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The Eastern Shore and Loblolly Pines
...... by Bill Hudson
Eighty years ago, before our parents owned TV sets, I was born and raised in Baltimore. My mother (maiden name Lipinski) grew up in the Polish section of Baltimore, one block from the harbor. Dad was a “waterman” who only knew the very small town of Greenbackville, Virginia until he was old enough to enlist in the Navy.
Greenbackville is a fishing town with a narrow L-shaped harbor on the Chincoteague Bay marshlands of Virginia’s “Eastern Shore.” With a peak population of 350 (today’s population is ≈170), nearly everyone in “Greenback” worked the water by crabbing, fishing, oystering, or in shucking houses. From ages 8 to 12, I enjoyed summers with my grandparents in Greenbackville crabbing and fishing daily. Those summers remain some of my fondest memories.
As a kid, when Dad drove our family the 135 miles from Baltimore to Greenbackville, I knew we had entered the heart of the Eastern Shore by the appearance of loblolly pine trees as we approached Salisbury Maryland where we would stop and visit my three girl cousins… Bonnie, Gayle, and Gloria.
That first group of loblollies triggered artist emotions that I didn’t recognize until later in life. I admired the unique beauty of those trees. They were tall, thin, clean near the bottom, with perfectly straight trunks reaching for sunlight with little wasted energy, and enjoying the finish line with the modest celebration of well-spaced foliage making a beautiful silhouette in the sky.
Those first loblolly pines in Salisbury made it official. We were entering the Eastern Shore where life was going to be fun with my cousins, and an education in nature.
Now people reverently refer to the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland as if they were separate states. For in a lot of ways, they are. Both are part of the Delmarva Peninsula which includes Delaware. The long peninsula is unusually flat, often marshy land, with an economy that depends primarily on fishing, farming (particularly large chicken farms), and tourism. And like my cousins, natives of the Eastern Shore, talked with a dialect called “Tidewater English.” It was fast, very southern, difficult to translate, but fun to listen to.
I always looked forward to being with my three cousins Bonnie, Gayle, and Gloria who were nearly the same age as me, my brother Ernie and sister Kathy. I didn’t understand much of what they said at the start of the summer, but we were always laughing. And after a month-long visit I found myself talking just like them and enjoying the simple things of this small town. Things like watching Grandmom wearing her outdoor bonnet, prepare Sunday chicken dinner by starting with a live chicken and a hatchet. One quick whack on the chopping block and the headless chicken would jump around in front of us for its finale.
LOBLOLLY PINE
Loblolly pines are found mostly in lowlands and swampy areas. Understandably, they are native to the Southeastern United States. The wood industry classifies the loblolly as southern yellow pine. It is second only to red maple as the most common tree species in the U.S. It is also fast growing at 2 feet per year up to 170 feet tall, making it a valuable commodity.
Perhaps the most famous loblolly was the “Eisenhower Tree” on the 17th hole of Augusta National Golf Club where our President Dwight D. Eisenhower was a member. He hit the tree so many times, he officially proposed in 1956 at a club meeting, that it be cut down. He was politely ignored. It required a severe ice storm in 2014 to finalize Ike’s wish.
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