Brick’s Blog

     That’s my older brother, Ken. He was a little younger then, but like all of us Smiths he doesn’t like to have his picture taken too often. These days Brother Ken sells real estate in the Northern Neck. If you’re looking for waterfront or waterview real estate, than you need to contact Ken. Ken knows the water and especially the waters of the Northern Neck, because Brother Ken has been a marine contractor (seawalls, piers, etc.), a commercial fisherman, and plyer of every cove, creek or tributary found in the Northern Neck. You can visit his real estate website here. He’ll be glad to drive you to any property, but truthfully he’d prefer to throw you into one of his boats and show you it from the water first!

     Of late, Brother Ken has turned his attentions to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. As acting president of the Virginia Waterman’s Association, he has been on a crusade to restore the Bay and its tributaries to what H.L. Mencken once called "the immense protein factory." As children, a dinner of blue crabs could usually be found around the pilings of anyone’s pier. We’d marvel at the catch of the huge haul seine nets dragged ashore at Ragged Point. Our fall oysters were fresh from local waters and not trucked in from the Gulf of Mexico.

     On Monday, June 2, Brother Ken will be on NPR between noon and 12:30 making his case. A live stream is available here.  For more information and to contribute to this great cause, visit the Virginia Waterman’s Association site.   

     About a year ago, I helped a family from Los Vegas relocate to Richmond. As usual in these relocations, you become close with the family, since you are their savant on all things Virginia. This pacticular family had some close friends in Northern Virginia, who kept telling them once they got settled they’d take them to the Neck. So when the question arose, "Brick, what is the Neck our friends are talking about it?", I was prepared.

     See, I grew up in the Northern Neck. Notice I said "grew up" not "from" the Northern Neck, because my father was a "come here" to the Neck in 1948. Even though my oldest brother, Ken and several of his grown children, still reside there, it would be presumptuous of me to claim true Neck heritage. Neck heritage is measured in centuries not generations. But I digress, let me return to my relocating family.

     Sunday night, I got an e-mail from the husband telling me they’d just gotten back from a great weekend at the Neck. Sorry, but I had to immediately e-mail and correct him. He didn’t spend the weekend "at" the Neck, he spent the weekend "in" the Neck. What my friend didn’t understand is the Neck is not just a geographic location, it is much more. It is first a "state of mind."

     You know the old work adage, "Never put off until tomorrow, what you can do today." Never been heard in the Neck. There is always something better to do than work - hunt, fish, boat or any combination,deviation, or improvement thereon. Don’t get me wrong. Neckers aren’t lazy. Neckers are talented and industrious folk. Want to build a pier, a seawall, maybe add an addition on your home? You’ve got plenty of help, even if your help is missing their day job. It’s all about your priorities and Priority 1 for any self respectin’ Necker is to enjoy the natural beauty and nature’s abundance found there first. All else can wait.

     Well, that’s my first installment on the Northern Neck. Stay tuned for more!