Our Home
Last update Nov 29, 2007
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Our Home |
First posted Mar 22, 1998 Last update Nov 29, 2007 |
 The front porch
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My partner and I live in a small, rural town about 20 miles west of Washington DC. Those people who know the Washington area may ask, how is that possible, that area is completely developed. Well, Clifton is in an unusual location. There are no major roads going directly toward town. As a result, the Megalopolis has passed us by, surrounded us, and we are only now about to be swallowed.
We have a contemporary house on a little over 3 acres. The house was built in 1976 and was a "kit" house designed by Acorn Industries. We are surrounded with mature forests of oaks, beeches, and maples. Behind our property, just far enough away not to be seen, is a large electrical substation. It makes no noise and has no lights. The substation sits on 100 acres of forested land. Behind that is a large regional park consisting almost entirely of permanent treed acreage. Beyond that is the edge of Manassas National Battlefield Park. This unbroken forest creates a perfect corridor for wildlife. We have deer, foxes, racoons and numerous other wildlife traversing our yard on a daily basis. In the spring we can listen to mother foxes calling to their young ones, teaching them where to hunt. Sometimes we can also hear the young ones answering. We have learned to respect the health of our little part of the world. Our only grassy area in the yard is just large enough to keep the septic field healthy. One year we found the grass was having trouble, so we hired a lawn chemical company to try to improve it. Immediately, the deer and other wildlife ceased coming. We quit the chemicals and the animals returned. We try to leave the wooded areas of our property to Mother Nature. We allow the leaves to accumulate on the ground so they will decompose and feed the trees next year. If a tree falls, we leave it to feed the bugs and microscopic life, and they in turn make the ground healthy for the plants and all other living things. We leave the snags (broken tree trunks) standing. They begin to rot, attract beetles and other wood loving bugs, and they in turn attract a myriad of woodpeckers. The woodpeckers not only eat the bugs, but nest in the hollowed-out trunks. We see Downey and Hairy woodpeckers daily. We also have a family of Pileated woodpeckers nesting in the area. One of my favorite small birds is the Nuthatch. A small blue-gray bird, the Nuthatch can usually be found standing upside down on tree trunks looking for spiders and insects. They will also take a sunflower seed from the feeder and stick it in a hole on a tree then peck it open. We occassionally find a skink (a small harmless lizard) in the living room. Originally we tried to get rid of them. We quickly discovered that the skinks were taking care of the occasional ant that wandered in. As long as we leave the system alone, we will continue to have a very healthy environment. Currently my favorite play toys are computers. As you can see from the photos, we have a few. Click for a listing. Recently I discovered a used computer store in our area that is an outlet for it's parent company who manages computers for large office companies. That increased our server array from 1 to 4 for only $600. We have lived in Clifton since 1991, and we really like it here. |
