31 May 2018

Spring Renewal

Fells Reservation, Massachusetts

Green again...
Young leaves... not yet touched by crawly munchers...
Flowers appear hidden... until wished to be seen...
Pollen dusted silvery surfaces of vernal pools...  and THIS otherworldly feeling...
Jubilant pines... adorned with young shoots and pollen cones...

Those leaves... and my oxygen driven life...
Breathe in and out... to leaves... breathe in and out... back to me... to leaves... back to me... to leaves...
FOREVER...

Fells: ... green again...

Fells: ... young leaves... not yet touched by crawly munchers...

Fells: ... appear hidden... until wished to be seen...

Fells: ... whites...

Fells: ... pinks...

Fells: ... and this otherworldly feeling...

Fells: ... jubilant...

Fells: ... adorned with young shoots...

Fells: ... and pollen cones...

Fells: ... those leaves... and my oxygen driven life... our breaths... forever...

22 May 2018

This is Her Home

Mass Audubon Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, Massachusetts

Trees and Birds... their melodic chit-chat suffuses the place... Muddy trails. Board walks. Lily ponds... A turtle over here... sunbathing. A duck over there... napping. Lazy river at a standstill... or it seems... Geese in high grass... lurking... THIS Swampy Feeling... and Birds love IT...
... I derive more of my subsistence from the swamps which surround my native town than from the cultivated gardens in the village... Why not put my house, my parlor, behind this plot, instead of behind that meager assemblage of curiosities, that poor apology for Nature and Art, which I call my front yard?... Yes, though you may think me perverse, if it were proposed to me to dwell in the neighborhood of the most beautiful garden that ever human art contrived, or else of a Dismal Swamp, I should certainly decide for the swamp...

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Ipswich River: ... trees...

Ipswich River: ... and birds...

Ipswich River: ... this look...
Ipswich River: ... ponds...

Ipswich River: ... mirroring...
Ipswich River: ... napping...

Ipswich River: ... sparkling...

Ipswich River: ... with human touch...

Ipswich River: ... sunbathing...

Ipswich River: ... twisting and turning...

Ipswich River: ... at a standstill...

Ipswich River: ... or it seems...

Ipswich River: ... lurking...

Ipswich River: ... slightly higher...

Ipswich River: ... and higher...

Ipswich River: ... this branch comes in handy...

Ipswich River: ... and this one too...

Ipswich River: ... on a spring day...

Ipswich River: ... a glimpse of twinkle...

15 May 2018

A Touch of Wilderness

Mass Audubon Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, Massachusetts

Teeny seeds in my palm. She is on the nearby branch... watching... hops closer... and lands on my hand... gently... not to hurt. Looks at me. Picks her seed. And flies away... this touch...

Ipswich River: ... lands on my hand... gently... not to hurt...

Ipswich River: ... picks her seed...

Ipswich River: ... and flies away... this touch...



10 May 2018

CO2 brings Pleasure

Mauna Loa Observatory, Mauna Loa, Hawai'i aka Big Island

On May 2nd Mauna Loa Observatory released atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) data for the month of April. For the first time on record, the average amount of carbon dioxide — the main long-lived gas responsible for global warming — in the air passed 410 parts per million (ppm) for an entire month... Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist at TTU is quoted on multiple websites:
As to why the continued growth... is so alarming, it is because it is a continued indicator that we are conducting an inadvertent and unprecedented experiment with our planet, the only home we have. It’s as if we discovered that something we eat every day is causing our body to run a fever and develop all kinds of harmful symptoms — and instead of cutting back, we keep on eating it. If that isn’t alarming, I don’t know what is.
It is NOT... and Why? Because we humans love GOOD LIFE... A game of golf. Skiing slopes. A trip to Hawai'i. No-sweat summers. Virtual worlds... and all those SPECIALS... these are all CO2 pleasures and feel-goods of our lives... Are we ready to give them up? For the only home we have?... Marching on into the future... with SOLAR, WIND, and GREEN... the buzzwords that make us feel good about our feel-goods...

Mauna Loa: ... the observatory... high up...

Mauna Loa: ... in the clouds...

Mauna Loa: ... measuring... 410 ppm... for the first time in human history...
Mauna Loa: ... and now what?...

Mauna Loa: ... keep on measuring...
Mauna Loa: ... high up in the clouds...

Mauna Loa: ... on descent...

Mauna Loa: ... passing by the keeper...
Mauna Loa: ... the car and the road...

Mauna Loa: ... marching on into the future...

07 May 2018

DANGER DO NOT ENTER

Kilauea, Halemaumau Crater, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park Service ALERT IN EFFECT Date: May 4, 2018  
... Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is evacuating all visitors and non-emergency staff today due to a series of strong and damaging earthquakes that continue to rock Kīlauea Volcano...
... On April 30, the crater within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent on the volcano’s eastern flank collapsed, sending torrents of magma towards lower Puna communities. On May 3, lava erupted out of a fissure in the Leilani Estates neighborhood, which was evacuated by Hawai‘i County Civil Defense...
Pele is making herself known... again... I remember when I first met Her... Walking towards the Crater. Hawai'i clouds moving around... mystique of white and gray... and the Crater... fuming... fenced off with the warning DANGER DO NOT ENTER... cracks and cinder reminding those who know... and those who do not...

Kilauea: ... mystique of white and gray... and the crater... fuming...

Kilauea: ... with the warning...

Kilauea: ... cracks and cinder reminding those who know...

Kilauea: ... and those who do not...

Kilauea: ... and the life appears...