Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Williams Wharf



On my screen, this picture is blurry. On my kitchen counter, there are ants. I can't deal with the blurry picture right now, so I'm posting it. I also can't deal with the ants right now, so I am writing on my blog.

The shot above was taken from Williams Wharf Landing in Mathews. It's looking out across the East River towards an old warehouse, a seagull who did not like me taking his picture, and a sailboat.

Williams Wharf used to be where steamboats arrived on a daily basis from Baltimore, Newport News and Norfolk. My grandmother used to talk about driving all the way here from Gloucester just to see the steamers, whether it was the entertainment they brought, or the supplies or the people.

Keep in mind that I am talking about Williams Wharf, which is directly BEHIND me in this picture. It would have made too much sense to actually take a picture of what I'm talking about here.

And to continue taking things further from the topic, I'm going to give you a True or False test below. Some of the statements are about Mathews, some have to do with me. I am sure you can figure out which is which.

1. Mathews County is 87 square miles.

2. As we speak, there are 87 million ants marching across my kitchen counter.

3. Mathews County has 357 miles of shoreline.

4. I have gone to the store 357 times and each and every time I forget to get ant spray, ant traps, machine guns, and explosives to kill these insidious creatures.

5. Mathews has a population of 9,200.

6. The ant colony trying to move in with me, take over and crawl all over me-- laughing as they slowly torture me in my sleep--has a population of 9,200.

Answers: 1,3,and 5 are true. 2,4,6 have some truth in them, but the numbers may be slightly off as follows: Add FOUR THOUSAND to each number, and then the statements will be true.

7 comments:

foolery said...

I'm sorry, but The Math Portion Of The Space Formerly Known As Foolery's Brain has moved away.* How again can your have that many miles of coastline with that few square miles? Oh -- is Mathews County four stories high? I think the math works that way.

*to an ant hill.

foolery said...

Oh, and also? Seagulls believe you are stealing their souls when you take their pictures. True story.

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

Foolery, I always learn something new with you. I have never heard that about sea gulls. But I think I'm going to use that line the next time someone tries taking my picture. "Stop! You'll steal my soul!" Sounds good to me.

And about the math. Math, numbers, details and accuracy HURT MY BRAIN (unlike you I never ever had math space in my brain, it simply doesn't exist). All I can tell you is we're a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by H20, so there ought to be lots of miles of water, but I have no idea about the square mile stuff.

-Cheeky

David said...

Cosmo Castorini:

“A man understands one day that his life is built on nothing - and that’s a bad, crazy day.” - Cosmo Castorini from "Moonstruck".
One day we may discover that the ants own us and that's a bad crazy day.
Thank you for your warm comment on my post today. It means much to me
David

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

David, Moonstruck is one of my top five favorite movies. I could watch it over and over again (and I have). There are some very profound life statements made in that movie....

And the thanks goes to you for visiting and commenting here.

Anonymous said...

If you go up past that old warehouse that you took the picture of, my husband's grandmother's house is on the left. She lives on the East river. We used to take our boat to Williams Wharf from her house. If you keep going straight from her house you will go to the New point LIghthouse. Remember the storm I told you about. beautiful picture.

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

cats - Your grandmother-in-law must have an incredible home - the views from most anywhere on this river are phenomenal.