Solar Shift
A Continuing Publication in Solaridge Cluster
December 5, 1998
Hello, Solar Neighbors! The holidays have arrived once again. We’ve set the clocks back to winter time, and won’t see each other in the streets again until April.
Please be sure your outdoor pole lamp is in working order. Isn’t it picturesque to drive in during the evening, and see the warm, welcoming lights along the streets? Have you put your pole lamp on a photocell or timer yet? Please consider this. That way, our Solaridge streets are warm and welcoming even if you’re out shopping – or in Tahiti!
When I last wrote this newsletter in September, I was praising the warm, dry weather. Unbelievably, we still have warm, dry weather! Please give a drink to cluster plantings along with your own. That little rain we’re getting this morning won’t do a bit of good! It takes a long, continuous soak to revive the Solar trees and bushes.
I watered the Leyland Cypress across from my place this weekend. They are looking better. You’ll notice that we are thinning the trees in order to combat the Siridium Canker, a potentially deadly fungal infection that all Leylands in the mid-Atlantic area have now contracted. With luck, the thinning will allow more air, light, and water for each tree, and the remaining trees will be able to fight the disease and survive.
The crack sealing was done in October, and the contractor used top-grade materials and did a thorough and neat job. We’re very pleased with the result. If the winter is mild, and the cracks don’t open and enlarge, we will be able to delay our asphalt recapping until our reserves build up a bit more. The larger the reserves, the smaller the special assessment will be!
A Special Request from a Solar neighbor: has your landscaping material grown out and blocked a Solar common pathway or sidewalk? If so please trim it back to keep the common ways passable! Trees and shrubs have a way of creeping out and doing this. I’ve now trimmed the west side of my property, but have those yews on the north side to tackle next. I’ll have the landscaping contractor look at our cluster plantings.
A recent Reston Association seminar for cluster officers included the topic of encroachment of common lands, and suitable remedies. Just as the Park Authority and Reston Association must sometimes address this issue, our cluster board has a duty to all Solar owners to make sure our cluster’s common property is respected. Please remember where your lot line runs, and speak to the Board about needed improvements on common land!
Do you have rug rats or teens about your home frequently? We’ve put various materials in our solar attics to make them look neat and spiffy, and some of the treatments have included vinyl miniblinds. This is the vinyl material that we now know can shed dust contaminated with lead, after several months exposure to bright light and heat. Maybe aluminum miniblinds have an advantage…
I receive enough announcements from government, charitable and civic associations that this could easily be a fifty page newsletter, but here’s one I will pass along. Our Hunter Mill District suffers from a chronic shortage of election officers. While it’s too late to help with the November ’98 elections, more elections are coming up. Call 378-VOTE for more information if you’d like to earn $100 -- and have a very interesting day at the polls.
Do you web-surf? www.co.fairfax.va.us/handbook/main.htm is the new Fairfax County Citizens Handbook online. Find out the population of Fairfax County, how to get a marriage license and a permit for a party tent, the road rules for bicyclists, how to appeal a real estate assessment, and much more.
I’m working to put a Solaridge presence on the Web, including current and back copies of this newsletter. It’s running, but not everything’s working yet. Details next issue.
Have a good holiday season, and let’s all get ready for 1999!
Thanks,
Lynn Devore, President
Solaridge Cluster Association
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