hooked.

“We're taught to go to school, grow up, have a family, pay bills and that’s it. But I feel like dreams are put in our hearts for a reason.”

Spider-Man caught his attention and introduced him to a new world order.

“I remember buying my first (comic book) on my own – Spider-Man #1 by Todd Mcfarlane. (I've) exposed my (six) kids to the same imaginative worlds created by Stan Lee, George Lucas and Walt Disney. They grew to love it as i did, giving us something incredible to bond over.

“It led to the opening of this comic shop. Sometimes It’s the smallest things that cause the biggest ripples.”

Inifinity sprang from his childhood vision of how a dream could grow legs.

“The first day we opened (this fall, on Main Street in Remington) I was nervous and excited, my dream was finally a reality. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so when I turned the corner and saw a line waiting for me to open, I was floored.

“It was a culmination of long hours (and) a lot of persistence and hard work.

“The bulk of sales comes from marketplace. It's a good balance of toys and comics online. Our shop offers original art and prints, the majority by local artists.

“We're about 720 square feet with approximately 12,000 comics, 70 pieces of original artwork and toys from vintage to modern with hundreds to choose from.”

There's lots more in store for winter – drinking, drawing: what's not to like?.

“We hosted our first ‘sip and paint’ wine and art session in November, with another planned Dec. 17. We'll paint comic book and Disney characters. We’ll do a kids’ version in the future.”

Picking favorites from a world-good point of view.

“Spider-Man has and always will be my favorite, with Superman being a close second. Spider-Man because outside of being the hero, he is a normal person with everyday problems like the rest of us. It makes him easy to connect with. Superman because he chooses to do good, to be the hero, not because he has to but because he wants to make the world a better place.”

SCHOOL: Culpeper High, class of 2008 BUSINESS: Board games, play and sales WEB: www.thegamestore.online Necessity is the mother of invention.

“I used to be a video gamer, (because) I didn't have anywhere to find people to play board or card games with.

“Once I started role-playing games, I visited a game store in Northern Virginia. They had the toys and games I was interested in, but it was not a ‘fun’ place. A game store could and should be so much more than a white room with plastic tables.”

Dungeons and Dragons provided the roadmap as well as the inspiration.

“In the classic way you start the adventures of Dungeons and Dragons, the heroes meet in a tavern to plan. So if we were going to open a store, it would have to reflect a love of gaming, inside and out, and I wanted my store to feel like a Medieval tavern.

“We were still building the (solid wood) tables minutes before customers started pouring in (this March). We ‘knighted’ shoppers and Kickstarters with a sword as they came in.”

The Warrenton bypass location hits the sweet spot for the start-up.

“Warrenton (and) the shopping center are perfect. The retail space is literally attached to a Chipotle, Panera, barbeque, pizza, more pizza, Thai food and two locally-owned bars. This was ideal – 3,000 square feet and seating for 100.

“We get as many grown-ups as we get kids. We opened to give (this) community a place to call home. We offer snacks, drinks, toys, Magic Cards, board games and tabletop games like Warhammer for sale and for play. People bring in amazing games we've never even seen.

“This is what a game store in my mind must be if you are to capture the passion and imagination of the community.”

It may be a fantasy realm, but one with critical, real-life applications.

“We started a STEM program for kids to get involved in science, technology, engineering and math, while being a family-friendly game store. From the youngest child to the most elite of gamer – everyone exists with mutual love and respect for one another.

We have grandparents come in to play Pokemon with their grandkids, just to be closer with them. Board games support all of this, and more.”

The hidden benefits of a creating a space for extroverted introverts.

“People come up to me and my staff and thank us. Several people told us that they had been in a deep depression for years, and how great to have a safe place to go with people who care about them and their interests, and how it has brought them into the light and given them a hope they felt was lost.

"I’m fortunate to be a part of this."

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WINTER 2018

Celebrating 40 Years Top 50 CENTURY 21 Individual Producer, Mid-Atlantic 2015, 2016 CENTURION Honor Society Producer 2016 CENTURION Producer 2012-2017 Quality Service Producer 2012, 2015, 2016 President’s Producer 2013 Quality Service Pinnacle Producer 2013

BRENDA RICH

FAUQUIER RESIDENTIAL REALTOR OF THE YEAR

brenda.rich@c21nm.com | 540-270-1659 85 Garrett Street, Warrenton, VA www.c21nm.com | 540-349-1221 (office) WINTER 2018

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A light unto the world: Bright comforts in a dark time of year

By Steve Price

Depending on who you listen to, winter in our part of the country will be milder than normal this year. Or colder.

Take your pick.

Nevertheless, winter in the northern hemisphere isn’t the brightest time of year. Daylight diminishes until the mid-December winter solstice, and even when days begin to grow longer, they do so at a slow pace that does nothing to buoy SAD (as in seasonal affective disorder) spirits. Although a new snowfall may look Currier-andIves Christmas-card picturesque and warm the heart of skiers and snowball warriors, the pristine loveliness will eventually melt into slush or freeze over, neither of which makes slogging along sidewalks or skidding along country lanes a slice of heaven.

Little wonder that mankind has devised ways since ancient times to counter this dreary stretch of the year.

Saturnalia, the midwinter weeklong celebration of the solstice, was the most important of ancient Rome’s annual holidays. Way before Christmas was a twinkle in Saint Nick's eyes, the pagan festival started with sacrifices at the temple of Saturn. Too, owners granted their slaves a day of liberty and waited on them at a dinner characterized by unrestrained merriment that lasted throughout the festival. It was traditional to decorate rooms – “deck the halls” – with laurel boughs, while candles and oil lamps symbolically promising fertility dispelled the darkness. Exchanging gifts with friends was also a Saturnalia custom.

Farther north in Europe, the Norse celebrated the Yule festival on the day of the solstice. Rituals included feasting, wassailing by bands of singers who roamed the countryside to banish evil spirits and burning a huge log in the fireplace. Once this Yule log had been consumed, its ashes were scattered around the dwelling to protect the family from hostile forces.

Among the Celtic peoples of Gaul and Great Britain, druid priests and fellow believers used mistletoe to decorate their homes and celebrate the coming of winter in the belief that the plant had special healing powers, while Scandinavians thought of mistletoe as representing peace and harmony.

The invention and spread of Christianity incorporated many of these ancient observances and rites, especially with regard to light. Candles and torches illuminated homes and churches, and the Yule log continued to offer light and warmth against winter’s chill (by tradition it burns for the 12 days of Christmas; that is, from the day of Jesus birth un14

WINTER 2018

til Epiphany, also known as Three the temple in Jerusalem after a force Kings Day, when the Magi visited led by Judah Maccabee defeated their the Bethlehem manger). Decorations Syrian oppressors. The temple had of plants and other floral adornments been desecrated, and its sacred flame include holly (early church fathers extinguished. The lamp required considered mistletoe’s fertility pow- special oil that took eight days to be ers to be too pagan) and poinsettias, sanctified, but only a day’s worth rethe star-shaped blossom of the latter mained. However, according to Hasymbolizing the star of Bethlehem. nukkah legend, the small quantity The German custom of a Christmas miraculously burned for eight days. tree became a fixture in the EnglishThat’s why Hanukkah is celebrated speaking world after Prince Albert, for eight days. On the first night, one Queen Victoria’s German-born hus- candle on the menorah candelabra is lit band, introduced fir trees from a master candle, and decorated with candles. then additional candles Various countries and on successive evenings. cultures devised their The week’s menu focuses own celebrations. For on foods prepared with instance, Saint Lucy, a oil, especially potato third-century martyr, pancakes latkes fried in was said to have brought cooking oil followed by food to Christians in jelly donuts for dessert. hiding by using a wreath Children play a game with candles to light of chance with a spinher way. Presents are ning top called a dreidl also an integral part of [DRAY-dill], and gifts Saint Stephen’s Day on are exchanged.

Hanukkah December 26. Known Kwanzaa was created in Great Britain and is the Jewish in 1966 by educator Dr. other Commonwealth Maulana Karenga as a Festival countries as Boxing way to bring AfricanDay, gifts are presented Americans together to of Light. in boxes or other wrapcelebrate family, compings to servants, mail munity and culture. The carriers and tradesmen. As many Far- name means “first fruits” in Swahili. quier residents know, Boxing Day is Families gather on each of the fesa traditional hunting fixture date in tival’s seven nights; a child lights a this country too. candle, and celebrants discuss one of Although some people might Kwanzaa’s seven principles on conmistake Hanukkah to be the Jewish secutive evenings. These principles equivalent of Christmas, that’s only are unity, self-determination, workbecause their dates often overlap. ing together, supporting each other, Jewish holidays are moveable feasts purpose, creativity and faith. because they are determined by the The festival also highlights the sevlunar calendar. Often spelled “Cha- en symbols displayed on the family’s nukah” to emphasize the Hebrew Kwanza table. Fruit and vegetables on pronunciation’s gutteral “ch” sound, a woven mat represent crops from AfriHanukkah is the Festival Of Light. can harvest celebrations and productivIt commemorates the rededication of ity, while the kinara candleholder sym-

bolizes African roots. Corn represents children and the future. Seven candles (one black, three red and three green, Kwanzaa’s traditional colors) symbolize the holiday’s seven principles. A unity cup stands for basic accord among African-Americans. On the final night, an exchange of gifts reflects parental love and their children’s sense of participation and commitment.

Kwanzaa celebrations also include music and dance that echo the joy and fulfillment of family and community, while African art objects and a display of books on the lives and contributions of African people are placed on or next to the Kwanzaa table mat to show a deep commitment to heritage and learning.

Diwali, or Dipawali, is the Hindu faith’s most important holiday of the year. The five-day festival derives its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps that Indians light outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects from spiritual darkness and the triumph of good over evil.

On Diwali’s second day people decorate their homes with clay lamps and create rangoli design patterns on the floor with colored powders or sand.

The next day is the festival’s main day when families gather for prayer, feasting and firework festivities. The fourth day begins the Hindu New Year when friends and relatives visit to exchange gifts and best wishes for the season.

It is easy to see that the common thread that runs among all these celebrations is candlelight, a welcome blessing in a season of winter gloom, and a harbinger – along with a new calendar –of the heart-warming certainty that a new year lies ahead.

A calendar note: Christmas is Dec. 25. Hanukkah begins on the evening of Dec. 2 and ends on the evening of Dec. 10. Kwanzaa begins Dec. 26 and ends Jan. 1. Diwali was Nov. 7-11.

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Life & Style THE WAY WE LIVE IN FAUQUIER

Fan the flames

Taking comfort from a most ancient warmth: Wood fire Story by Sawyer Guinn Photos by Chris Cerrone and Sawyer Guinn

Inside this section:

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in The Plains with owner Bob Kelly n Heartland Hospice was born from dedication to love of life, love of country WINTER 2018

19

LIFE & STYLE

Discovering the ancient comforts of a wood fire

The human experience has come a long way: from the discovery of fire, to learning how to control it, to today's thermostat-regulated, fossilfueled winter warmth.

The unsung hero throughout is the fire’s place.

The modern fireplace may be more decorative than warming, but we owe a tribute to the evolution of ways we’ve kept ourselves toasty to prepare for the oncoming cold weather.

The earliest form of using stones to control the heat of a fire traces back 1.4 million years to Kenya. Much more recently – 2,000 years ago – the Chinese developed the first chimneys to distribute heat from a fire more efficiently. Around the same time, the Romans created hypocausts which used multiple chimneys and created an ancient form of central heat.

Most early attempts at controlling the heat of a home fire were inefficient, creating harmful fumes due to lack of technology and poor practice.

Throughout history, wood fuel has been an affordable, readily accessible, bountiful – and renewable – resource to many cultures. Indeed, the supply surplus allowed people to rely on inefficient fireplaces and stoves.

In the mid-16th century – a time the entire population of Europe used wood for heat and cooking – a rising population led to a major wood shortage across the continent. The skyrocketing cost of firewood made the need for efficient woodfueled heat a priority.

In the mid-1500s, finally, a more efficient woodstove design was developed.

It took nearly another century for baffles to be added to stove designs to recirculate smoke, allowing more heat dispersal before it exited out the flue.

In 1744, Ben Franklin designed a stove incorporating a special baffle and flue that greatly increased the efficiency of the stove. His design wasn’t particularly popular until further developed

by David Rittenhouse. The Rittenhouse Franklin combo stove is still a common design today.

The 19th century brought coal to many urban areas and somewhat reduced the need for wood fuel in both industrial and residential uses.

Not until the 20th century were regulations put in place to ensure a baseline level of safety for heating homes and businesses with wood. Technological advances further increased the overall performance of commercial woodstoves. Reflector walls and circulation systems yielded efficiency boosts to the most traditional of home heating systems, though, even today, in many cases fireplaces can remove more heat than they provide.

The 1970s oil embargo fanned the flames of wood heat once again. In 1973, before the embargo, less than 1 percent of Americans relied on wood fuel to heat their homes. The Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979 gave another boost for wood fuel.

The first pellet stove hit the market in 1983, inspir-

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WINTER 2018

Cunningham calls it a common culprit The most common problem with chimneys, according to John Cunningham’s Chimney and Services of Front Royal, is a structural crack or detected leak in masonry.

This cracking can cause a seeping of harmful smoke and gases back into a home or even lead to structural failure.

The biggest danger is a chimney fire.

Fire clay liners have been prevalent throughout the history of controlled heat from fire, and when first implemented were the best technology had to offer.

However, in the modern age, a stainless-steel flue and chimney liner have proven safer and, in many instances, more effective than the older masonry designs. Stainlesssteel liners can be installed retroactively as a repair or preventative measure in existing chimneys, often improving the draft of the stove or fireplace it services.

Another benefit to stainless-steel is durability.

Masonry chimneys can and do crack for a litany of reasons such as foundation settling, overheating or seismic activity. These are little to no concern for a stainless-steel liner, which can help a user rest easy after throwing a big log in the woodstove and damping it down to last through the night. cunninghamschimneys@gmail.com

ing a trend in efficiency. Not long after, states began to ban the sale of high-emission stoves, some even threatening the EPA with lawsuits over high levels of wood smoke in the air. After EPA standards were fully implemented in 1990, the vast majority of woodstove manufacturers had been forced out of business.

As explained by National Chimney Sweep Guild-certified professional John Cunningham of Cunningham’s Chimneys and Services, what made this design so valuable was its ability to recirculate the smoke and gasified unburnt wood. This effectively creates a second fire in the same fire box and this fire within a fire allows for much cleaner and more efficient heating.

Cunningham says modern innovations building on the original Franklin design allow technologically-advanced stoves to recirculate fuel and smoke in the stove to the point of creating up to four distinct combustion zones maximizing the efficiency of the appliance.

Despite the efficient connotation often associated with pellet stoves over traditional fireplaces and woodstoves, Cunningham wants to bring attention to the technological advances of woodstoves over the past few years. Obviously in the high court of ambiance, modern woodstoves are also incredibly efficient and rival the emission and heat ratings of most pellet stoves.

Not only do these modern wood-burning stoves preserve the romance of wood fires, they also use much simpler technology to meet similar efficiency ratings as the pellet stoves, which rely on fans and other additional electronics to ensure they work as advertised. Modern woodstoves, when kept clean of ash build up and are otherwise properly maintained, rely on little more than the fact that hot air rises to ensure that they burn efficiently and warm throughout the colder months.

More recently, the Gulf War gave a bump to wood heat popularity, and Y2K fears gave it another jolt as preppers took measures to protect themselves from a paralyzed power grid.

Despite the convenience and efficiency of central heat, there’s magic found in an open flame. Something inherently human comes from watching fire devour a piece of wood. From safety to cooking to warmth, flames have sustained as well as entertained, dancing to holiday tunes in the background of family gatherings. From a barbecue over soaked applewood, hotdogs roasted on sharpened sticks over a campfire, to s’mores toasted on foil, fire still plays a critical role in the human experience.

First evidence of a hearth for the controlled use of fire – in Kenya.

Romans use chimneys to carry smoke from hypocausts (central heating systems).

1.4 MILLION YEARS AGO

2,000 YEARS AGO

LIFE & STYLE

England experiences major wood shortage due to heating demands of a rising population.

China produces the first cast-iron stoves.

220 CE

All of Europe heated using open fires or simple low-efficiency stoves, with an average heating efficiency of 20-30 percent.

1200

The first U.S. foundry making wood stoves starts production in Massachusetts.

Benjamin Franklin develops his own cast-iron stove design.

His Pennsylvania fireplace surpassed the efficiency of other inventions, and is still a popular heating stove today.

David Rittenhouse 1744added an 1772 “L” shaped chimney to the Franklin Stove to prevent smoke from venting into the room.

1550 1646

What a bore: Emerald Ash Borer fingered in tree blight A lot of firewood buzz this year centers around the emerald ash borer and what impact it is having on native ash trees across the continent.

The borer was accidentally introduced to North America from Asia, first discovered in 2002 in southeast Michigan, then Ontario later that same year. It can now be found in 31 states and two Canadian provinces.

The affected area stretches from New Brunswick to Alabama to Colorado.

EAB was confirmed in Fauquier County in 2014.

Firewood sales are an easy way to spread EAB unknowingly. The best practice is to never transport any wood more than two hours away from its harvest location.

EAB is responsible for the death of millions of native ash trees. Affected trees and wood can be identified by the presence of trails cut into the wood just under the bark left by the borer larva.

The crown decreasing in size and out of

Three Mile Island nuclear accident sends wood stove sales sharply up again.

The Wood Heating Alliance, the predecessor of the HPBA, was formed.

Richard Wright published the first issue of “Wood 'n Energy” and in 1989 changes its name to “Hearth & Home.”

Nearly two million stoves and inserts were sold annually in the early 1980s.

1981

1983

21ST CENTURY

1763

1906 1973

1979

1980

Ready, aim: Fire.

Tips and tricks of the trade for a warm hearth this cold time of year • Season wood for at least six months.

• Store wood outdoors, off the ground, with the top covered.

• Start fires with newspaper, dry kindling or all-natural fire starters, or install a natural gas or propane log lighter in the open fireplace.

• Buy and burn locally-cut firewood to decrease the risk of transporting invasive forest pests to your property.

• Keep flammable items, like curtains, furniture, newspapers and books, away from your fireplace or woodstove.

• Many wax and sawdust logs are made for open hearth fireplaces only. Check your woodstove or fireplace insert operating instructions before using artificial logs.

• Keep woodstove doors closed unless loading or stoking the live fire. Harmful chemicals, like carbon monoxide, can be released into your home if you leave the door open.

• Regularly remove ashes into a covered, metal container. Store the container outdoors on a nonflammable surface or put on a compost pile when completely cooled.

• Keep a fire extinguisher handy.

• Don’t burn household trash, plastics, foam or colored ink on magazines, boxes and wrappers • Don’t burn coated, painted or pressure-treated wood.

season leaf die-off are typically the first signs there may be an infestation. emeraldashborer.info/moving-firewood

8.2 percent of homes in the U.S. use wood as a primary heat source. One fourth of all households nationwide burn wood, half of rural Americans burn wood, according to a study by the U.S. Forest Service.

The first residential pellet stove is introduced on the U.S. market.

Wood is sixth-largest supplier of energy in the U.S. (behind oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear power and hydropower) Wood is fastest-growing heating fuel in the U.S., rising 34 percent between 2000 and 2010.

Oil embargo begins, and sales of woodstoves soar.

Frederick the Great of Prussia stages a competition for a “room stove which would consume the least wood.”

The National Fire Protection Association first develops standards for clearances between wood stoves and combustible walls, floors and ceilings.

Burning pine – Maybe unfairly blamed for creosote build-up Many warn against burning pine in a fireplace or woodstove. The caution is easy to understand when considering the higher levels of resin found in evergreens.

However, those resins may not be the real cause of creosote build-up in chimneys and flues, no matter how logical the relationship may seem.

Studies show the chief culprit to dangerous creosote build-up is incomplete combustion or wood gasification.

The gasified wood that goes unburned is what ends up depositing in chimneys as harmful creosote.

The most common cause of the incomplete combustion is burning unseasoned, green wood.

Green wood contributes to lower temperature fires that are prone to smoldering and producing far more smoke and creosote, than a fire from dry, seasoned wood burning more efficiently at a higher temperature.

If you have well-seasoned pine logs and a hot fire, there’s no reason not to incorporate pine into a fireplace or stove. Evergreens, due to their lower density than hardwoods, tend to burn faster, so pay attention when tending your fire.

Creosote

Creosote is broken into three stages.

Stage 1 is what we call soot, the black powdery substance that often lines a fire box or flue. Mostly benign, stage 1 creosote is the most common and can be hard to avoid, especially when starting a fire for the first time in cold stove.

Stage 2 creosote begins to take more form and is a dark black and brittle build-up that can start to cause problems with restricted airflow or even catch flame at high temperatures.

The most dangerous form of creosote and the kind we need to be most concerned with, is stage 3, which is dark tar-like build-up in the chimney column that severely restricts airflow and is commonly associated with chimney fires.

Regular inspections by a professional are highly recommended, says professional chimney sweep John Cunningham, to ensure there are not dangerous amounts of creosote build-up or other flaws that can lead to fires, gas seeping or structural failure.

WINTER 2018

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LIFE & STYLE

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Knit-picking Darn that yarn at Hunt Country

By Connie Lyons

You don’t need a loom, you don’t need expensive equipment. You just need some needles, a pile of fiber strands and some patience.

What’s old is new again, with the wearable art form of knitting making a big comeback both as a hobby and as side-gig cottage craft.

Once they get the hang of the basic stitches, knitters can keep their hands productively busy while their minds are elsewhere.

When Bob Kelly was 10, one of his uncles taught him how to knit. By the time he had completed college, he had knitted several sweaters for members of his family. He worked in a variety of professions: teaching at the community college, working for laser and software manufacturers as a technical writer, and retail management.

But working with fibers eventually became a driving force in his life, and in 1997, Kelly and his wife moved from California to Virginia and opened Hunt Country Yarns in The Plains.

“My customers are male and female, but mostly female because of the stigma in the U.S. that this is women's work,” Kelly says. “It only became women's work when there was no business profit to be made.”

Historically, knitting was a very profitable activity: because it required no elaborate equipment, it was ideal sideline work. “Folks forget that this was once a guild specialty, and only men were allowed to knit along with embroidery, weaving, and so on.” Kelly explains. “If there was money involved it was men’s work. When the money disappeared, it became women’s work.”

Socks made in ancient Egypt are the first known knitted artifacts. Some, dating to the 11th century CE, have survived to this day. They are of fine-gauge yarn with elaborate colorwork and finely-turned heels.

The skill moved on to Europe, where Muslim knitters employed by Spanish nobles produced intricately-patterned cushion covers and gloves.

Paintings dating from the 14th century show the Virgin Mary knitting.

From then on, knitted goods for everyday use became widespread.

Queen Elizabeth I is said to have been enamored of silk stockings; since the fashion of the time stipulated short trunks for men, they wore them as well. In response to the demand, knitting schools were established, allowing the poor with a ready source of income with a minimum of outlay in goods and equipment.

English-made stockings were exported to Spain, Netherlands and Germany. Elaborate de-

LIFE & STYLE signs were created, most notably the Fair Isle patterns developed in Scotland. But with the advent of knitting machines in the 19th century, hand knitting began to decline; it was increasingly a hobby rather than a vocation.

Then came World War I, and men, women and children joined in the effort to supplement soldiers’ clothing with cozy scarves, mittens, sweaters, hats and socks. Perhaps sparked by the endeavor, the popularity of knitwear blossomed in the 1920s: sweaters, (especially twin sets) and knit ties became high fashion. White sweaters with colored stripes (club colors) became popular for tennis and cricket.

The Prince of Wales was partial to Fair Isle sweaters for golf. Coco Chanel made prominent use of knitwear. Even that arbiter of high fashion, Vogue magazine, featured patterns.

During the Great Depression many turned to home-knit clothing in order to economize, and to supplement their income. The advent of World War II produced a resurgence of knitting garments to support the troops.

Increased availability and low-cost machineknit items made buying in the store less expensive, and less time consuming than do-it-yourself.

Still, at the start of the 21st century, with the resurgence of craft fairs and the easy access of how-to information through the internet, knitting has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity.

Handmade items carry a new found aura of prestige. Novelty yarns such as yak, alpaca, bamboo and silk have become popular.

Kelly’s Hunt Country Yarns, located among a diverting jumble of art stores and restaurants on Main Street in The Plains, does a thriving business.

“The number of customers per week varies,” he says. “It depends on the weather and season. I have many regulars; some have been coming to the shop for 20 years.”

Kelly sells a variety of fibers, but wool is by far his favorite. “Wool is always the most popular. It's a very versatile fiber, able to absorb water and still keep you warm,” Kelly maintains. “It doesn't support flame so it's safe for children.”

Yarns range from bulk-produced to hand-dyed specialty fibers, so prices have quite a range.

“I think the most popular color would be the variations of purple,” Kelly notes. “Reds are right up there, but purple does seem to be the most popular.”

He doesn’t carry finished articles of clothing.

“This is a ‘do it yourself ’ shop,” Kelly explains.

Knit wits

Hunt Country Yarns offers a variety of classes, from the most basic beginner lessons to exotic techniques for unusual media, such as knitting with Swarovski crystals.

Classes are capped at six pupils. “People want a personal experience, not a big-box feel,” Kelly says when asked if he’ll ever move his shop. “My customers expect me to be here and to have answers to their questions and problems.”

Hunt Country Yarns also offers classes in spinning and sells wheels and fiber, including alpaca and llama from local ranches and wools from local sheep. skeins.com

PHOTO BY CARSON MCRAE

One hundred and sixty-two “gentle and adorable” alpacas call Cedar Hill Farm near The Plains home sweet home.

MARY’S ALPACA

25 years of adorable

By Robin Earl On a recent sunny Saturday at Mary’s Alpaca at Cedar Hill Farm in The Plains, owner Mary Forte is taking Wile E. Coyote for a stroll. Wile E. is a 5-monthold snow-white alpaca. He’s about the size of a small pony, not including his long, graceful neck.

Wile E. strains to join his friends in a nearby field.

“He’s just learning how to walk on a lead,” says Forte.

She coaxes him up a step, then another, to enter the farm’s spacious office and retail shop. The purple halter comes off and Wile E. settles down in a patch of sun while Forte talks business.

Mary Forte has been breeding alpacas for 25 years, 13 of them in Virginia. She was living in Colorado, and the farm manager had an alpaca. “It looked like the Loch Ness Monster,” she recalls. “He offered to give me an alpaca, and that was it.”

Forte’s 160-acre farm is now home to 162 alpacas – give or take a few. She’s president of the Virginia Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association.

The sweet-tempered alpacas are herd animals.

“If the lead alpaca senses danger, he will call to the others, who will gather around,” Forte explains. “They turn toward the enemy and face it together.”

Alpacas often make a clicking sound or a soft cooing.

Their “I sense danger” sound Cedar Hill apprentice Lauren Osinski describes like “a high-pitched Chewbacca.”

In addition to being mostly docile, alpacas are also exceptionally hardy. “They’ll rest in the sun when it’s 100 degrees out, and they can live outside comfortably when it’s 20 below,” says Forte. “They can live at sea level or at 16,000 feet above. They eat very little – some hay and maybe half a cup of grain once or twice a day. You can keep about seven alpacas on an acre of land.”

“They’re exceedingly adaptable,” adds Osinski.

“But you can’t just have one alpaca. They are devoted to their herd and aren’t happy by themselves.”

Most of the alpacas at Mary’s are brown, black or white Huacaya alpacas, recognizable by their “fluffy” fleece with shorter fibers. Forte also has about five or so Suri alpacas, longer fibers like silky dreadlocks.

Alpacas are sheared annually, in April or May. For Forte’s herd, this means in 600 to 700 pounds of fiber. About 300 pounds of that is very fine, the rest is from older animals whose fiber is coarser.

Forte sells about six alpacas a year. She remembers a time when a show-quality alpaca would sell for $90,000 to $162,000. “Now, it’s closer to $15,000.

You can buy a pet-quality alpaca for about $1,000.”

Forte teaches alpaca seminars, plus her herd provides another value-added by-product: Alpaca Poop, $29.99 for 25 pounds, is perfectly balanced for garden use. Three stomachs mean alpacas digest food efficiently, making their droppings quick to compost into a clean, dry mix after just three months.

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LIFE & STYLE

Staying warm in winter takes a little prepwork

Change your filters and do the math – electric use is just a matter of adding it up

By Alissa Jones

Not only is it better for your health, say electric company experts, but watching out when using electricity this winter is good for your wallet, a win-win situation during the cold season.

Rappahannock Electric Cooperative energy advisors Louis O’Berry and Rich Mialki provided this comprehensive checklist to keep you snug, and safe.

Heating systems:

• Have them serviced by a licensed HVAC contractor to ensure peak performance. Heat pump systems should be tested for proper defrost cycles and fossil fuel systems should be cleaned and tested for proper combustion and outputs.

• Filters should be checked and changed as need-

Heartland Hospice brings a world of comfort to local veterans Helping veterans has been a personal journey for Melanie Myers. She began with Heartland Hospice in 2015, doing standard admin, but she soon learned how to link her lifelong association with the military and her work with the end-of-life care organization.

Her dad’s journey as a Vietnam vet fueled her passion, and, as it turns out, both her father and grandfather, a World War II vet, would come to need hospice at the same time. They died five days apart in January.

Army vet Sam J. Thompson served in 'Nam in the 9th Infantry Division. He and Melanie’s mother, Linda, opened the Culpeper chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America in 1995.

Thompson suffered from PTSD, Myers recalls, and her

ed. Keeping ice and snow buildup from accumulating around the heat pump during storms helps with efficient output.

• Use a programmable thermostat to set back the heating temperatures when not home. Today’s gold standard is 68 degrees when you’re home, four to six less when you’re away or asleep to cut daily energy use.

• For baseboard electric heaters, make sure furniture and drapes don’t touch the unit. Heat areas of your house such as kitchen and living areas during the day and set back the bedrooms not in use until they are occupied during sleeping hours.

• Space heaters are huge energy sucks for their small size and output. They consume 1500 watts on high, and they’re only able to produce 5100 BTUs of heat, definitely not enough to heat a whole house. One space heater running 12 hours a day for an entire month can cost more than $65.

basement and in the attic.

• After air sealing the spaces, add more insulation. Six to 15 inches is ideal.

• Add weather stripping to doors, windows and storm windows.

• Water pipes in unconditioned spaces should be insulated.

• Any ducts in unconditioned spaces can cost you big if not sealed. Inspect and seal all accessible joints. Ensure the duct is insulated as well.

Expert advice:

• Seal the lowest points and highest points of your house, closing off air leaks in the crawl space or

• Change filters: Air filters are the most important end-user maintenance item to keep up with. Check or change your filters every month, and use a filter with a MERV rating from 6-9.

• Proper airflow: Keep doors open or cracked to allow even air distribution where the system is serving. Do not close more than 10 percent of the registers on a central system. Keep leaves and shrubs away from outdoor unit coils so they can move air freely. myrec.coop

childhood was tough because of it. After Myers left home, they did not speak for many years. Myers and her father reconnected in 2017 when he was diagnosed with cancer.

Myers says her dad didn’t talk about his time in Vietnam when she was a kid. “They prefer not to talk about what went on unless it’s with a fellow vet,” notes Myers.

When they reconnected, Myers says her father began opening up about the experience. “He was a very different man in his final days,” she says.

Myers stepped into the role of veterans' coordinator in 2017, making sure veterans were enrolled for benefits, and, as a side benefit – for both parties – hearing their stories.

“Management of pain and symptoms is primary for Heartland Hospice,” explains Myers, adding that ALS and Parkinson’s in the latter stages of hospice care are common for veterans.

Heartland Hospice takes financial donations, and particularly welcome quilts made with a patriotic theme.

Heartland Hospice is a national chain serving Northern Virginia, accredited by the Commission for Health Care.

Hospice provides doctors, nurses, counselors and aides in private homes, medical centers and nursing homes to supply pain management, spiritual and psychological care and compassionate focus. They tend the unknowably complex matrix of physical and emotional needs to those facing the end of life, and offer continuing and ongoing support of family members facing bereavement.

Heartland Hospice 493 Blackwell Road, Warrenton 703-273-8693 – By Alissa Jones

Home weatherization tips:

Plan ahead for winter chores so you don't get left out in the cold, say experts.

PHOTO BY RANDY LITZINGER

WINTER 2018

25

LIFE & STYLE

Fact? Fiction?

What your grandma said about catching cold out in the cold may not be true (Though what your dad told you about hot whiskey probably will make you feel better, regardless)

By Roxanna Beebe-Center

A cough in the middle of cold season strikes fear in the hearts of cubicle-mates like the first volley in a battle. Co-workers cringe and watch – holding their collective breath (which turns out is a reasonable, if not sustainable, defense) – as millions of germs launch themselves into the air, looking for somebody else to infect.

During winter's cold and flu season, a tangle of old wives’ tales and home remedies get tossed around. Whether it’s your great-grandmother’s special brew – Vick’s VapoRub and fresh ginger, or the hot whiskey and lemon “cure” your father swears by, how do we know what to believe?

Humans have often been afraid of the elements, but we’ve often been wrong. For instance, we’re warned that the common cold comes from, well, the cold. Moms and grandmoms tell the kids not to go outside without their hats, don't sit in drafts, and never, ever step out with wet hair.

In truth, doctors reassure us that bad weather is not the cause of the common cold, though it can make you miserable, and slightly more susceptible

PHOTO BY RANDY LITZINGER

Going out without a hat? Brace yourself for a cold reception from your mom. to catching one. There is some evidence that cold weather can tamper with the ability of the immune system to fight off viruses.

And, like your elders warned, if you have been exposed to a cold virus and are outside underdressed or with wet hair, you may very well be more prone to getting sick.

What causes the common cold are rhinoviruses or coronaviruses, say experts. And a virus can only be transmitted when a person comes in contact with it, by being sneezed on or by touching something someone sick has touched. So what they told you about keeping your hands to yourselves turns out to be quite true.

There’s no “cure” for the common cold, explains Dr. Charles Stein, pediatrician at Wellspring

Health Services. Like any grandma would, Stein prescribes hot liquids – tea, soup, warm water with lemon – to relieve cold symptoms. Hot liquids “don’t help you get over it, but they may help ease your symptoms. So you may feel better, they may help your congestion and things like that.

“But I don’t know anything that will make the cold just go away. Your body’s immune system fights that off, and that’s how you get over it.”

The only realistic thing you can do for a cold, according to Stein, is run a humidifier in your room at night. Use of nasal saline products can be helpful, and of course sleep and consuming lots of fluids is essential, he says.

The main reason not to go out in winter without a hat? Not because you’ll catch cold, but you’ll be cold, Stein maintains.

Other myths, neutralized

Turns out, drinking coffee won’t stunt your growth, and eating carrots won’t give you X-ray vision. A couple more cold myths, debunked: • The old aphorism “starve a fever, feed a cold” is nonsense. With rare exception, one of the best things to do when you have either is to maintain a regular diet, say doctors. “Even though you may not feel like eating, your body actually requires more calories when you’re sick to heal properly and quickly.”

• You need sunblock, even in winter. No matter what the weather is like, you should be diligent about applying sun protection all year round.

Use a broad spectrum sunscreen on exposed areas of skin if you’re going to be outside for long, even in winter.

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More than hardware.

Find gifts for everyone all year long.

Faces & Places WHO WE ARE AND WHERE WE GO

What's on your wish list?

Peace on earth tops among holiday desires, this year especially Story by Alissa Jones Photos by Alissa Jones and Randy Litzinger

Inside this section:

n A non-demoninational

guide to faith in Fauquier n New Habitat head Darryl Neher builds hope for the county's at-risk WINTER 2018

29

FACES & PLACES

The best things in life aren’t things

We asked, you answered: What’s your biggest Christmas wish?

The answers will warm your heart George Fletcher

Owner, G.L. Fletcher Homes LLC “In a world of materialism and constant consumption, I started downsizing and reducing my spending this year, which has also reduced anxiety and stress. I am focusing on saving and being a better steward of the money God has given me. I am feeling liberated and better able to focus on the things that matter: my walk with God, my new wife, my two boys, my little one on the way, my family and my church family. The common thread in all these things is love, and that is priceless.”

Lauren Witkowski

Registered dietician nutritionist “The world we live in is filled with so much negativity, so for me, church has to be seven days a week, surrounding myself with love and positivity.

Quality time with family and friends, having dinner together, face to face.

My husband, son and I play a game called, 'Happy Crappy,' where we share the happy and not-so-happy things in our day. Our focus is what we are thankful for, but we also talk about what we can learn from the hard things.

Then there’s health: if you don’t have your health, you can’t really enjoy your family and your faith.”

Jeremy Anderson

Federal government employee “For me, its basic: God, family and friends, in that order. It’s the love and comfort I find in them.

When my wife and I had our son, I’d never experienced love like that before. Him sleeping on my chest as a baby – (one of) those priceless moments and if I could freeze any time, it would be that.

I see them as a gift from God, moments that money can’t buy.”

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WINTER 2018

Art Buchwald is credited with the saying, “The best things in life aren't things.”

But, when you think about it further, what are the best things in life, then?

With the holidays upon us, and the many expectations and their attendant demands, inFauquier caught up with a few people in the community to find out what matters most.

Theresa Mills

Radio personality at 89.9 and 90.5 Positive Hits PER. “Many times, the best things are precious memories made with family and friends that last long after that loved one is gone. The ones that make you smile as you realize you have loved and been loved.

It's the things that you can look back on and see how you were able to help someone else and make a difference in their life.

It is discovering the true source of joy and hope and peace, and getting to share that with others.”

Frank Pinello

Co-owner of the Galloping Grape and stylist at Salon Emage “For me, the things that hold the highest value in life are rarely, if ever, 'things.' I’ve owned boats, cars, houses and businesses, and taken exotic trips to far-off places. As all these material things have gone by the wayside, as the tans fade from the tropical sun, and the costs were tallied, I have discovered the real value of it all was priceless. It taught me what is sustainable and what really matters: loyalty, integrity, family and best of all, love.”

Hugh McKnight Leazer

President, Leazer Drilling “The best things in life are not material possessions, but what you care about in your heart. Those things are what will control how you view the world and how you live your life.”

Pam Green

Stylist, Warrenton Hair Design “It gives me great satisfaction that my job helps people feel better about themselves. But my family is first, my children and grandchildren, and of course, Rocky, my year-old pug mix puppy. I also feel very blessed to be an American and live in a country that gives me so many opportunities.”

Darlene Ingram

Senior associate; Emily Couric Cancer Center, UVA “Far above things is the peace of mind I receive from God’s love when the issues of life come at me, and for me, that peace is an incredible gift. Earlier this year, I experienced what it was like to use my pen as my voice when I published my grandmother’s life story, this was also an incredible gift. For me, the best things in life aren't things, but these moments in time.”

Carla Kelly

Realtor, Remax Realty “God, family, country, work, in that order. Work for me is about making a living: it doesn’t define me, it’s not who I am, it’s what I do.

There’s something fulfilling about praying for my family and what impact it will have in their lives over the next 30 or 40 years. To me, family represents the best part.”

David Rawlings

Finance manager; Farrish of Fairfax “Family, the special bond between two brothers, the love of my dog and the precious moments in life. There are moments you can enjoy, love and cherish: it’s about the experience.”

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FACES & PLACES

Coming home to Habitat

Meet and greet with new local director Darryl Neher

By Pat Reilly

He may have just moved here, but new Fauquier Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Darryl Neher says it feels like a homecoming.

Habitat’s mission is to bring people together to build homes, community and hope.

For Neher, “all the different tracks of my life come together in Habitat.”

That’s a lot of different tracks.

Before he came to be president of Habitat for Humanity in Bloomington, Indiana, he taught organizational communications for 26 years in the business school at Indiana University. He also hosted a talk radio program and had a TV show.

His concern about homelessness and affordable housing prompted him to join the Bloomington City Council, where he secured multi-year funding for a struggling emergency homeless shelter. Then as president of the Habitat program in Bloomington, he negotiated a gift of 84 acres of land for multi-income housing.

Earlier this year, he took some time off to rethink his life path. He realized that he wanted to stay in the nonprofit world and that Habitat was still a good fit. The opening to direct the Fauquier County program felt right from the first interview over the internet, he recalls.

Neher sees in the Fauquier-Rappahannock Habitat program a chance to join a historically small shop that is growing and evolving. For a mostly volunteer operation, he points out, the 27-year-old Fauquier Habitat has an amazing record: 54 new homes, four rehabilitation projects and revitalization of neighborhoods that include 75 adults and 98 children.

“It’s an exciting time to be here,” Neher says. “All this has positioned us to ask, ‘What are our opportunities now?’ ‘How do we better serve all of Fauquier and Rappahannock?’”

Neher and the board and staff are To qualify for Habitat’s help, a pogoing through a strategic planning tential homeowner must be willing process to decide what Habitat’s pri- to partner in the form of a number of orities will be in 2019. “Buildable land volunteer hours and taking courses on is scarce in this county,” he points out. financial readiness and home owner“It may be that we do critical home ship. They might have to pay a low-cost repair and help homeowners rehabili- mortgage. They must be in substantate existing homes. Once our plan is dard or overcrowded housing and go through a selection process that would in place, we will ramp up.

“We have a tremendous backbone put them on a list of candidates. The of talented staff, board members and process of getting a new home might volunteers to maximize organiza- take from 18 to 24 months. “Our goal tional effectiveness,” he says, explain- for partners is to put them in a position for success,” says ing that the office on Neher.

Alexandria Pike has only four full-time How it started staff. Volunteers help Habitat for Huwith everything from manity, a 42-year-old office work to leading organization, was committees such as started by Millard building, events and and Linda Fuller in fundraising, faith reAmericus, Georgia. lations, family partNow a worldwide nership, real estate, group, Habitat works women build and rein nearly 1,400 comstore steering. munities across the “Housing is just U.S. and in approxipart of it,” Neher exmately 70 countries. plains, “Generational It has helped more change is the power than 13 million peoand the magic of the ple achieve stabilHabitat model.” ity and independence A move from sub'It is a hand up, through safe and afstandard housing or shelter. not a handout.' fordable repairs to an already Its most famous existing home can – Habitat director Darryl Neher volunteers have been prevent illnesses such former president as allergies or asthma Jimmy Carter and in children and make the difference in his wife, Rosalynn, who have been health outcomes for the whole fam- volunteering around the world on ily. Affordable housing might mean Habitat builds since 1984. Country that children are more likely to go to music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha college. Revitalizing a neighborhood Yearwood joined in after Hurricane might mean the parents are more like- Katrina in New Orleans. They have ly to find good jobs. been working with the Carters for “The common misconception more than a decade at the annual about Habitat is that we give away Carter Work Project, a weeklong houses,” says Neher. “Our model is event taking place in a different lomuch more about partnership. It is a cation in the world each year.

At 94, the former president still hand up, not a handout.”

wields a hammer on the builds.

Neher points out that working together with other volunteers, whether celebrities or neighbors, is one of the best parts about the Habitat community. “We invite people to join our build; we don’t pry or ask questions,” says Neher. “What you know is that the people you are working with are dedicated to getting someone in a home. To be together in an environment where people come together is a special place.

“If people believe in our mission and want to find a way in, we’ll find a space for them.

“How do you demonstrate love in action – that’s at the heart of what we do,” he adds. “We have a moral and personal obligation to help others. We identify resources to let others become their own advocates.

“I like to help people dream” says Neher, “and decide how we make those dreams a reality.” habitat.org

ReStore: For the restorer in all of us Many call it the front door to the Habitat for Humanity mission. “People who don’t know what Habitat is, know ReStore. It’s a substantial part of our funding,” explains Darryl Neher.

ReStore sells new and gently used furniture, home accessories, building materials and appliances to the public at very reasonable prices. You never know what you will find there as the inventory changes daily with donations. Most home goods are accepted as donations and receipts are provided. The store recently received a set of ancient Chinese wedding beds that were on display while the store waited for an appraisal expected to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Next to Food Lion, the Warrenton ReStore provides more than half of the annual funding for Fauquier Habitat, according to the group’s 2017 report, and part of the profits go to Habitat International. fauquierhabitat.org

Former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn help out with Habitat for Humanity builds regularly, literally building hope through housing for the nation's poor.

WINTER 2018

33

FACES & PLACES MEET COMMUNITY DYNAMO, LYNN WARD

Driven by a call to serve

By Betsy Burke Parker

Hidden in plain sight all around Fauquier County – Virginia’s fourth-richest – is crushing, dispiriting poverty, says Fauquier Community Coalition founder Lynn Ward. It’s something he maintains can be corrected with a little coordination of a lot of outreach.

“We’re building bridges, helping one person at a time,” says the former Fauquier High principal.

“We established in 2013 to help link the needy to the resources they need to get on track.”

FCC matches those who can help to those who need help, whether as simple as directing the homeless to a local shelter, steering a family to a food bank or finding reduced-price meals during a temporary employment setback, or rebuilding a family home so there’s continuity for attending school and keeping a job.

“FCC also does repair and building projects in conjunction with other helping organizations and serves as a mechanism for coordination and sharing information,” Ward says. “People who lack financial resources are often uninformed about services and benefits …. and lack the skills to deal effectively with application procedures.

That’s the gap we’ve plugged.

“There’s a huge need here, and many don’t know it. We’re here to help.”

It’s especially important, he adds, as winter descends on the area and holidays loom. “It’s a complicated challenge.” inFauquier: Fauquier County is an hour from the capital of the free world. Driving on the wellmaintained roads looking at the well-maintained estates, cozy villages and vibrant towns, it’s hard to believe there’s measurable poverty here.

Lynn Ward: You don’t see it until you look.

Look down those roads you never drive down, behind the commercial districts in the towns.

I see people living in poverty, children living in wretched conditions. Lack of clothing, lack of hygiene, sometimes hunger. They’re cold, they’re living with dangerous heating systems, maybe lacking trustworthy transportation to their job, so risking unemployment.

[Fauquier] has a food safety net that I can refer them to, but they could be going back a dirty mattress on the floor, odors that come from inadequate hygiene, sometimes unresolved plumbing problems, mold and poorly maintained heating systems.

That’s why we created the Fauquier Community Coalition. We can make a big difference in daily living conditions. That makes me feel a lot better that the ones that can help, help.

inF: Where did this drive to help spring from?

LW: My mother's example taught me: both my parents were very active in helping poor people despite the fact that we were at times below the poverty line ourselves.

I sometimes think, “that could be me” when I see people in need. In one of Joseph Campbell's books he wrote about some soldiers in Vietnam that felt "I will die for my friend because he is me."

34

WINTER 2018

PHOTO BY RANDY LITZINGER

Fauquier Community Coalition founder Lynn Ward uses humor in his support of serving the region's needs.

By the numbers

• Fauquier: 4th richest in Virginia, 14th richest in America • 5.7 percent of Fauquier’s 67,000 residents live below poverty level – less than $11,770 income (compared to 11.2 statewide and 13.5 nationally) • 13 percent don’t have health insurance • 21 percent of school kids qualify for free lunch • 2,600 families qualify for food stamps • The Fauquier Food Bank, FISH, Fauquier Food Distribution Center, Community Touch, Salvation Army, St. Vincent DePaul, Heartwood Center, Meals on Wheels, Five Loaves and church food banks provide more than 50,000 meals annually.

inF: Your time as a high school principal must have had an effect on your tolerance level.

LW: I came to the county in 1965 as a science teacher. After a couple of years I became chairman of the county's salary committee for teachers, then …. became principal.

My motivation is to change lives in positive way. I really enjoy the fellowship and wisdom of the people I work with. inF: What’s a typical FCC project?

LW: They’re all so different, but one we did recently with (help from) Warrenton Baptist Church was for a great-grandmother of 35. Suffice it to say her house has some wear and tear.

We have done painting, new tile floors, redone the bathroom, put in a kitchen counter and (replaced) broken windows.

We’re working on a house on land given to a black family after Emancipation, built around 1890. There was no running water, electrical system 85 percent gone. The kitchen had no counter, no cabinets and no sink. The heating system was older noxious kerosene heaters.

But it was their family home, and they wanted to stay.

The Rotary Club donated money and volunteers, several churches participated, Kettle Run student volunteers came, and one student's father worked for an electric company which rewired the house gratis.

There was a family of seven living under a tarp near Opal. A church member nearby told me about them and we got to work. I ran into an “an-

Repairing unsafe living conditions for area residents are part of FCC's mission. gel” in the checkout line at Home Depot while I was trying to figure out how to (patch an electic hookup) and suddenly we had donated services, donated appliances.

People don’t necessarily want recognition, they just want to know they’re changing lives.

inF: Your “wood project” is popular as winter deepens in the area.

LW: St. James Episcopal and Warrenton Baptist, along with a ton of volunteers get together and chop, split and deliver firewood to the needy every week in winter.

inF: What’s the takeaway here?

LW: I want us to become increasingly aware that there are people living in bad conditions, children in particular. Carol Graham (who has died of cancer) substituted at Marshall Middle to raise money to see children were properly clothed and fed. Every year she would have Carol's Christmas through Leeds Episcopal, and she’d often come back weeping inconsolably about the wretched conditions she saw for children.

The poor are with us. We can bring relief to many.

Another community volunteer, Charity Furness gave me a great analogy – think of the county as a large container. Fill it with rocks, rocks being the social services, big charity, government organizations that help the poor. Then there’s gravel like Ruritan clubs and churches. Then there’s the sand between all of them, FCC and FISH that help fill in the gaps.

FACES & PLACES

From food to ministry, faith feeds our needs

Benedictine Sisters of Virginia -

The monastic community of Benedictine Sisters of Virginia has been bringing comfort to the community through service to others since 1901.

“During the holidays we have many visitors for services, but the ministries we offer are the same year-round,” says Sister Cecilia Dwyer.

Thirty-strong, the monastery’s outreach includes special workshops for adults and immigrants, a Samaritan women’s retreat, Linton Hall School on the grounds and a girls Catholic school in Richmond.

The property is open to visitors dawn to dusk.

There are sacred spaces that include gardens, a labyrinth and prayer silos.

Dwyer says they follow the 6th century rule of Benedict which starts with the word listen. “Listen, my children, with the ear of your heart,” Dwyer recites their motto. “That is what we try and do for people.

“Hospitality is huge for us and transcends everything we do, filtered through listening to people. We strive to be example to the world of how we can live together peacefully.” osbva.org

Warrenton Methodist Church

Pastor Tim Tate says much of what his church encounters is meeting the needs of the community. When he thinks about comfort and how his church can provide it, it comes down to caring for those who have the least.

Their food distribution ministry feeds up to 75 individuals and families every month, and according to Tate, this is just the start to bringing comfort to those struggling with poverty.

Warrenton Methodist volunteers work closely with several nonprofit organizations to meet specific needs in the community. Through Voltran, they provide transportation to elderly and disabled residents get to medical appointments and run errands.

“We provide opportunities not to just sit in a meeting and talk, but to actually touch and change lives,” Tate says. He forms traveling teams to deliver communion to the house-bound and those in nursing homes.

“Our goal,” says Tate, “is to move from being a meeting church, to a doing church.” voltran.org.

Fauquier Jewish Congregation

Rabbi William Rudolph says people come to him for pastoral counseling mostly centered around their Jewish identity and life challenges that come along with it. Focus is chiefly on questions of observance, keeping kosher and on marital issues, such as intermarriage of their children, or conflicts relating to being on different pages in their religious lives.

“People considering becoming Jewish are the third pillar,” he adds.

When ministering, Rudolph says he tries to get to the root of whats going on with the person and help them to see what Jewish tradition says about the issue. He offers options and points out how others in similar situations have responded. “Generally, I want them to reach their own solutions rather than be told what to do,” Rudolph says.

The handsome Benedictine Sisters of Virginia chapel near Nokesville is open to all who need a peaceful getaway.

“December is (when) the struggle most commonly takes place, but it's not the struggle you think.

Jews feel more out of place as a minority in the lead-up to Christmas than any time of the year.”

Rudolph says his chief message is to “feel good about being Jewish and enjoy the richness of life that it can provide and appreciate that this is a country that allows freedom of religious expression.” rabbiwdr@gmail.com

Spiritual Care Ministries –

Spiritual Care Ministries offers comfort to people dealing with loss of any kind, whether it’s grieving the death of a loved one, divorce, devastation from a fire, financial loss, even what could be the heartbreaking transition of relocation.

Chaplain Liz Danielson, says sometimes, through loss, people also lose their identity and the ministry can take them through the process to find that again.

“Simply put, we value people where they are.”

Danielson points out that while the holidays prove tough for many, the beginning of the year can be even more so for those who have lost family members. “They realize they’re starting a new year without them, “says Danielson, “and that can be devastating.”

The ministry works with children 6 and up, but teens are much of their focus. “We find young people want to talk to someone one on one. They want someone to hear their story and to feel safe telling it,” Danielson says. “With them, it’s all about talking it out.” scsm.tv

St. Vincent de Paul –

James Gannon, past president of the Saint Vincent de Paul which operates locally through St. John the Evangelist in Warrenton, says faceto-face counseling helps when “people get lonely when they feel they have no one to turn to, especially during the holidays. We offer comfort by

providing help.”

Last year, the society supplied $50,000 in emergency funds to cover rent, utilities and other essentials, and their food bank fed some 700 patrons.

540-522-4449

Warrenton Wellness Kitchen -

If you are within earshot of Warrenton Wellness Kitchen on a cold winter’s day, hearing “Come on in!” may be as comforting as the cup of hot, mineral rich, homemade, bone broth waiting for you inside.

In December, 2016, chef Venus Barratt opened the homestyle kitchen in Old Town Warrenton, driven by her passion for fresh, nutritious food.

“Our goal is to provide healthy, delicious, clean, ‘good for you’ food that nourishes your body with essential nutrients, using no artificial colors and no preservatives whatsoever,” says Barratt.

Meals are made from local, organic and glutenfree ingredients, combining protein with a wealth of different vegetables including lots of meatless dishes, all on a seasonal basis.

Barrett also addresses individuals’ dietary needs as well as post-surgical recovery.

“Feeding someone ... is an expression of love for me,” says Barrett.

Meals can be pre-ordered online or by phone.

Unlike mail-order meals, you don’t have to actually cook or clean up to get a home-cooked meal.

WWK also has pre-cooked freezer meals available for pick-up.

“Healthy (eating) should be a lifestyle,” says Barrett.

Warrenton Wellness Kitchen offers teen chef cooking classes. warrentonwellnesskitchen.com – By Alissa Jones

WINTER 2018

35

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WINTER 2018

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Food & Wine

WAY BEYOND EATING AND DRINKING

A recipe for winter comfort Warming from within with mulled wine Story and photos by Betsy Burke Parker

Inside this section:

n Find out why dark may be the best for beer this dark season n Celebrate the tastes of the world for the holidays: Glogg, roast goose, caramel apple tart WINTER 2018

37

FOOD & WINE

Don’t distress this season, de-stress When holiday cheer meets the flavor of the month

Or … when warm beer is actually a blessing in this cold time of year

stout was used to describe a stronger version of the porter beers which were enormously popular in England.

Exported to Ireland, the porter morphed into a stout. Guinness originally called their flagship beer “Extra Stout Porter” but eventually shortened it to “Extra Stout.”

Today, variations of the style include milk stout which adds lactose, a sugar derived from milk to the mix which infuses the beer with a higher level of sweetness. There is also the legendary Russian imperial stout which was exported to the court of Catherine the Great to enjoy over the long Russian winter and typically carries an alcohol profile of 8-12 percent.

Baltic Porters are also classic style, English is origin but updated and enlivened in the Baltic states, especially Poland.

By John Daum

With the holiday season in full swing, many of us long for a few moments of calm amid the frenzy of shopping and last minute celebration prep.

Perhaps you’ve caught a glimpse through the festooned windows of a local bar or the neighborhood brewery of people who have taken time for themselves, call it a mental health break to destress over a cup and a conversation. They look so relaxed, collapsed into their leather chairs or comfortably positioned at the bar, enjoying an adult conversation, catching up on the latest sports news, or just being satisfied with the deep dark richness of the seasonal liquid elixir in their glass.

Chances are, at this time of year, they’re replenishing their souls with a classic Irish stout, perhaps the mass-produced industry standard from Guinness, but in this area it could also be something home-grown like the holiday-themed Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Stout from Tin Cannon Brewery.

Irish stouts, also called dry stouts, are characterized by their black, opaque appearance which comes from the roasted barley used in the brewing process. It is lower alcohol beer with rich chocolate and toffee undertones that make them easy to enjoy at any time, but especially in cold weather.

Old Dominion’s take on tradition

There is debate as to where and when the stout style of beer developed but it most likely started in the United Kingdom in the mid 1700s. The word

Locally find many variations of both the classic stout and porter styles including Old Trade Brewery’s Darkest Before Dawn Bourbon Porter, Old Bust Head’s Horchata Gold Cup Imperial Stout, and two popular offerings from Wort Hog in Warrenton; Babe’s Revenge, an Imperial Stout and Boom Chocolocca, a classic milk stout. oldbusthead.com .whbrew.com tincannonbrewing.com

No need to mull it over, mulled wine is a staple of winter And if it’s not already in your recipe repertoire, it should be – make it easy by using this slow-cooker method Serving cozy mugs of steaming mulled wine is the smartest thing you can do to upgrade any holiday party, and it can make a normal weeknight at home pretty special, too.

It’s easy – add a few bottles of wine, some brandy, maple syrup, spices and citrus peel to a slowcooker and heat it up.

Too, this is a “recipe” you can recreate in your own image: Mulled wine is simply wine that has been spiced, sweetened and served warm, often made more stout with a shot of hard liquor. In Germany, it is called Gluhwein or "glow-wine," and the shot is rum or amaretto. In Scandinavia they serve Gløgg, adding blanched almonds, raisins and port. Spain's sangria is similar, although it’s served chilled and filled to the brim with cut fruit. British 38

WINTER 2018

Mulled wine actually improves as it sits – flip the cooker to “warm” after an hour; the flavors mellow and the spices perfume the whole house.

Serve in heat-proof glass mugs or standard coffee mugs. Set out colorful bowls of individual garnishes – orange, lime or lemon slices, strips of citrus peel, fresh cranberries, cinnamon sticks, star anise pods or sugared coffee stir-sticks.

Slow-cooker mulled wine

wassail is a mix of ale, wine or hard cider sweetened with spices, ginger and citrus and served hot.

Careful not to steep your whole spices for too long – it’s not a mug of potpourri. And use restraint not to overdo the spices – a couple cinnamon sticks and three or four whole cloves flavor an entire recipe of mulled wine.

Offer festive garnishes, including cinnamon sticks, star anise and

any citrus peel. That way, when you refresh the slow cooker, you already have most ingredients at your fingertips. Just put in a bottle of wine, pour a few glugs of sweet maple syrup and add a nip of brandy.

In a slow-cooker on low, it will take an hour for the mulled wine to get hot. Resist the urge to heat on high as this boils much of the alcohol away.

Serves 10 to 12 2 bottles red wine 1/2 cup brandy 1/2 cup maple syrup 4 whole cloves 2 whole star anise pods 2 cinnamon sticks Peel of 1/2 orange, lemon or lime, white pith removed • Combine all ingredients in slowcooker. Cover and heat on low for one hour.

• Lower heat to “warm.”

• Ladle into mugs or heatproof glasses and garnish as desired.

– By Betsy Burke Parker

FOOD & WINE

WINTER 2018

39

FOOD & WINE

Festive fireside meal

Grandma’s gingerbread

Like so many things, key to a successful holiday is in the planning phase, figuring out what friends and family prefer to eat and drink and matching it with your own culinary prowess.

Take your cues from the traditional this season and plan a party to remember. Start with a Nordic cocktail, move into European and native American cuisine for the main course and top it off with a worldwide selection of sweets to suit every taste.

Glogg Serves 4 • 1 cup raisins • 1 cup blanched slivered almonds • ½ cup granulated sugar • 1 quart aquavit or unflavored vodka • 5 to 7 cardamom seeds • 4 whole cloves • 1 to 2 cinnamon sticks • 1 strip lemon peel • 1 to 2 bottles dry red wine Combine raisins, almonds and aquavit in a large saucepan. Wrap seasonings in a cheesecloth bundle, and add to liquid.

Heat to warm, add wine, and let mixture steep for about an hour to intensify flavors. Remove spices before serving.

Ladle punch into small cups, being sure each person gets raisins and almonds.

Although technically a fall fruit with abundant harvests, most varieties of apples are available year-round.

Assemble this apple dessert in no time after baking the fruit slices.

Recipe from Kirsten Frey and Anne Parsons

Roasted Brussels sprouts

Serves 4 A cold-weather favorite, Brussels sprouts can be cooked in several different ways, from roasting and baking to sautéing and boiling. Modern darlings of health food, sprouts pair well with many different flavor accents and other savory or sweet add-ins. Another plus: Serve this dish piping hot or at room temperature.

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts • 1 large Russet potato, peeled and cubed • 3 tablespoons olive oil • Seasoning salt, as desired • 4 spicy chicken sausages, thinly sliced • 3/4 cup dried cranberries • ½ cup toasted pistachios • ¼ cup creamy seasoned salad dressing • Salt and freshly ground black pepper Preheat oven to 350. Rinse the sprouts.

Trim off stem ends and slice each in half, lengthwise. Toss with olive oil and salt in a baking pan. Toss potato cubes with oil and salt in a separate baking pan.

Place both baking pans in the oven to cook.

Meanwhile, sauté sausage slices until golden, and set aside. After 30 minutes, check to see if sprouts and potatoes are tender. Remove from oven and toss 40

WINTER 2018

together in a large serving bowl.

Add cranberries, pistachios and creamy dressing and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Three sisters stew Serves 4 to 6

According to Native American legend, this recipe evolved as a way to use the three vegetables – beans, corn, and squash – that tribes planted together.

Each plant apparently donates soil nutrients to its fellows: sugar from corn, nitrogen from beans and protective soil cover from squash.

The vegetable combination also provides a harmonious and sustaining meal. In addition to the traditional recipe, cooks are free to add other ingredients, from tomatoes, green peppers or other seasonal vegetables to pieces of cooked meat.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil • 1 large onion, peeled and diced • 3 or more cloves garlic, minced • 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth, or more as needed • 2 cups cubed butternut squash • 2 cups corn kernels • One 15-ounce can hominy, drained • One 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed • 2 Roma tomatoes, diced • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste • Ground cumin to taste • Ground coriander to taste • 1 bunch cilantro, chopped, for garnish • Toasted pumpkin seeds, for garnish, optional Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat and sauté onion, garlic, taco seasoning, ground coriander and cumin seeds until the onions turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add broth, squash, corn, hominy beans, tomatoes and red pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce heat to low. Let simmer until vegetables are tender; add more broth, if needed.

Stir in seasonings, adjusting as desired.

Serve hot, and garnish with chopped cilantro and pumpkin seeds.

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking pan with foil, and set a poultry rack inside.

Remove neck and giblets from the cavity and cut away all the excess fat from the cavity and under the neck folds. Pull off any remaining quills from the skin. Rub with salt. Score the skin in crisscross Xs on both sides of the breast but do not cut through to the flesh. Set aside.

To make the breadcrumb stuffing, follow the package directions for preparing the crumbs with butter and water. Fold in the dried cranberries, cut-up prunes, apple cubes and tangerine sections. Spoon the mixture into the cavity and under the neck folds. Close these opening with skewers to prevent the stuffing from spilling out. Cook for about 30 minutes any extra stuffing in an ovenproof dish to serve with the meal.

Set the goose on the roasting rack breast side up. Roast the goose for one hour, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Roast another three hours or until the leg joint moves freely.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven, and let the goose rest for about 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

Apple caramel bake Serves 8

Roasted goose

• 1 large apple, preferably Golden Delicious, thinly sliced, seeds removed, and cut into wedges • Sprinkles of fresh lemon juice • 2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces • 3 tablespoons light brown sugar • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon • 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg • 2 slices pound cake • 2 large scoops vanilla or salted caramel ice cream • Caramel sauce as desired

• One 8- to 10-pound goose, at room temperature • One 14-ounce package herb-seasoned bread crumb stuffing, such as Pepperidge Farm • 5 tablespoons butter • 1 cup diced onion • Water or broth as directed • ½ cup dried cranberries • ½ cup cut-up prunes • ½ cup apple cubes • 3 tangerine sections, diced

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a small baking pan with nonstick spray. Combine brown sugar, ground cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Add apple slices and toss well to cover with the sugar mixture.

Place wedges in the pan, and dot with butter pieces.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes, turning over once, until slices are tender. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Place pound cake slices on dessert plates and top with apple slices. Scoop ice cream on top and drizzle with caramel sauce.

Serves 6 to 8

Serves 10-12 • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature • 1/2 cup granulated sugar • 1 large egg • 1 cup buttermilk • 3/4 cup light molasses • 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour • 1 teaspoon soda • 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1 teaspoon chopped crystalized ginger, optional • 1/2 teaspoon salt Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9-x-9-inch cake pan.

Combine butter, sugar and egg in a large mixing bowl and using electric beaters, whip until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Stir in buttermilk molasses. Combine flour with baking soda and stir into batter, beating until smooth. Stir in grated ginger, cinnamon, chopped ginger and salt. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Set on a cooling rack and cool to room temperature or serve hot, if desired.

Pat’s cheesecake

Serve s 8 Crumb crust: • 2 cups graham cracker crumbs or crushed ginger snaps • ¼ pound butter, melted • 2 tablespoons brown sugar Cheesecake: • 3 pounds cream cheese • 1 pound superfine sugar, or to taste • 5 large eggs at room temperature • 1/2 cup pumpkin purée • ½ cup dried cranberries • ¼ cup heavy cream • 3 tablespoons cornstarch • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract • Pinch salt • Toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish, optional Preheat oven to 350. Grease 10-inchround deep springform pan with a removable bottom.

Combine crumbs, melted butter and brown sugar, and press the mixture into the cake pan. Beat the cream cheese with electric beaters until smooth; add the sugar slowly. Beat until the sugar is completely stirred in. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat each until well incorporated. Stir in the pumpkin purée and the dried cranberries. Pour in the cream and extract, and sprinkle in the cornstarch and salt. Stir until the ingredients are well combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and place the pan on a baking sheet..

Bake 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until the center is firm and a cake tester comes out clean. Turn off the oven, open the door, and let the cheesecake stay in the oven until cool. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours. To serve, remove the outer rim of the cake pan, and set aside. Cut slices of the cheesecake, and place on dessert plates. Sprinkle with the toasted pumpkin seeds, as desired.

– STORY BY SANDY GREELEY, PHOTOS BY BETSY BURKE PARKER AND SAWYER GUINN

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Home & Garden LIVING WELL INSIDE AND OUTSIDE

Conjure the beauty of spring even in the dead of winter Story and photos by Sally Harmon Semple

Inside this section:

n The natural clown of the area's seasonal avian corps: Meet the junco n Feeding the birds isn't quite as simple as setting out seed (it's a matter of taste) WINTER 2018

43

HOME & GARDEN

Want to see my bloomers?

Force the issue this holiday season with flowering bulbs

Forcing bulbs for holiday blooms is an easy way to bring springtime beauty and fragrance into your home or office at a time of year when everyone yearns for a break from the cold and dark of winter. By adjusting light, water and temperature, you can fast-forward the plant's natural growth cycle to "force" bulbs to bloom in winter.

Despite the name, the "forcing" process is actually easy: it simply calls for us to move the bulbs to a dark and cold place before encouraging growth. Timing, chilling, planting techniques and prospects for repeat blooming vary for different plants, and some types of bulbs are pickier than others.

The lovely little white daffodils known as paperwhites can be easily forced into bloom for the holidays within four weeks. Plant paperwhite bulbs in a pot with the tips of the bulbs showing. They like a coarse potting soil so a little sand or pine bark in the mix is good. Place the pot in a dark, cool part of your house (basement, cool closet or warm garage) for a week to 10 days, then put the pot in bright light indoors. In three to four weeks you should have a spray of delicate, fragrant blooms.

Paperwhites can also be forced in water instead of soil. Use a clear vase so you can watch the roots grow and work their magic. With pebbles or toothpicks, place the bulb so that the water is just below the surface of the bulb. Maintain the water at that level – and be careful not to let the bulb sit in the water as that will rot the bulb.

Place the pot in a dark place for a week or 10 days, then put in bright light for blooms in three or four weeks.

A dilute alcohol solution helps limit lanky paperwhite growth so the tall stalks don’t flop over. When roots have formed and the green shoot is a couple inches long, pour off the water and replace it with a water solution of 4 to 6 percent alcohol. Distilled spirits such as vodka, gin or tequila can be used, one part booze to seven parts water, or use 70 percent rubbing alcohol, one part alcohol to 12 parts water.

Like us, too much booze can kill the plant, so be careful not to overdo it. And keep the beer and wine for yourself: their sugars will damage 44

WINTER 2018

mancy in time for holiday blooms, stop watering in September. Move the plant to a cool, dry, dark location. When the leaves turn brown, cut them off.

Amaryllis needs eight to 12 weeks of dormancy to force blooming, so do not water the plant during this period.

After two months in the dark, start inspecting the plant for new growth.

If you see new leaves emerging, put your amaryllis back in the sunny window and start watering.

If three months have passed with no signs of growth, bring the plant to your sunny window regardless, and start watering when you see the soil is dry on top.

Amaryllis flowers should appear in four to eight weeks. If you get only leaves and no flowers, the bulb simply did not store enough energy to bloom.

Advanced exercises

If you’re up for more of a horticultural challenge, tulip, daffodil and hyacinth bulbs can be forced as well, though some are better for forcing than others. A chilling period is needed before these plants can bloom, so save these tips for next holiday season and start the process

by Labor Day. Plant bulbs closer to the surface than for outdoor planting, with the tips of the bulbs showing above the potting mix. Place the potted bulbs in the refrigerator, stored at 35 and 45 degrees for a minimum of 13 weeks.

Keep the soil moist but not wet.

Once the chilling period is complete, place bulbs in a cool, bright spot indoors. Bulbs should flower in three to four weeks.

Growing tips

the plants.

Paperwhites will not rebloom, so with good conscience you may dispose of the plants after flowering.

Time, and time again

With a little care, amaryllis will make annual comebacks, and they’re popular for holiday gifting because of the spectacular flowers. With a little care, you’ll be able to force rebloom next holiday season or any other special occasion.

To preserve amaryllis for reblooming, cut off faded flowers so the plant does not waste energy going to seed.

Leave the green stalk until it turns

yellow, then cut it off an inch or two above the bulb. Green stalks are still making food through photosynthesis, and the bulb needs to store all the energy it can for its next bloom.

Keep your amaryllis in a sunny window. Water when the soil surface is just dry but don't over-water. Fertilize once or twice a month.

In summer, move the amaryllis outside, pot and all, gradually adapting your plant to the brighter light.

Bring the amaryllis inside before the nights get too cold for these tropical plants – mid-September is safe.

To force the amaryllis into dor-

• Amaryllis bulbs, pictured at left, do best when pot-bound – only 1" of soil all around the sides and 1-2" below, with half the bulb above soil level.

• Keep flower stems straight by rotating the pot a quarter turn each day.

• Prolong blooms by placing pots in the coolest part of your house at night.

• A 5 percent solution of alcohol with water in your water-sprouted paperwhites will produce sturdier flower stalks and leaves.

Use of force? (These don’t mind) • Daffodils • Hyacinth • Tulip • Paperwhites • Amaryllis • Forsythia (snip branches in win-

ter and put in water indoors) • Pussy willow (snip branches in winter and put in water indoors)

HOME & GARDEN

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HOME & GARDEN

Junco: An ordinary, extraordinary little bird Follow these little gray clowns down from the mountains for winter

While many birds migrate south this time of year, dark-eyed juncos in the region just relocate, moving down in elevation to our backyards.

Nothing stands out about the dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis), a nonaggressive, cheery little sparrow. Even the color is unremarkable.

Dark-gray back feathers are often called “sooty.” A few white feathers are mixed in the black tail.

“There’s nothing unusual about the junco – it’s just a little gray bird and it’s everywhere,” Virginia Tech researcher Joel McGlothlin said in his 2013 documentary “Ordinary Extraordinary Junco.”

While juncos may go undetected during the breeding season, they form small flocks in winter, and their busy foraging can attract attention.

Against a bare forest floor, their white parts also stand out, especially when males flash white tailfeathers aggressively at other birds feeding too close.

After snows, gray topsides stand out.

Juncos have been a key research subject for several reasons: they are abundant; they forage and nest on the ground, making them easy to observe; and they are docile and thrive in captivity, which has enabled biologists to do research on them in controlled environments as well as in the wild.

And, despite their low-key demeanor and coloring, the junco does have an extraordinary tale to tell. As the film explains, its “stunning diversity in feather color, body shape and size, and behaviors among the various species, subspecies and races across their range” has made it “a rockstar study organism” for scientists who study migration, hormones, neuroscience, evolution, ecology and disease ecology. This bird is “one of the world’s greatest examples of diversification and rapid evolution.”

The junco’s diverse forms led scientists to consider that North America’s juncos may not all belong to the same species. But new gene-sequencing has enabled researchers to sort through the junco genome and determine that all these differences are merely variations of the same species.

This species was dubbed the dark-eyed junco, for the one trait they share. It evolved from Mexico’s yellow-eyed junco (Junco phaeonotus), which has extended its range into southern Arizona and New Mexico.

Time and isolation drives diver46

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gence in species, and with the junco, this happened recently in terms of natural history — about 10,00020,000 years ago. That’s when juncos started recolonizing North America after glaciers from the ice age began to recede. Given more time, they may diverge into more species.

Virginia’s slate-colored junco, also known as snowbird, black snowbird or gray snowbird, is one of six subspecies of the dark-eyed junco ranging from the North Carolina Appalachians north through most of Canada and across the continent to Alaska.

The various populations can and do

Film educates, entertains

Produced by a team of biology researchers at Indiana University, the science documentary “Ordinary Extraordinary Junco” explores the natural history of junco populations throughout the Americas. With some scenes shot in Virginia, the film shows their range and adaptability and takes viewers through some spectacular scenery in the process.

Informative and entertaining, it is divided it into eight segments.

The discs are free for groups, educational use, or for journalist or blogger review. For private-individual or family use, the Junco Project, which produced the film, requests a donation ($5 for DVD, $10 for BluRay) to cover printing and shipping costs. juncoproject.org

How to find juncos

Fast fact: Researchers found the length of the day affects length of the junco gonads.

During winter and when migrating, juncos visit woodlands, yards, fields, roadsides, parks and gardens, staying within a relatively small and welldefined range.

To attract juncos to feeders, use nyger (niger) seed or white proso millet on an open tray or platform feeder, preferably close to the ground, or spread seed on the ground, changing the location frequently to avoid spread of disease or mold.

interbreed where their ranges overlap.

The junco has already contributed to science in important ways.

Eccentric Canadian scientist William Rowan, in pioneering junco research in the 1920s, discovered that animals have physiological response to changes in day length (photoperiodism). By studying juncos, he found that photoperiodism affected the size of male juncos’ gonads, which in turn triggered migration and other breeding behaviors.

Research by the Indiana University team led to learning about the effect of testosterone on behavior, physiology and evolutionary fitness of juncos.

“People are more like birds than we would ever have guessed,” says Ellen Ketterson, the team’s leader and executive producer of the film.

Spoiler alert: Males with less testosterone had fewer but better-quality offspring that were more likely to survive because their fathers stuck around to help raise them.

A small group of dark-eyed juncos that had taken up year-round residence

at the urban University of California, San Diego campus on the coast instead of migrating inland to the mountains to breed. They were found have rapidly evolved to meet the challenges of the busier, noisier environment. The birds became bolder in novel situations, and the pitch of the males’ song rose to above traffic noise, so potential mates and rivals could hear it.

In one segment of the film, students are shown socializing on the campus in the spring while the narrator talks about breeding-season behavior — not-so-subtly underscoring how much we humans have in common with juncos.

With all the research that’s been done on juncos, more is warranted, say scientists. Juncos teach about speciation, adaptation, climate change, the brain, hybridization, evolution, gene expression, the effect of genes on behavior, hormones, sex and reproduction, monogamy, maternal care, violence, range expansion, communication, geographic variation, food, death, sensory systems, trait selection, disease ecology, olfaction and ourselves. juncoproject.org

Feeding wild birds: It's a matter of taste Feeding wild birds is a popular activity, especially in winter, when many fear the birds need extra help finding food.

Although more than 100 species of birds supplement their diets with food humans provide, most can actually survive on their own, and feeding wild birds is complicated. It can thwart natural selection, which keeps gene pools healthy and present health risks to the birds.

Providing food for wild birds creates an unnatural situation in which species congregate regularly in one place. This can lead to sharing diseases, including salmonella, and pests such as mites and lice. Feeding stations can also become a source of conflict for birds or draw their predators, such as hawks and cats.

On the upside, feeding wild birds is fun and educational. We get to see and photograph these beautiful, intriguing animals up close, learning more about them and deepening our appreciation of them. That leads to supporting their conservation.

Black-oil sunflower seed is rich in the protein and fat that birds need in winter, attracts many bird species and has a hull that’s easy for most birds to crack.

Even easier and for most birds and less messy are hulled sunflower seeds.

According to the National Audubon Society, they are consumed by the widest variety of native bird species. To save money, provide the cheaper unhulled striped sunflower seeds, which have tougher hulls, at a different feeder for “hit-andrun” birds with tougher beaks that enjoy hauling unshelled seeds to feast on in private, such as chickadees.

Another popular seed for some birds, including finches, is nyjer (aka niger), which is cultivated in Asia and Africa but resembles native thistle seed.

Milo (sorghum), golden millet, red millet, rapeseed (canola) and flax seed, which often are included in mixes, are all likely to be shunned by birds native to the Piedmont. And corn will more likely attract invasive nonnative birds, such as English sparrows, or crows and squirrels, which can quickly empty a feeder.

To widen the variety of birds attracted, put feeders at different levels, with food in them appropriate to species that feed in those zones. Cardinals, for example, tend to prefer tray and hopper feeders — those that release seed when birds hop on them.

Chickadees, titmice, woodpeckers, and finches will feed on hanging feeders.

STORIES AND PHOTOS BY PAM OWEN

HOME & GARDEN

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In sickness and in health, comfort comes from the most unexpectedly expected place

Rx: Warm your heart through family, any time of year

It certainly wasn’t how I planned to spend the week.

One recent Friday morning, I was humming to myself with excitement. I had a wonderful weekend of activities with family and friends scheduled. We’d start with lunch at Claire’s in Old Town, then we’d have a big Saturday breakfast at Café Torino on the Warrenton bypass. On Sunday, we’d all make the big trip into the big city, all the way down to the Kennedy Center to see the hit musical, Hamilton.

There was nothing more serious on my mind than which shoes would go best with my outfit.

On the way to Claire’s, I got the first inkling something was wrong. My intestines begin to knot and cramp, first mildly, then intensely.

A faint but ominous hint of nausea joined the cramps.

I parked downtown and just sat in the car for 10 minutes. I finally decided there’s no way I was going to be able to eat lunch.

I called my family, made the short drive home and did what any reasonable, ill adult would do – I climbed back into bed.

It was then the chills began, shaking my body and chattering my teeth.

An hour later, my daughter heeded my distress call. She paled when she saw my state and rushed me to the emergency room.

There, they made the dire discoveries: Temperature 103.5, blood pressure dropping – eventually it fell to 60/33 – oxygen level 90.

“Everything’s heading in the wrong direction,” said my doctor darkly, understandably worried.

The tests began – chest X-rays, two of them, then a CT scan. Negative, negative, negative. Scan is totally normal, my doctor murmured to my family, clustered in the whitewalled hospital room.

I was increasingly weak and disoriented. By chance, a nurse put a comforting hand on my left ankle.

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THE LAST WORD

BY CONNIE LYONS

Writer Connie Lyons was buoyed by the sight of her own 'angel,' granddaughter, Lily.

She became suddenly riveted and felt around further.

“Why is this leg so much hotter and swollen than the other?” she asked aloud.

After a further battery of invasive tests, the diagnosis was celluitis. Not a big deal, the doctor told my worried family. An IV was inserted, and a double dose of antibiotics ordered.

After my family members reluctantly left, an intern peppered me with a litany of questions. Diabetes in the family? Cancer? Heart disease?

I was by now slipping in and out of consciousness, my interrogator prodding me awake for more questioning.

Finally, he was done with me. I spiraled gratefully down into blackness.

A new doctor appeared, a young Asian woman with lovely long dark hair. She examined my leg, which was red hot, fire-engine red and double its normal size.

Frowning, she shook her head. “I

would have expected more improvement by now,” she said. “I’m thinking you have sepsis.”

Even in my groggy state I knew it wasn’t good news. Worse, I explained about the Hamilton tickets, which was all I could think of. I was clinging to hope. “We'll see,” she said.

I knew she didn’t mean it.

Cellulitis is an infection of the skin, caused by harmful bacteria invading through an opening in the skin. It is serious, but if treated promptly, it’s not usually life-threatening. Sepsis is another animal entirely, a potentially deadly complication of an infection. It occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight the infection trigger inflammatory responses throughout the body.

In the most serious cases it leads to organ failure. In less serious cases there is still a 15-30 percent risk of death. Patients with severe sepsis or septic shock have a high mortality rate, with risks for the elderly high-

est of all.

I was 82 years old. The diagnosis gave us all pause.

Still, things were going the right direction by morning. The redness had receded, but I knew Hamilton was off the table – I could barely stay awake and couldn’t walk by myself.

After another day, I was able to walk on my own, and was enough recovered to care that my hospital gown was open in the back.

I wasn’t out of the woods. Most of the time, I sat groggily in a chair, dispirited and watching CNN obsessively. My daughter brought me a book of short stories, and I was well enough to read. Perhaps she hadn’t brought me the best choice under the circumstances, but writer Joyce Carol Oates and her bone-chilling “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” kept me company in my continuing misery.

Complete comfort and the mark of my eventual recovery, when it eventually came, arrived in an unexpected package.

On the fourth day, something happened that made my heart swell with love, telling me I was well and truly coming out of the blackness.

I had been deeply asleep, but movement made me rouse. I turned my head and opened my eyes in the now-familiar hospital room.

Sitting on the window seat, gazing dreamily out the window, was my next-to-youngest granddaughter, Lily. I stared at her. Her long blonde hair was silvered by sunlight, her eyes bluer than the sky in paradise. She was slender and as filled with grace as the flower for which she was named.

And it was in that very moment, in that colorless, emotionless hospital room that I realized all was well.

Just like that, the blackness fell away, the bleak room flooded with sunlight and the world – my world – righted itself through the comfort of a family’s embrace and a vision of an angel.

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Financing and rent to own is available on most building structures. Gift Certificates & Layaway Available.

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WINTER 2018