Fishing Paint Creek

Paint Creek is located south of Charleston off S.R. 61. In the summer and fall, sportsmen can catch trout, redeye or rock bass, bluegill and smallmouth bass. Most of the fish are panfish size, but that just means they fit the frying pan nicely. Trout can average about 12-15 inches. Smallmouths can be 10-12 inches. Redeye grow up to 10 inches but fight fiercely. The best artificial baits at this time of the year are usually small spinners like Joe's Flies, Rooster Tails, Mepps and Panther Martins. Paint Creek can be waded all along the way. Keep an eye out for copperheads on the banks.



Rainbow trout are stocked (March through May), but brown trout are native year around. These were caught July 1 along with a nice mess of redeyes and smallmouths.

Hummingbirds are Vicious

They may look gentle and pretty, but they will fight mercilessly for their food and territory.

Pics from Our Yard

The Tigerlillies

The Blueberries

The Garden

From Captain Spock Bills to Thebrethren

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Fire Under the WV Hills

On Tuesday, I and some friends from in and around Winifrede WV drove over 30 miles of trails on our four wheelers (I am still having to borrow one, but am hoping to buy my own in the near future). The trails are left over from when the mountain tops were strip-mined in decades past. The fact that they have grown back up into fully-wooded, peaceful, wild-life inhabited hills is a testimony to the fact that coal mining and the beauty of WV ecosystems can coexist. We borrow from them for a time to make a living, but eventually, they return to their former beauty. Regardless, the land is here for us, and not we for it. Lives and a living come first.

We drove through the brush, cutting trees that had fallen across the trail, avoiding some mud holes, plowing through others, climbing in and over fearsome holes and rises in the path. Some of the obstacles looked to my inexperienced eyes to be unpassable. But with the encouragement and example of my friends, I have discovered there is very little that a four-wheeler cannot overcome. A little more experience and my fear of those obstacles will hopefully turn into the pure thrill of conquering a challenge tempered by healthy respect.

After 24 miles of trails, we stopped underneath a remote cliff face. I was amazed to see smoke seeping from gaping crevices in the rocks, welling up from deep underground, miles away from any civilization. My companions explained that under our feet was a coal mine, abandoned long ago, that had been burning for the last 20-30 years. I have never seen such a thing! It was spell-binding to think of the furnace below, burning for decades, miles from nowhere, unextinguishable, alone and unaided, forgotten by the world. It seems like there ought to be a story about it, only there is no ending. I am lucky to have seen something so unique and mysterious. I drove a few hundred feet further and came upon a second set of venting rocks. I stopped and took this picture. Eventually, I would like to go back and learn more about it.

Homeschooling in the Bills Household

Kathi Jo spends several hours every day ensuring that the boys are getting a good education. Their curriculum is a modified classical curriculum based upon a program called Classical Conversations. They memorize a lot of facts in history, science, latin, grammar, and geography. They also do Abeka Grammar and Saxon Math. Later on the kids will take logic and composition courses and dive more deeply into these various subjects.

Taylor decided that he also wanted to take a cooking class that a wonderful lady in our church offers to kids in the youth group. Don't worry. We are working with him on how to use a knife.

Over the Creek and Through the Holler, Deep into the Woods We Go

On Tuesday, some friends from Winifrede treated me to another 25 mile jaunt through the hills and hollers of our surrounding community. Trails constantly branched off into multiple directions. I wouldn't dare head into the hills alone for fear that I would never make it back. Thankfully, these gentlemen have been doing this for decades and got me back safely.

A recent storm had knocked trees across our route every few miles. We had to find creative ways around or over them. At one point, I got myself "saddlebagged" on a fallen tree (the ATV is balanced on a point like a teeter-totter so that the wheels cannot get purchase). Sid had a winch to pull me the rest of the way over. This predicament was due mainly to my inexperience: I didn't gun it at the right time. The others had no problems crossing over the tree. It is amazing what an experienced driver can do with a four-wheeler.

At one point, we overlooked the church from atop a ridge. It was probably a couple of miles away as the crow flies. As the four-wheeler goes, however, we didn't get back until a couple of hours later.