Yeah, yeah...it's been awhile since I've updated this thiggamajiggy.   My friend Adam Owen shot this and other aerial photos from a passenger jet of the desolate Mojave Desert region near Las Vegas, Nevada.  I believe it's the area around Lake Mead.  Images such as these I'm not able to get often for posting on my website without obtaining some from professional aerial photographers.  Anyways, this and his other pictues are posted on Foxx Trotter's Cavern.

Not much has been going on here, other that it's been bone dry once again.  There are thunderstorms in the area today though, so this should help a little bit with the drought situation.  I'm sure you've heard about many of the ongoing wildfires in the Southeast, especially in southern Georgia around the Okefenokee Swamp near Waycross.  I just heard on the news earlier today that another one has recently started in that area on the Florida side, and it is growing rapidly.  Hopefully, it can be contained quicker than the previous.  Natural historic landmarks such as the Okefenokee Swamp should not go up in smoke.   There was supposedly another one within the past week in the mountains of Shenandoah National Park up in Virginia, but I haven't heard much more about it nor have seen anything on the media sites.  It may have only been a minor incident.  Of course, don't forget the ones out west in California.

Speaking of swamps, I was able to take a trip to one on Easter morning.  Shown above is the Great Dismal Swamp, one of the largest in the country.  There are two commonly used trails in the area, the lengthy Jericho Ditch Trail and the Washington Ditch Trail.  These ditch trails are drive paths with small canals alongside to drain the swamp, and were intially used for logging.  This, along with urban development, depleted the Great Dismal Swamp to about half its original size.  As of present, the swamp covers around 110,000 acres in Virginia and North Carolina.  The Washington Ditch Trail, named for George Washington who first surveyed the area in 1768, is the most used due to it leading to Lake Drummond in the center of the swamp.  I took my bicycle with me in order to travel the 4 1/2-mile trail to the lake, as it would have taken almost three hours by foot.  A better bike seat would work better, as my rear end hurt by the time I got back to my truck.  The Great Dismal Swamp became a national wildlife refuge in 1974, and holds a number of species of plant and animal life.  Included are black bears, bobcats and alligators...none of which I saw while I was up there.  It was chilly that morning, so no mosquitoes at least.   To show you what these ditch trails through the swamp look like, below is a view of the Washington Ditch Trail looking west.  You can see the canal on the left side of the image.

Our fire department has its annual fundraiser next Saturday along with the town's street event.  Maybe the weather will cooperate and a large crowd will attend.  Chicken and pork barbecue, YUMMY.   I'ma gonna go back to tinkering with my Gamewell fire alarm box which I finally got working.  They're not used as much in the southern states as up north, but make great collector's items.  Mine is only being used as a demo.  Well, later all!