Landscape gardeners often lament the coming of July and August, a season of dormancy for many of the ornamental plant varieties that color the landscape in spring and autumn. Traditional fescue grasses grown on lawns across Virginia can be particularly hard on resources during the dry months, requiring mowing for maintenance, which pollutes the air, and massive quantities of water. Beate Jensen, Belmont’s Grounds Preservation Supervisor, offers some landscape solutions to help homeowners beat the heat and sweeten the deal for area wildlife.
July
GoodSkills at Goodwill
Front Porch Magazine
July 2014 (pg. 7)
It is easy to turn a blind eye to the problems in our area. On the surface, ours is a burgeoning community, abundant in the arts, often affluent, and teeming with informed citizens at ease in discussing the latest local and national debates. What some may not know is that according to data collected by Rappahannock Goodwill Industries, there are roughly 36,300 adults in our area who face a barrier to meaningful participation in our community’s shared goals, a barrier to education, and a barrier to employment that would allow them to earn a living wage and attain the comfort that so many of us take for granted. That barrier is illiteracy.
Boat-Mitzvah: A Golden Opportunity
Front Porch Magazine
July 2013 (pg. 11)
Gary Golden knows boats. The vice president of International Marine Insurance Agency has been an avid sailor since his father, Al, took the family on a sailing voyage to Israel and back when he was a boy. The opportunity arose this past spring to share a similar experience with his father and his son, Elliott; so the three Golden men joined two of Gary’s college buddies to navigate Nalani, a 46-foot sailboat, from Riviera Beach, Florida, through the Chesapeake and home to Cobb Island, Maryland.
Update: Gary, Elliott, and Ruth Golden embarked on an Atlantic Coast to Bahamas sailing trip in September 2014 and returned to Maryland in late May of 2015. Ruth kept a blog of their journey.
Lara Klopp: With Brush and Lens
Front Porch Magazine
July 2012 (pg 24)
The lens is complex. A barrier between dimensions, it allows a necessary distance between artist and subject, if only to offer the artist perspective and provide the subject a sense of autonomy. At the same time, the lens is an extension of the artist’s eye, capturing at once light and shadow, personality, and the subtlety of the subject’s nature, challenging the photographer to capture a life on a single sheet of paper.