Those stupid trees (11/21/2019)

It has been blowing like crazy this past weekend. There is a coastal storm offshore, and it is whipping up the wind to occasional speeds of 50 miles per hour or for you metric folks close to 80 km per hour. We could hear it howl around the house. Since it is mid-November there are a lot of fall leaves on the ground and they are blowing all over the place. It is interesting to see how we had a ridge of leaves at the leeward side of my car. When we left to go to a social at church in the morning it was there, when we came back it was gone, blown away. However, three hours later in the afternoon the ridge had returned.

Since it is mid-November, you think it would be an opportune time for all the deciduous trees to release their leaves with such a strong wind like this and set them free. But no, or better hell no. It is like they did not realize that in two weeks from now they will be doing this anyway, so why not now? Usually, at least all the past 19 years that I lived here; the trees have lost all their leaves by the end of November, if not the first week of December. We already had a good (early) frost, which also seems to be a signal to many of these trees that it is time. But hell no! They are not letting go. If they would drop the leaves, at least then all those leaves would fly to my neighbor and I would not have to deal with them. My neighbor on the side where the wind comes from does not have any trees, so I would be safe from that side. But now it means that I will have to deal with them after Thanksgiving. 

We have a lot of trees in our neighborhood. In the past I have written and complained how the folks in my subdivision build whole fortifications of leaves along the road <here>. They bag their leaves and then stack them three bags high along the road, somewhat in a display of “I can stack them higher than you” or “I can hide my house better than you.” These folks are mining nutrients out of their soil and sending to the landfill. Instead, they should be composting the leaves or at least grinding them up with a mulching mower. Moreover, I have also mentioned in my blog that last year in December we were out in our back yard at night with our headlights admiring all the small moving lights in the fallen leaves. It appeared these lights were reflections of our headlights in the eyes of minute spiders, it was absolutely magical. There seems to be so much life in those dead fallen leaves and that explains why all those birds in my back-yard hunt through them. Then to think that my neighbors haul them off to the dump. On the other hand, one of the advantages of all the piling along the road is that my male dog has something new to mark when we go for our daily walks. 

So, what is the possible reason for the trees to hold on to the leaves through this storm? One reason I think is our dry September and October; we did not have any rain for six weeks. Based on the ephemeral ponds behind our home, the groundwater levels are still very low; I would say at least 6 feet or more deep, while sometimes by now, it should be just a foot or two below the ground surface. Would it be that the drought we experienced caused this unusually late season? Is it caused by global warning? I don’t know, but all I know or remember from what I learned is that in some species the change in colors and leaf drop is caused by the change in day length or better night length. Here I am thinking about maples which usually start changing color by the end of September when the day and night length are equal. One thing we have noticed is that one of the maples in our yard that we have a love hate relationship with is finally coloring. This is almost a month later than normal. Our love of the tree is its bright yellow color in fall. Our hate for the tree is the sheer size, the fact that is seems to push out other plants and that it appears to lean in a direction that concerns us somewhat. In other words, we are watching it like a hawk. This tree is supposed to be empty by now, but no it is not. So, what the heck? 

Our maple is finally yellow.  As I mention it is approximately one month later than normal and I can only speculate that climate change and the drought this fall has something to do with it.

All that I can think is that nature this fall is all screwed up, and if you ask me this may be a sign of things to come. In this post, I will not explain how nature is supposed to act. However, nature does seem to be somewhat out of whack. I really wonder where things are going to end up, but I expect it is not going to be pretty. One thing I know, those darn trees are telling us something: climate change is accelerating, and I am not sure if we can turn it back.

Roots 3 (11/1/2019)

As most of you know, I make a feeble attempt to grow bonsai. I have been trying to do this (or faking to do this) for the past 30 years or so, and I feel I have not much to show for. A few of my trees may be getting there, but I still feel lost at times. One way to get learn more about it in the past was magazines and books. Nowadays, it is YouTube to the rescue.

As I mentioned before, one of my favorite YouTube channels is the “Bonsai Zone”, which is put on by the Canadian Nigel Saunders. Nigel has come a long way over the long years; however, I have one complaint. His videos are very long and tedious at times. Nigel literally tries to show you every step in the development of a specific tree that he is working on that specific day and the videos may run longer than an hour or more, which he thankfully cuts up in parts. I understand from a podcast that I follow, that YouTube encourages long videos on their most watched channels, and yes, I will keep watching Nigel. He is absolutely great. Currently I would not be able to do any better, although me wife keeps suggesting that we start a channel as well (The Naturalist Zone?). She proposes that she would handle the camera. My wife is a fanatic knitter (sometimes to my benefit) and she watches YouTube knitting channels. One of these channels (Fruity Knitting) even captured my attention because of the way they produce their program. They knit on their project, but they intersperse it with interviews of other knitters, go to shows, visit farms or regions, you know it.  It is full of documentaries and interviews while they also knit and give trick and how-to advise.

However, I really like the Bonsai Zone by Nigel. One thing Nigel emphasizes in his shows is the development of a good spreading root system before you concentrate on anything else. Nigel will actually take his viewers on walks to the park and the neighborhood to look at the roots and spread of or real trees. This has made me really conscious of the roots of my bonsais and of the trees I see growing around me during my walks.

I mentioned in my previous post that recently we spent a weekend in Westmoreland State Park. In addition to hiking in that park, we went for a walk in Caledon State Park, which is down the street. During these walks, I could not resist taking pictures of roots while thinking of Nigel’s message. What amazed me was that the American beech had what looked like the best or maybe the most obvious root development. 

I saw this beech in Caledon State Park and was duly impressed by its beautifully spreading root system.  These roots will feed a healthy tree and keep it thriving for a long time.

The roots of this beech growing in Westmoreland State Park are somewhat one sided; However, this tree was on a deep slope and the other side was less visible.

Another healthy root system on this beech.  This one is growing in Westmoreland State Park.

I actually found an oak with a beautiful root system at Caledon State Park.  Not that oaks don't have them, but this one was obvious and it was nicely above ground.

Now, this red maple had the strangest root.  It looked like a bulbous root where the small trunk came off.  I wonder if it was grazed or cut before.  Just very strange. 

I have written a number of posts on roots, ranging from our personal roots <here> to the roots of plants <here>. There are three more posts on roots and my bonsais, just look at the label section on the right and click on roots.

I also teach (preach) about the importance of roots in my workshops. In my soil workshop, I mention how the bulk density of soil will affect root growth. Bulk density is an indication of how tightly the soil particles are packed together and the tighter they are, the more difficult it is for the roots to push through the soil. A lot of traffic over the soil (like construction traffic, vehicles or simply foot traffic) will increase the bulk density and will make it difficult for plants to grow. In my soil amendment workshop, I tell folks how plant roots actually take up nutrients; while in my plant workshop, I speak about the symbiotic relationship between plant (roots) and mycorrhizae. 

You get the idea, roots are very important.  Furthermore, I tell my students that for the vegetation it is also “You are what you eat”; that the vegetation you see growing is a reflection of the soil, and that it all starts with a healthy root system. This is important in nature as well as in my bonsais.

Westmoreland State Park (10/28/2019)

This weekend I spent some time in a cabin in the woods at Westmoreland State Park in the Northern Neck of Virginia. It is one of the state parks we visit fairly frequently for a weekend in the off season, to get away from it all and relax. As we sometimes do, this year we were sharing our accommodations with Betsy, a high school friend of my wife, someone we have been friends with for more than 40 years.

It is just nice to be away from home and be out in the woods, sitting on the porch of this small cabin in the woods that supposedly was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps sometime between 1933 and 1942. There are newer cabins in this row, but it is nice to be in an historic one like this. It surely is cramped and somewhat primitive (or read not well stocked), but so be it. I live in motel rooms for luxury.

This morning we had a big storm roll through and right now it is sunny and somewhat windy. The temperatures are unseasonably warm for this time of year, but so be it. We are living in the years of global warming, and we will just need to learn to live with it.

Why am I not out there, strolling through the woods? We brought Jake, our old dog with us, and probably because of all the driving and excitement his tummy is somewhat upset. Since the girls are such old friends (50 years and counting), I have no problem “dog sitting” while they have fun and are out visiting a winery or two. I have been reading my Kindle and just breathing in the nice mild air sitting on a rocking chair here on the front porch. I may go for a brief walk while Jake is sleeping. 

A great walk after the rains were done.  It was unseasonably warm of the 27th of October.  I was in shorts and t-shirt.

Westmoreland State Park is on the Potomac River. It is sandwiched between the birthplaces of George Washington and Stratford Hall, the birthplace of General Robert E. Lee. We have visited Stratford Hall; it is surprisingly non-confederate and they do not push the civil war there at all. It is really worth a visit. The park itself has some great trails and the bluffs are full of fossil shark teeth that are there for the picking. 

Fossil Beach at Westmoreland State Park.  This is a very picturesque area with a large wetland to the right.

What was the Civilian Conservation Corp that built the cabin that we stayed in this time? During the depression, President Roosevelt established the Corps to get the unemployed off the street and back to work. These young men were put to work for the good of humanity or the country by doing public works projects mostly to protect and develop natural resources including the development of state parks, building reservoirs and other public projects. Westmoreland State Park was established during that period and I am not sure if these were worker’s cabins or meant to be used for recreation. However, now they are.

As some of you know or could conclude from a recent post, I am currently reading some of Wendell Berry’s work. His latest work was a little rough, and I will get back to it, but I am reading his collection of essays “What are People for?” I hit an interesting quote that he has of Wallace Stenger, a writer, naturalist and birder who I had never hear off. Mr. Stenger was a professor at Stanford University, and wrote that thought “thrives best in solitude, in quiet, and in the company of the past, the great community of recorded human experience.” This is the reason why I do not mind sitting on this rocking chair being left alone to think, read and to record my experience. Mr. Berry goes on and writes that the recorded experience does not need the Pantheon of Great Writers, but that it includes us all rather than the “Harvard Five-Foot Shelf.”

As I mentioned in my post entitled “Remember Nature” recording my opinions, feelings and experiences as described by Mr. Berry has been the intention of my blog posts all along. In my blogs I try to record what I see, write down my feelings and opinions, part with some of my education and experiences, show some of my photographs, and maybe even have some fun as well. My writings will never win awards or be included on that shelf, and that is okay; I just hope that some folks read it and are entertained and maybe learn something from my musings.  And so, I hope that you enjoyed this post.

Au Naturale (10/18/2019)

The nice thing about teleworking or telecommuting is that it allows me to go for long morning walks with my dog Jake (I wrote a long post about it here). As I mentioned in my previous posts, we have cold mornings again, which knocks down the chigger, tick and mosquito population, and I can go out back into the woods again. One of my walks is about a mile and a half (2.4 km) long. It brings me through our neighborhood and then into the National Park which runs in the City Park. The City Park or Newport News Park is the woods I write about in my blog all the time. 

The look back after just entering the National Park from our neighborhood.  Don't tell anyone, but here is when Jake is off the leash and allowed to go his own pace and forest bathe as well.  He is too old to get in trouble and just enjoys smelling and looking around as much as I do. 

I noticed today during my walk that the second that I stepped over the boundary between our neighborhood and the National Park that my gate slowed down, my shoulders relaxed and even my breathing calmed down. I felt that my jaw did not clench and the space between my eyebrows relaxed. It was actually amazing. I was suddenly going for a stroll. 

Now when we walk our dog(s) (our other dog died almost a year ago now) in our neighborhood, we go with a purpose: to walk the dog, and/or to get some exercise, get our steps, raise our heart rate. In the woods, I go forest bathing, experience nature, enjoy myself and let nature come over me. I realize, when I walk through our neighborhood things have gotten slower. Jake has gotten older, and my knee has not been very happy lately. 

But it is somewhat boring walking in our development, you have seen that front yard only so many times; you meet the same people (dog walkers). Only once in the nearly 20 years that I have lived here have I been met with excitement; well actually three times, counting the other two times that I was almost run off the road, once actually breaking my ankle. The really exciting time was when I saw a well-proportioned nude lady walking through her living room. This happened about 15 years ago, so who knows, since I have been living here 20 years, maybe within the next 10 years I will be confronted with such a delightful view again (no nude guys please). I wonder if this is why I am somewhat tight when walking through our neighborhood, full of anticipation?  I just hope my poor old heart can take it when I get my next view to a nude lady in a window and that this millisecond exposure is not the end of me. While this may be the ultimate existentialist experience as I describe in a previous post <here>, I don’t want to go into cardiac arrest for something minor as that. I want to go out in a big way. 

However, it is those strolls in the woods that keep me going. Every day, I am just amazed by how the sun comes through the trees. What leaves have fallen off the trees. Yesterday, I was greeted by the call of a hawk; actually, it was probably warning me to stay away, or warning others of my presence. Today, I heard the call of birds that mimic the call of the hawk: blue jays. There was a caterpillar hanging by a thread from a leaf of a wax myrtle. There is always something to see or to explore. 

One of my favorite (small) forest trees, the sassafras is shedding its leaves.  Stay tuned, I am planning to write a post about this species one of these days.

Sunrise in the woods, I love the way the sun comes through the canopy and plays with the fallen leaves on the forest floor.

Folks it is really true, nature is not scary; it actually is good for you to go out there. Nature is good for your health and a one-time exposure can last you a week to two weeks. Just be safe and when you are a newbie to nature, go with someone you who has experience and who you trust. Lastly, enjoy and stroll, don’t be in a hurry.

Remember nature? (10/8/2019)

The pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Heraclitus is believed to have said “It is not possible to step twice into the same river.” The reason being that even seconds later conditions in that river have changed. Different water molecules would be running by and touching your legs, aquatic organisms have moved and even particles of sand and sediment have been washed away, down stream. You yourself have aged and you are not the same as a split second ago. This may be scary when you think about it, but on the other hand it could also be comforting.

I was thinking about this when I finally dared to venture out into the woods behind our home again. The night-time temperatures finally dropped below 60° F (15.5° C), which means the chiggers go into hibernation and it gets less uncomfortable to venture into the woods. 

The woods have definitely changed over the past half year. For one when we last walked outback (as we call it) is was very wet and we had to dodge puddles. However, we have been in a drought, lately. I do not think it has rained for at least a month and instead of coloring, the leaves are shriveling. I am just hoping we don’t get a forest fire back there. While it would be good to have a good ground fire in the woods behind our home as I discuss in some of my posts, it is so dry that I fear for a crown fire and our homes.  It has really become a climate of extremes.

It has been so dry that the ponds have dried up, and even the puddles in the road which usually stay wet throughout the year are dried up. The largest pond behind our home has just a little pool left in the middle.  I am not sure if it has fish in it, but it usually has a healthy turtle population and I wonder how they are faring.  All ponds behind our home are ephemeral (with the possible exception of the large one) and they are fed or reflection of the groundwater levels.  This means that the levels usually fluctuate 5 to 6 feet every year; however, this year they seem to have dropped more than that.  Surprisingly, some of the grass along the trail was still green, while the grasses in the lawns in the yards of our subdivision are browning up. The entire south-eastern U.S. appears to be drought stricken this year, and the temperatures are way above average for the year. 

This is a picture that I took two weeks ago of the large pond and the water has dropped even more.

During our car ride back from our Century bike ride on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (which was fun, by the way), we were listening to NPR’s Weekend Morning Edition Sunday. They interviewed Larch Hanson, a seaweed harvester in Maine. Larch quoted Wendell Berry from one of his essays in “What are People for?” Berry wrote: “People are for preserving memory of place!” I guess that is what I have been doing with my blog posts over the years; trying to document the subtle changes in the woods behind my home. However, at times, while blogging, I can’t help myself and I also try to document the changes in my thinking and the society and of course in the politics around me.

A photo of my wife and I taken by fellow cyclists during the century ride this past weekend on the eastern shore of Maryland.  We had a lot of fun.  It was cold and very windy (first cold day, hence the packed in look).

Hanson said in his interview: “The water remembers us!” I would like to make an argument that nature remembers us, as well. Whatever we do to her will come back to haunt us, as we are currently experiencing with global warming. Yes, what we are seeing will likely accelerate, and Heraclitus’ philosophical outlook on life will become more and more apparent. Nature around us will start changing faster and faster and not for the better, and soon we can talk about the good old days. This is why, as Wendell Berry mentioned, we better preserve the memories of how nice it was back then (read now) by documenting it in our writing and photography while there is still time.  This is what I try to do in my writing and I hope you do that too in your form of communication with your friends and loved ones.