June Blooms

I was way down in southern Ohio two days ago. As far as you can go, watching a tug push eight barges with thousands of tons of coal on them up the river, and wishing I had pocketed my Sony back home for a shot of the action. All I have is the memory.

Another staffer and I were down in Meigs County, where the village of Pomeroy, with less than 2,000 people, is the county seat and center of commerce (OK, the Wal Mart across the river is the real center of commerce, I'm guessing, but the shops lining the north side of the main street looked much more inviting than any Big Box). We talked with the economic development director and a couple County Commissioners about how the county was hoping to prepare for some big things. It seems AMP-Ohio, a conglomerate of municipalities, is ready to build a coal plant. It will take up to 1,600 construction workers a couple years to get it done. Where do 1,600 construction workers stay? Then there will be maybe 170 new employees, coupled with another couple hundred working in a new coal mine about to be started up.

We toured the Villages that line the riverbank in Meigs: there's Middleport, Pomeroy, Syracuse, Racine, each a pretty small town, but it's Meigs County's megalopolis. I got interested as they mentioned the Fur Peace Ranch, where Jorma Kakaunen of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna fame hangs out, holds guitar playing workshops and camps, and invites folks like Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, and Chris Smither in to jam and put on clinics and shows.

Anyhow, I didn't have my camera, so there are only words and memories of that day, including a very good lunch in the Wild Horse Cafe, watching a thunderstorm race down the river past us and conveniently conclude as we were preparing to leave.

So, in place of pictures of lovely southern Ohio, I will have to settle for some more macro shots of flowers and flower parts found in our yard this week: