Burn Notice Hops

OK, so, we all know that I like some shows that are not...shall we say...mainstream? I have mentioned Dr. Who, which might be mainstream in Britain, Robin Hood, also surely popular in GB, and Psych, a USA original. I don't think I have mentioned Burn Notice. This is also a USA hit. Basically it is a show about a spy who has been black listed. It is really the kind of show that hooks you. I don't HAVE to see it, but I would be somewhat disappointed if I didn't.

I worked again today. Mowed a lawn and edged it...oh, yeah, it was several acres in size. It finally warmed up here...it was about 44 degrees when I left this morning. I hope we finally get some normal Auigust weather in the next few days...generally the first week of August sees us in the triple digits...so far we have not even hit 90 this week.

I know all of us that live here in central Washington know what hop fields look like, but maybe some of my other readers and people who just accidentally blunder onto my page would like to know a little about them.

During the winter a hop field looks like a telephone pole orchard, with cables attached to the tops to keep them straight...that is a popular joke on outsiders here. The telephone poles are simply the way they create a frame work for the hops ( a vine) to climb up. Then, at the end of August or first of September teams of workers come along and harvest the hops while they are in flower. The vines are stripped of their flowers which are then dried. The pollen is the magic bean that used to make beer last longer. Now we have better ways to preserve beer...Cora can definitely explain it better. The thing is hops have recently become MUCH more profitable. More fields are hopping up...forgive the pun...and here is a picture.

And, I have not posted any airplane pictures lately. Here is the CAG bird from VAQ-138 based at Whidbey Island! I bought a beer mug from these guys, even though some guyts came up behind me and started talking about the F-18...it is actually an EA-6 Prowler...used for Electronics Intelligence and Electronic Warfare. They jam hostile radars and other types electronic surveilance. I told the pilot and he registered no surprise since some other person had already done the same, even though he tried to explain that he flew an EA-6...oh, well. This airplane is not goping to be around long. It will soon be retired...likely in the next 2 to 3 years. The A-6 began service in Vietnam. which is saying something, since the F-14 was retired in 2006 and did not begin service until the mid-1970s!