Bleeding Tree

One of the reasons most regular folks label environmentally concerned folks as "treehuggers" and "hippies" is for exactly what I am pointing out here. This tree is obviously bleeding from being partly cut with a saw - the macabre part of my personality noticed right away how sickly the dried black goo looked dripping out to one side... the part of me who strives to give nature all the respect it deserves wanted simply to share how strange and amazing this looks with others. I am not an advocate of deprivation, I am not seeing this and having it lead me to simply screaming "save the trees" - in a world of survival there are many uses for trees. It is how we (ab)use at this point in modern history that strikes me as odd and disturbing. We don't just build simple shelters, we build toxic McMansions in gated communities, we use billions of paper grocery bags instead of bringing re-usable bags...and still that isn't exactly the problem, our whimsies are just a symptom. The real problem is the disconnect from nature. Who will really think of a tree or the eco system while building their big 'keep up with the Jones' house in the wealthy or middle class neighborhood - and can you blame them for not thinking of it, when they have no exposure to the reality of our natural resources and where these resources come from? Sometimes I think people should act more responsibility towards the earth (of course they should) but the over educated rich are just as under educated as the poor in this modern consumer society. Without the hands on knowledge of what this eco system really entails, without the reality and experience (AKA living in the woods and with nature in the raw)- I have doubts to whether the majority of uneducated will come around very quickly to learning the basic elements of respect for the earth that supports their very life and breath. Our education system is concentrated on teaching children and adults what I would consider some really petty skills, mainly ones applying to consumption, sales, and how to fit into the economic box we've created. After learning to read and write- our most basic education should be to learn the one-two steps to what really keeps us alive - being our food & how we can grow it, our water & how we can keep it drinkable, our air & how we can keep the earth in balance enough to breathe it without breathing in later health problems.
It's good to recognize it, it's amazing to talk about, but it's extraordinary to go out and really live it! I believe the low mummer of talk I hear these days of cleaning up the planet is a good sign - I am forever an optimist about the possibilities of change... I know that when things really start to break down and are seen for it's dysfunction people will undoubtedly be motivated to make changes - but it would be so awesome if we could fix before it completely breaks.
XoXo

Swelling Creek

Being that I grew up in New Orleans, a place surrounded by water, regularly flooded by water, below sea level, and a culture that dares to throw a party when watery hurricanes threaten from the sky... I have developed a secret love for the power of water when it begins to overflow. Some people get a thrill from sky diving or a roller coaster - I get a similar adrenline rush of happy contenment to see a flood swelling up. The power of nature is something I can depend on, understand, and sometimes even relate to. Even when it crosses the fine line between beautiful over to destructive.
The massive rains we had the last few days filled the streams, creeks and rivers to the very edge... staying in the beauty zone and not so much the re-creator - I had to take my bike out yesterday morning and see what my favorite creek down the road had turned into.
I parked my bike next to the bridge, immediately realizing where I usually play under there and collect rocks was now totally underwater. I had to carefully climb some slimy wet boulders to get to the soggy mud and squish my way upward into the woods, towards what was once a noticeable waterfall.
The water was so high in the creek and rushing down so hard the sound was deafening! I wished so much I had a video camera to share the sound with ya'll... the intensity and power was such that the once waterfall was eclipsed by it's own water volume and could hardly be seen. (Check out this link to see what the Willow Creek Rd waterfall looked like in April!)
I crouched down in the trees for a while and watched - but more so listened. I was by myself and thought it was a good time to stay quiet, sort of a nod to mother nature for being so cool.
Eventually I felt tired and was ready to go back... hiking back through the slippery leaves, steep hill, crawling under pines tree branches and squishing through the muck, and back over the slippery boulder to the bridge.
I pulled by bike back up to the road and took off.
XoXo

Wild Turkeys In The Rain

This morning I went out on my bike (the 'cajun knuckle') to check out the super saturated area - 2 days of non stop rain dumping down into the creeks and darkening the landscape made everything look like a new world. As soon as I got down the gravel road and landed on Willow Creek, I saw a gaggle of turkeys milling around the field where the corn crops had been harvested. Yay! I love the wild turkeys here, they look like underworld vultures on flamingo legs - not like overly domesticated bred to be overweight Thanksgiving turkeys.
In the spring and summer these gobblers were very shy and stayed far away from me - but today they did not seem to care much as I rode my bike closer towards their flock. I have experienced them before in the winter a few years ago, they would let my cats sit amongst their group while they ate on a hill off Robinson Cove Road. Maybe in the winter they don't care as much? Breeding time might be more important.
When I got fairly close, a big white truck started flying down the cury road behind me and the turkeys started to get spooked enough to cross the street towards the woods I always walk in.
They don't fly very far, but in big spurts... their wings are huge and make alot of startling noise.
They all made it to the hill and filed away into the woods, perfectly camouflaged into the fall colored background.
XoXo

Opossum Time! (Includes Drool and Close Ups)

Oh, Mr. Drool Nose - How I wuve thee! I wish you would come in my room and sleep with me and my 'friendly to other animals your size' kitty names Toots! You have very pretty eyes and I can wipe that runny nose for you.
Opossum's have some of the most beautiful sculpted ears of all the night creatures I ever saw...(I know i go on and on about it each time I post a opossum on here, but it is so true!)
Their fingers are like giant bird of prey claws... yet also like creepy yittle hands.
I think this opossum is looking extra pretty because it's winter coat is in... or maybe it's cause it somehow looks like it has eyelashes. Or possibly it's the long rat like tail hanging down behind the wrapped vines in the pic below- it blends right in. Good camo is always stunning.
It looks alot tinier, once in perspective- don't it? <3 Come Back Soon! ! !
XoXo

Animal Tracking: Down The Rabbit Hole

There is still one tree left that is dropping apples - and I am not the only one who is gathering them! Yesterday I knelt down the gather a bag full up apples for some potential apple sauce, I could see that deer had been there amongst other critters nibbling the fruit too. When I leaned forward to grab a nice dark red apple I saw rabbit scat (poop) in three piles right ahead of me.
The scat was obviously fresh and from my point of view I could see a well worn thin trail...
I followed the trail carefully looking for more evidence, after about 10 feet of winding i found a half eaten apple. :) It was freshly eaten within a 1-2 hours, the apples falling wild from the trees turn brown really fast once open.
Then next to some rocks i found more apple bits, but these much were older. Possibly the rabbit's compost pile. ;)
And there was the hole... where the rabbit stays! Awwww, cute.
What an awesome place to live!
XOXO

Squeezin' In A Narrow Cave

Up on a steep hill in the woods there is a pile of huge rock out croppings- inheritly as dangerous as it is infinitely stable, the tremendous rocks are all piled together in such a way that it created a series of caves. Mud, leaves, and smaller rocks gathered into solid mass on the top cracks - filling in the original openings, and animals dug a new series of tunnels. It was awesome!
I started to squeeze my body into the larger opening, and realized I actually could have snaked my way all the way to the back... but did I want to?
The inner rock was jagged on some edges, it seems perfectly dry and clean in there - I did not smell animal urine and the only tracks i saw looked like a micro tiny deer shaped print (possibly a small pig?) I squiggled my way forward...
In the back of the crevice the rocks piled upward like tiny steps - there was a strong breeze of clean pure air blowing directly in my face. I was told that the cold air blowing out the hole meant the cave went deep underground. The stone 'steps' led up to a sharp left turn, and it looked as though maybe a right turn too! I wish I was an animal this size and could just move in, a cave seems like a really nice place to stay.
But Alas- I hadnt really gone too far back because I started thinking about the possibility of the creature who lived there getting pissed and me being stuffed in the crack with it biting my face like some kind of 80's horror film gremlin. So, I squeezed back out and will try again another day. :)XoXO00

Animal Tracking: Tiny Mystery and Co.

I don't look like much of a tracker, but I like to pretend! That is me in the apple orchard this morning (eating an apple, giving dirty looks) - the mud up there was perfect for looking at animal tracks. The thing is, I found some that are familiar to me and some that are a total mystery... maybe ya'll can help me figure it out!? :)
This first track above looks like a kitty cat paw, and was about that size. The cats that live here never seem to go up that way... but the tracks right next to there (seen below) may have been the who knows what that tempted them to go into the unknown.
This print in the mud is not only new to me, but has me pretty baffled. Ultra tiny, about the size of a penny including toes and pad - perfectly shaped little circle for each spot it imprinted into the ground. But no real visible claws, which made me think this might not be a squirrel (my first guess) and started thinking possibly it could be a giant frog, or other baby critter?
Next to the single print above was a little scurry of the same creature's tracks, where they stepped in the same place more then once- and even looked as though it slipped, skidded, or could have been dragged. Any guesses on this one?
Below is a large print of a coyote or medium size dog. This was further up the muddy trail by about 30 feet from the tiny mystery prints. In a way, I can see an entire food chain forming as I move upward...
This last track is a classic deer imprint, which there are tons of! I love thinking about how the deers are out-smarting me, always one step ahead, silently getting away.
Past all the apple trees, and into a small man made hut I finally found something that was there right then and not just it's tracks... a wittle brave forest mouse! Look at his sculpted ears and clean multi-toned coat, I love him! He was running fast as he could away from me... :)
XoXo

Growing On The Forest Floor

It's beautiful from far away, and just as breathtaking close up. I find myself looking at the 'bigger picture' in my emotional life quite often and attempting to overlook the details... while in my physical view I am over compensating by noticing every little detail growing around me, far more then the bigger grand view. I suppose if nature was a teacher, the lesson would be there is worth in everything we see-... it's a million trillion tiny details that build up to the picture at large and each bit of the ecology counts. Emotionally or physically.
Striking patterns and colors, mushrooms and moss are especially mysterious to me. The moss growing on the stick below made criss crossing diamond shapes, with little bits of more moss right in their centers.
I was told this classic looking mushroom below may be a choice edible, can anyone give it a positive ID?
XoXo

Prepping For the Canary Calender

Recently I volunteered to be part of a calender that raises awareness about people suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivities - a disabling illness that makes functioning in our modern world darn near impossible due to the fact that these people have been chemically injured and their body will no longer tolerate even slight contact with chems. People get chem injuries from all sorts of places like working in labs, working in factories, being the front line in wars and 9/11 rescue, being exposed to toxic renovations, or other issues of acute pollution. People who end up with MCS are often refered to as the canaries in our 'coal mine' environment, because they are the first to get sick from the unregulated over exposure we now deal with as a society, on a daily basis. Even if you don't live downstream from a power plant dumping junk into your drinking water and don't work in a science lab using aldehydes, you are still being exposed to chemicals through common household and care products like bleach, lipstick, detergents, harsh soaps, perfumes - plus paints, carpeting, varnish and other indoor air quality issues. If going green is not your shtick cause you don't care about the health of the earth, then it should at least be essential to even the most selfish human for your own personal health. The beauty in it is, when we are in balance, things fall into balance behind us.
Now for the calender... The Canary Report is putting together a wildy fun video calender called "The Naked Truth". It's a slightly nude, alluring video of real women of every shape, size and background living with MCS... these pics below are the 'making of' for my submission - *of course I can't show you the final product until it's either published or rejected.* :)I had the idea to write some of my feelings on the subject out in yellow maple leaves, I tore up each leaf into smaller pieces and placed them carefully on a large flat-ish rock. I have been making nature related art like this for years (Andy Goldsworthy does a good job of making beautiful art with leaves too!) I always got flack in art school for using "words" with my images, it left many artists uneasy- but i love the use of powerful words along with powerful images to say exactly what I want. Having the picture being completely in nature was essential to me, because at the core of the issue is that we depend on nature being healthy for our survival- without clean water, soil and air, we are basically screwed.So, maybe this should be the easy part next... getting undressed... but no way! You wanna lay naked on a freezing cold rock in the shade of the evening?!!?? I suppose I did.
I submitted my pictures to the Canary Report for review... I can't publish any of the final shots here yet, but this is just your sneak peak of the fun! Ya likie?
XoXo