CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:31). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 11-10-17. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of November 13, 2017. SOUND - ~7 sec This week, that sound of Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters opens our focus on the U.S. Army, the latest in a series of annual episodes in honor of Veterans Day.  Have a listen for about 25 seconds to the Army’s familiar anthem, played by the U.S. Army Concert Band. MUSIC – ~26 sec The U.S. Army began on June 14, 1775, as the Continental Army, formed by the Second Continental Congress to fight the Revolutionary War against Great Britain.  The army started with about 27,000 militia soldiers, but in 1776 the Continental Congress established a standing force separate from the state militias, which became the regular army.  Throughout its history, the Army has seen many significant expansions during wars and contractions during peacetime.  As of 2017, the Army was authorized for over 1 million active-duty, Reserve, and National Guard soldiers, serving roles in combat but also in medicine, humanitarian relief, civil affairs, and other areas.  The Army has a large presence in Virginia, with several bases and other facilities. Despite being the branch of the military services most thought-of as land-based, the Army’s never been far from the water.  Historically, army forts often were near rivers or other waterways—one Virginia example is Fort Monroe on the Chesapeake Bay beside Hampton, which was an Army installation from the early 1800s to 2011.  And as George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River in 1776 reminds us, countless water bodies have been a barrier or a line of defense for U.S. soldiers.  Today, water transportation, navigation, and water supply remain key functions within the Army: the Maritime Division of the Transportation Corps provides vessels for moving people and materials; water-treatment and supply specialists serve both in military and humanitarian missions; and many water-related projects—both military and civilian—are conducted by the Corps of Engineers, established as a permanent Army corps in 1802.   Fort Monroe is now a National Monument owned by the Commonwealth; its presence on Virginia’s Chesapeake coastline symbolizes the U.S. Army’s long history of facing, using, and defending waterways. Thanks to Army veterans and current personnel everywhere for their service and sacrifices, past, present, and future, and we close with a few more seconds of “The Army Song.” MUSIC - ~16 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The helicopter sound was taken from the Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS), “2-227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade helicopters [Black Hawk and Chinook] arrive at Katterbach Army Airfield in Ansbach, Bavaria, Germany,” video online at https://www.dvidshub.net/video/561762/2-227th-aviation-regiment-1st-air-cavalry-brigade-helicopters-arrive-katterbach-army-airfield-ansbach-bavaria-germany.  Copyright information at the DVIDS sites states, “In general, all media on the site is produced by U.S. DoD or Federal Agencies, and is in the public domain, i.e., not protected by U.S. copyright; however, other restrictions might apply, such as, but not limited to, the right to enforce trademarks, an

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:43). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 11-3-17.  TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of November 6, 2017. This week, we feature a medical mystery sound.  Have a listen for about 35 seconds, and see if you can guess what kind of seasonal, precautionary procedure is taking place.  And here’s a hint: thinking feverishly could influence your answer. SOUNDS - ~36 sec If you guessed, a flu shot, you’re right!  You heard an influenza vaccination being given in October 2017 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.  Flu season arrives every year with colder weather, bringing the potential to cause fever, body aches, and other symptoms, some quite serious or even fatal.  The flu affects millions of people in the United States each year, and health agencies like the Virginia Department of Health encourage vaccination for everyone older than six months, with some exceptions. But what does the flu have to do with water?  Consider these three connections. First, drinking plenty of fluids is a commonly prescribed treatment for flu sufferers in order to help prevent dehydration resulting from increased body temperature and other responses to the viral infection.  Infants, children, and the elderly are particularly at risk for dehydration. Second, the flu virus is transmitted between humans by respiratory droplets, and researchers have found that transmission is affected by air temperature and humidity. Specifically, transmission occurs more easily in cold, dry air, such as is typically found during fall and winter in temperate areas like Virginia. Third, waterfowl and shorebirds are among the various kinds of birds that harbor avian flu viruses, and water contaminated with aquatic birds’ waste can potentially harbor avian flu for some time.  Understanding the factors related to the occurrence and transmission of avian viruses—including the role of contaminated water—is important in monitoring avian flu and its potential to spread to other birds, mammals, or humans. Flu season is upon us, and national Influenza Vaccination Week is Dec. 3-9, 2017.  So if you hear this… SOUND ~3 sec – “Are you here for a flu shot?” …now you’ll have not only a health connection for the flu, but some hydrological ones, too. Thanks to staff of Kroger Pharmacy and Hokie Wellness for lending their voices to this episode. We close with a few seconds of music for, or rather, against the flu.  Here’s part of “Shots,” written by Wilson Stern and performed in a 2014, flu-shot-promoting video by the University of Florida’s Student Health Care Center. MUSIC - ~27 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The audio excerpt of “Shots,” copyright by Wilson Stern, was taken from the 2014 video “Flu Shots,” copyright by the University of Florida; used with permission of Wilson Stern and the University of Florida’s Division of Media Properties.  The 2 min./4 sec. video is available online at http://shcc.ufl.edu/services/primary-care/flu/flu-shots-music-video-lyrics/.   More information about Wilson Stern and the group Hail! Cassius Neptune is available online at http://www.hailcassiusneptune.com/. The influenza vaccination heard in this episode was performed October 24, 2017, at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, by st

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:58). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 10-27-17. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of October 30, 2017.  For Halloween week, we repeat a 2014 episode focused on a vital, water-based fluid that’s a feature of many-a scary Halloween image or story. SOUND - ~3 sec Why is a human heartbeat a water story?   Have a listen for about 25 seconds to the following mystery sounds, and see if you can guess the heart-and-water connections they represent.  And here’s a hint: if you have the energy, you could follow many branches to this solution. SOUNDS - ~23 sec You’ve been listening to sounds from a platelets donation at the American Red Cross’ New River Valley Donor Center in Blacksburg, Virginia.  A blood-pressure measurement, a needle stick into an arm vein, and the machine separating blood components and recirculating fluid to the patient illustrate three connections between the human circulatory system and water. First, the heart provides energy and a force—measured by blood pressure—to keep blood circulating around the body, like the sun’s energy powers evaporation and winds that help keep water circulating around the earth.  Second, arm veins are part of an intricately branched system of arteries, veins, and capillaries, resembling a watershed’s branching pattern as one travels uphill from ocean to river to headwater streams.   Humans have an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 miles of blood vessels, compared to Virginia’s approximately 100,000 miles of rivers and streams.  Finally, blood’s components are mostly water: plasma is a solution of water and many biochemicals, mixed with water-based red and white blood cells and with platelets.  As a result, blood in the human system has water’s physical and chemical properties for transporting materials and regulating heat, like water does within ecosystems. Cells and transported substances make blood “thicker” than water, just as the saying goes.  But the water we borrow temporarily from the global water cycle is at the chemical and physical heart of blood and the circulatory system’s vital functions. Thanks to staff at the New River Valley Donor Center for participating in this episode, and thanks to Soundbible.com for making the heartbeat sound available for public use. SOUND - ~3 seconds SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This episode is a revised repeat of Episode 236, 10-20-14, which has been archived. The human heartbeat sound was recorded by Mike Koenig and made available (9/14/09 upload) online at the Soundbible.com Web site, http://soundbible.com/1001-Heartbeat.html, for public use under the Creative Commons license “Attribution 3.0”; for more information on Creative Commons licenses, please see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/; information on the Attribution License specifically is online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. Other sounds heard in this episode were recorded at the American Red Cross New River Donor Center in Blacksburg, Virginia, during an October 19, 2014, platelet donation by Virginia Water Radio host Alan Raflo.  Thanks to the staff at the Donor Center for their help and for allowing the sound recording. For information about blood and platelet donations, please visit the American Red Cross’

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:39). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 10-20-17. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of October 23, 2017. This week, we feature a feathered, floating mystery sound.  Have a listen for about 10 seconds, and see if you can guess what’s making these clucks, clacks, and cackles.  And here’s a rhyming hint: it sounds nothing like a flute; dives for a root or a shoot; acts towards other birds a bit like a brute; and has a name completing this rhyme, to boot! SOUNDS - ~11 sec If you guessed an American Coot, you’re right!  The American Coot is the only North American species of several coots found around the world.   It’s categorized in the family of rails, gallinules, and coots, and it’s considered the most abundant and most aquatic member of that family in North America. Watery habitats, clucking calls, and an appearance described as chicken-like help give coots the nickname of “Mud Hen.”  In Virginia, the American Coot occurs in almost all counties, in a variety of freshwater habitats in the summer and in both freshwater and saltwater during the winter.  During migration and in winter, coots can be seen in large flocks, and such groupings are called various interesting names, including a “raft,” “codgery,” or “commotion.”  Coots are poor flyers and require long running and splashing take-offs, lending them another nickname of “spatterers.”  In the water, though, coots are skillful swimmers and divers, feeding on aquatic plants and algae and on small animal prey acquired from the surface or underwater; they’re also known to steal plants brought to the surface by diving ducks.  Coots may feed on certain crops, earning them a reputation in some areas as an agricultural pest. Not beautiful, not a songster, a food thief saddled with a funny name—coots aren’t well-loved or widely respected.  But they’re an ecologically well-adapated and widespread component of many North American aquatic habitats.  And as Cornell University’s “All About Birds” Web site notes, “The waterborne American Coot is one good reminder that not everything that floats is a duck.” Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week’s sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs, and we let the American Coot have the last call. SOUND - ~4 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The sounds of the American Coot were taken from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott, whose work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode. More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. IMAGES American Coot painting originally published between 1827 and 1838 by John James Audubon in Birds of America (plate CCXXXIX [239]), as reprinted in 1985 by Abbeville Press, New York. Photo taken October 20, 2017, from the reprint copy (no. 6 of 350 copies printed in 1985) own

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:21). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 10-16-17. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of October 19, 2017. MUSIC – ~12 sec This week, in an updated episode from 2012, we feature music to commemorate a turning point in history that occurred beside Virginia’s York River on October 19th, 1781.  Have a listen for about a minute. MUSIC - ~59 sec You’ve been listening to part of “The Surrender of Cornwallis,” performed by Bobby Horton on the 2008 album “Homespun Songs of the Patriots in the American Revolution.”  Yorktown was established on the York River in 1691, following habitation of the area by Native Americans for many centuries.  By the time of the Revolutionary War, Yorktown was a busy port.  In 1781, Charles Cornwallis led Great Britain’s southern army to Yorktown to establish a stronghold where the army could be reinforced or, if necessary, evacuated by the British navy. I nstead, the British troops became trapped when American forces under George Washington and French forces marched to Yorktown from New York, and French warships blockaded the lower Chesapeake Bay after defeating British ships in the September 5 “Battle of the Capes,” on the Bay between Virginia’s Cape Henry and Cape Charles.  A three-week siege of Yorktown ended with Cornwallis’ surrender on October 19, helping lead to the end of the war in 1783. The battle severely damaged Yorktown, which was again damaged in the War of 1812 and the Civil War, and Yorktown never regained its former prominence as a port.  But since the 1930s, historic preservation, research, and interpretation efforts—including the opening in 2017 of the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown—have made this small, 300-year-old, Virginia riverside town an American Revolution destination. Thanks to Bobby Horton for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of “The Surrender of Cornwallis.” MUSIC - ~ 10 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This episode is a updated repeat of Episode 103 (3-9-12), which has been archived. “Homespun Songs of the Patriots in the American Revolution” and its version of “The Surrender of Cornwallis” are copyright by Bobby Horton, used with permission.  “The Surrender of Cornwallis” is also heard (along with two other musical selections) in Episode 229, 9-1-14, on National Park Service units.  More information about Mr. Horton is available online at http://bobbyhorton.com/; information about “Homespun Songs of the Patriots in the American Revolution” is available online at https://www.bobbyhorton.com/music/homespun-songs-patriots/. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. PHOTOS The York River, with Yorktown in the background, June 27, 2017.   U.S. Geological Survey public domain photo by Hayley Austin, accessed online at https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/york-river-york-county-virginia.Victory Monument and a Slippery Elm tree at Yorktown Battlefied/Colonial National Historical Park.  Photo by Linda Williams for the National Park Service, accessed online at https://www.nps.gov/york/p

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:31). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, an image, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 10-6-17. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of October 9, 2017. This week, we feature a series of safety-oriented mystery sounds.   Have a listen for about 25 seconds, and see if you can guess the dangerous phenomenon for which water is the usual remedy. SOUNDS - ~25 sec If you guessed fire, you’re right!   You heard a home smoke alarm, a dormitory fire alarm, and a fire-hydrant pressure test.  All are aspects of the constant and complicated challenge of preventing fires or protecting people and property when fires do occur. Fire safety by individuals, families, businesses, and communities is the focus Fire Prevention Week, which in 2017 runs October 8-14. Sponsored annually since 1922 by the National Fire Protection Association, or NFPA, the observance always includes October 9, the date when the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 did most of its damage.  NFPA sets a central theme for each year—this year it’s “Every Second Counts: Plan 2 Ways Out”—and provides many educational items, particularly for school children. One of the learning tools this year is a fire-safety quiz; here are five key messages from that quiz: *From 2010 to 2014, 84 percent of fire deaths in the U.S. occurred in one-family or two-family homes; *Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home fires; *Once a home smoke alarm sounds, there may be less than two minutes to escape; *A home fire-escape plan should include working smoke alarms, two ways out of each room, and an outside meeting place; and *During a fire in a typical building, react immediately, get ouside, and stay outside. The quiz and other educational resources are available online at nfpa.org; resources particularly for pre-K to grade 5 children are available at sparkyschoolhouse.org. During Fire Prevention Week and all year round, education and preparedness can help reduce the times we hear this sound: SOUND – ~ 7 sec - fire engine siren and horn Thanks to Freesound.org for the dormitory alarm and fire engine sounds. We close with about 25 seconds of music to remind children of what to do in a house fire.  Here’s part of “Little Rosalie,” by SteveSongs, courtesy of the National Fire Protection Association. MUSIC - ~28 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The hydrant pressure-test sound was recording on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg on March 10, 2017.  Thanks to the Virginia Tech Facilities Department and to Liberty Fire Solutions of Salem, Va., for allowing Virginia Water Radio to record and photograph the testing and for providing  information about the test.  See the Images section below for a photo and more information. The Dormitory fire alarm sound (dated May 13, 2008) was recorded by user user guitarguy1985 and made available for public use by Freesound.org, online at https://freesound.org/people/guitarguy1985/sounds/53448/, under the Creative Commons 0 License (no copyright). The fire engine sound (dated April 6, 2016) was recorded by user logancircle2 and made available for public use by Freesound.org, online at https://freesound.org/people/logancircle2/sounds/342182/, also under the Creative Commons 0 License. For more information on Creative Commons licenses, please see http://creativecommons.org/;

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:57). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, an image, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 9-29-17. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of October 2, 2017. This week, we feature a potentially very destructive mystery sound.  Have a listen for about 15 seconds and see if you can guess what natural event is causing this rumbling and rattling. SOUND – ~ 16 sec If you guessed an earthquake, you’re right!  You heard part of a Federal Emergency Management Agency public service video on earthquake preparedness.  Whether centered under continents or oceans, earthquakes can have obvious impacts on lands and buildings, and their water impacts can include damage to water infrastructure, effects on groundwater, changes to streamflows, and tsunamis. As of September 28, 2017, 333 earthquakes had been recorded in Virginia and surrounding states since 1900, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.   Seven Virginia events had been recorded in 2017, most recently on September 13 near Pearisburg in Giles County.  The most powerful recent Virginia quake was the 5.8 magnitude event centered in Mineral, in Louisa County, on August 23, 2011.  Beyond the Commonwealth, the September 19, 2017, quake centered near Mexico City, of magnitude 7.1, had devastating impacts, including over 300 fatalities. With all of this in mind, thousands of citizens—in schools, businesses, local governments, and many other organizations—are participating in the Great Southeast ShakeOut earthquake drill on October 19, 2017.  The Southeast ShakeOut covers Virginia and seven other states from Delaware to Florida, plus the District of Columbia.  It’s part of the international Great ShakeOut, which as of September 29 had over 21 million participants registered.  Here’s a 60-second announcement on the drill from the Great ShakeOut Web site. VOICE and SOUNDS - ~57 sec As noted in the announcement, emergency preparedness experts recommend that the best response to an earthquake is drop, cover, and hold on; that is, drop to the floor, take cover under a sturdy table or other object, and hold onto the object until the shaking stops.   If no sturdy object is available, crouch away from windows beside an interior wall, and cover your head and neck with your arms.   Don’t try to run to another room or outdoors.   If you’re already outdoors, move away from buildings, street lights, and utility poles and lines, and once in the open, drop and cover. The Great ShakeOut on October 19 is your chance to practice these techniques and to learn more about what to do before, during, and after an earthquake.  You can find information online at shakeout.org. SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This episode updates and replaces Episode 132, 10-15-12. The shaking/rumbling sounds were taken from a Ready.gov/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) public service announcement video online via You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkwBZrejsSs. The earthquake safety audio was made available for public use at the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills Web site, online at https://www.shakeout.org/drill/broadcast/. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episod

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:44). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 9-22-17. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of September 25, 2017. MUSIC – ~ 7 sec This week, following the recent September 22 arrival of astronomical fall, we feature a fiddle tune named for a water-related weather event that will mark a meteorological fall turning point when it occurs across the Commonwealth in October or November.  Have a listen for about 25 seconds. MUSIC - ~25 sec You’ve been listening to part of “Cold Frosty Morn’,” performed here by the western Virginia band New Standard.  One of the eventual consequences of summer’s end is the end of the growing season, marked by the first significant freeze, when temperatures fall to about 28 degrees Fahrenheit or below.  That event, often called a “killing frost,” typically occurs in mid-to-late October in western Virginia, early-to-mid November east of the Blue Ridge, and mid-to-late November in some Virginia coastal areas. Generally, frost forms when water vapor in the air contacts plants, windows, cars, or other solid objects at a temperature of 32 degrees or less.  Some specific kinds of frost include radiation frost, also called hoarfrost, occurring when surface objects are cooled by radiating their heat; advection frost, occurring when surfaces are cooled by winds; and rime, a dense type of frost that forms when supercooled liquid water in fog or clouds contacts solid surfaces, such as trees, radio towers, or ships on winter seas. Frost seems far away on Virginia’s mild, late September days.   But to paraphrase a comment about truth from the poem “Birches,” by Robert Frost, frost-producing weather will soon break in with all of its matter-of-fact. Thanks to New Standard for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of “Cold Frosty Morn’.” MUSIC - ~12 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The performance of “Cold Frosty Morn’” heard here is copyright by New Standard, from the 2016 album “Bluegrass,” used with permission. More information about New Standard is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode. More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. IMAGES   Maps showing frost/freeze dates in the continental United States, based on data from 1980 to 2010. Upper map: ranges of earliest dates of first 32°F freeze; middle map: range of median dates of first 32°F freeze; lower map: range of median dates of first 28°F freeze. Images from the National Weather Service/Northern Indiana Forecast Office, “Frost and Freeze Information,” online at http://www.weather.gov/iwx/fallfrostinfo. SOURCES USED IN AUDIO AND OFFERING FOR MORE INFORMATION Robert Frost, The Poetry of Robert Frost, Edward Connery Lathem, ed., Holt, Rineheart and Winston, New York, 1969.  The quote to which this episode refers, from “Birches” on page 121, is the following: “But I was going to say when Truth broke in With all her matter of fact about the ice storm….” Kenneth G. Libbrecht/California Institute of Technology, “Guide to Frost,” online at http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/f

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:45). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 9-15-17. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of September 18, 2017. SOUND – ~6 sec That’s the sound of Potts Creek, a Jackson River tributary, recorded in the Craig County, Virginia, community of Paint Bank on Labor Day 2017.  Faintly audible in that recording is this week’s mystery sound.  Have a closer listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you can guess what’s making the grinding sound, accompanied by water flowing and dripping.  And here’s a hint: what takes powerful water for a spin? SOUNDS - ~19 sec If you guessed a water-powered mill wheel, you’re right!  You heard the steel and wooden wheel of Tingler’s Mill, a restored grist mill that began operation in the 1860s, on a mill site that dates back to the 1780s.  Tingler’s Mill is one of many surviving structures or sites preserving Virginia’s early history of water power for processing agricultural goods and other activities.  Beside powering Tingler’s Mill and its predecessors, Potts Creek provided the source of Paint Bank’s name, due to iron-containing, reddish clay in the stream’s banks that was reportedly used by Native Americans and European settlers for paint, pottery, and bricks.  Iron and manganese mining joined milling and timbering as industries attracting business and people to the Paint Bank area, with some 2000 people living near Potts Creek in the early 1900s, and the area drawing military attention in the two world wars for its potential manganese reserves. Paint Bank today benefits from being home to Tingler’s Mill, a combined general store and restaurant, a hotel, and a Virginia state fish hatchery; from being close to the Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory in West Virginia; and from being surrounded by western Virginia’s remarkable ridge-and-valley scenery. We close with some music suitable to Paint Bank’s historic water-powered mill wheel: here’s part of “Millers Hill” by The Steel Wheels, from Harrisonburg, Va. MUSIC - ~23 sec SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The sounds of Potts Creek and Tingler’s Mill at Paint Bank, Va., were recorded on September 4, 2017. “Millers Hill,” from the 2006 album “Blue Heaven,” is copyright by The Steel Wheels, used with permission.   More information about The Steel Wheels is available online at http://www.thesteelwheels.com/. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. PHOTOS Potts Creek in Paint Bank, Va., Sep. 4, 2017. Tingler’s Mill restored wheel and building, Paint Bank, Va., Sep. 4, 2017. View inside Tingler’s Mill building, Paint Bank, Va., Sep. 4. 2017. Mountain ridge view (looking northwest) at Paint Bank, Va., Sep. 4, 2017. EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT TINGLER’S MILL, PAINT BANK, AND CRAIG COUNTY On Tingler’s Mill “Tingler’s Mill has a long and varied history.  As a present day fixture in Paint Bank, its presence makes a grand statement about revitalization and historic preservation.  In the past, however, it was an important element of eve

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:42). Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below. All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 9-8-17.  TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of September 11, 2017. MUSIC and SOUND – ~14 sec That’s a stark message from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, about storm surge.   The September 10, 2017, arrival of Hurricane Irma’s center in Florida made this a good week to revisit the subject of storm surge, which was also the topic of episodes on Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016. NOAA defines storm surge as the “abnormal rise in seawater level during a storm, measured as the height of the water above the normal…tide, and caused primarily by a storm’s winds pushing water onshore.”  Along with extremely high winds and heavy rainfall, storm surge is expected to be one of Irma’s most severe impacts in Florida and possibly elsewhere, both in coastal communities and along inland waterways.  On September 8, the National Weather Service’s Miami Forecast Office predicted “life-threatening” storm surge for parts of its coverage area. For an introduction to storm surge potential and how residents can prepare for future events, have a listen for about two minutes to excerpts from, first, a 2013 National Hurricane Center [NHC] video, and second, a 2010 Virginia Department of Emergency Management [VDEM] video, including a list of Virginia areas most vulnerable to storm-surge flooding. SOUND/VOICE – NHC ~39 sec SOUND/VOICE – VDEM ~64 sec As the second except noted, storm-surge information is available online from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.  Here’s hoping for the best for people and places in the path of Irma and any future tropical cyclone. SHIP’S BELL For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This episode is an updated version of Episode 337, 10-10-16 (Hurricane Matthew storm surge) and Episode 134, 10-29-12 (Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy storm surge). The sources of the audio in this episode are the following: Excerpt 1 - “NOAA Storm Surge PSA,” 2010, accessed at https://vimeo.com/13463438; Excerpt 2 - “NHC Hurricane Preparedness Videos – Day 2: Storm Surge,”May 15, 2013, online at You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=84VFVZS04hM; Excerpt 3 – Virginia Department of Emergency Management, “Virginia Hurricane Evacuation: Storm Surge” (2 minutes, 48 seconds), August 26, 2010, accessed at http://emupdate.tumblr.com/post/87828131235. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. IMAGES From the National Hurricane Center, http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?cone#contents, 9/8/17, 10 a.m. From the Miami/South Florida National Weather Service Forecast Office, online at http://www.weather.gov/mfl/, 9/8/17, 10:30 a.m. EDT. Hurricanes Irma (center), Jose (right), and Katia (left), as of Sept. 8, 2017, 9:15 a.m. EDT (1315Z or UTC). Photo from NOAA, http://www.goes.noaa.gov/browsh.html, accessed on 9/8/17, 10 a.m. EDT. SOURCES Used for Audio Jim Morekis, CEMA: Irma impact on Savannah could include Category 3 or 4 winds, possible storm surge over 10 feet, Connect Savannah [Ga.], 9/6/17. National Hurrican