Oysters

Manchester’s Dogtown Dish has a nice article on Oregon Hill resident Haleh Pedram’s upholstery business and her oyster-inspired pillows.

The RVA Environmental Film Festival has announced that the short film An Oyster’s-Eye View of the Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program is the winning entry of the 2018 RVA EFF Virginia Film Contest.
Be sure to make plans to attend this festival in February. Attendance is FREE!

But the bigger picture news is that Chesapeake Bay oysters are making a tentative comeback. They are starting to show signs of resistance to scourges like Dermo and MSX. Sad to say, this good, desperately needed development may be threatened by offshore drilling.

Residents Recognized For Wildlife Care

A Laurel Street neighbor has decided to build on her physical therapy career by researching and advancing opossum (as in the animals, not the local restaurant) massage. The woman claims to be inspired after her pet dog injured a opossum in her backyard. She declined to be identified by name or photo for this post, but was willing to elaborate on the topic.

I am not making a blanket recommendation for hands-on work with opossums and other forms of wildlife, as that could be harmful for all parties involved, but for very special cases, I am interested in seeing if massage can make a difference in regard to rehabilitating opossums who have suffered traumatic back injuries.

She shared this video of opossum massage technique by renown expert ME Pearl:

Pine Street resident and animal welfare advocate Todd Woodson, another opossum enthusiast, strongly reiterated that no one should try to make physical contact with opossums and other wildlife, but was intrigued by his neighbor’s efforts.

God bless her for her compassion for these beautiful animals, I hope she can make safe progress with her study.