Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for April 24, 2021

Virginia extends much farther east of West Virginia than it does to the west of West Virginia.

Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to have named it North Virginia.

Whoever named West Virginia lied to us. Jerks.

It’s nice to know that if we ever need to use wood as a conductor, oak would the one to go with.

Virginia is the only state with two counties named after the same person: Patrick and Henry.

Va. to W.V.,,, I am westier than you, NEENER NEENER NEENER…

The oak tree bit makes me want to know why. Oaks tend to be taller than the surrounding trees, thus attracting the lightning. They also have a high moisture content, which increases their ability to conduct the surge of electricity. When a tree is hit be lightning, most of the electrical charge moves through the outer, growing portion of the tree. Elms and certain poplars run close seconds.

The Virginia I knew always wanted to go south.

Take care, may Nob Hill window washer Hortense McBlord be with you, and gesundheit.

The early borders of the King’s first permanent colony were generous. The southern line ran from the Atlantic to the Pacific, along the line that now separates North and South Carolina. The eastern line from VA Beach north to New Jersey. The northern border ran on a diagonal from the Atlantic near New Jersey to Alaska. Like most monarchs, he hadn’t a clue what he was claiming, but he just liked getting more than the other guys.

Carson City, Nevada is further west than Los Angeles, California.

I didn’t realize how much a chunk of Virginia is separated from the rest of the state across the Chesapeake Bay.

Luckily for Roy Hobbs one lightening bolt struck and ash tree…

The majority of West Virginia is more west.

In my short 73 years on earth I have witnessesd two trees hit by lightning and one was a popular and one was an oak. It was an amazing sight.

I had always thought American Chestnut trees were most likely to be struck by lightning. That’s why all of the old farms had them planted around the barns and house.

I tried a few searches but not finding any empirical evidence probably means that because there are so few trees left there is no statistical evidence for the researchers anymore.

But I know that on the farm that my dad grew up on, there is still one old tree by the barn, and the farm that dad has (near the one he grew up on) has an old tree in the woods. He has been in touch with the PA Dept of Ag and they are doing studies on trying to bring that tree back.

Guess which species of tree pissed off the almighty…

“Oak come on!”

If they had just named it North Virginia, we wouldn’t have to be reminded of this every few years.

Let me guess…someone on here has 40,001 muscles.