Forest Preservation

“God has cared for these trees saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods.  But he cannot save them from fools.”  John Muir’s words are just as true now as when he spoke them.  Trees are important.  I hope this blog’s been making that clear.  We need to care about all trees not just the ones in the South American rain forest.

Deforestation means any removal of trees without replanting them.  What is your house sitting on?  Was a forest destroyed so your house could be built?  Was it farm land?  Look around you.  The green is disappearing.

A perfectly manicured law is not enough.  Trees are important.  They cool the land.  They take our exhaled carbon dioxide and make it into the oxygen we inhale.  They are homes for squirrels, birds, chipmunks, and bugs.

So it’s important to plant a tree where ever and whenever you can.  Look around your lot there has to be a place where you can plant a tree.  Landscape designers can help you decide which tree you have space for.  Make sure to call the utility location service in your area before you start to dig.  Trust me it will be worth the hassle.

Pack out what you pack in.

Enchanted Forest

Enchanted Forest

Sunlight looks green,

slanting through limbs
wrapped like mummies
in green moss-rags.

No sound, no sound

but the raven calling
. . . somewhere.

Small squirrel

walks up a tree,
pauses on the first limb,
takes a good look,
listens . . .

The forest is listening,

breathing,
watching.

Is it talking?

I don’t know the words.

 

Used with permission.  From Wild Country by David L. Harrison, ©1999, Wordsong Boyds Mill Press Inc., A Highlights Company, 815 Church Street, Honesdale, PS 18431, www.davidlharrison.com

Evaporation

Water, water, water’s everywhere and sometimes there’s none to drink.  I learned a long time ago that clouds are formed through the evaporation cycle but one of the books I read had a fancy name for it.  Convection.  Ohh, impressive.

Water vapor is everywhere.  The sun warms the earth.  This creates pockets of warm moist air that rises, as it does the water vapor cools and creates the cloud.  Then the vapors get together to form droplets.  When the droplets get big enough – heavy enough – they fall toward the ground.  Rain.

Sometimes the drops freeze, becoming snow, hail or sleet.  Sometimes it doesn’t make it to the ground.  This is another fancy name, verga.

Rain collects in lakes and rivers and puddles.  Then the sun warms the earth, and the cycle continues.  Evaporation.  Cool, huh.

Nature always points me to the Master Creator.  I never would have thought of such an elegant system for recycling water on the planet.  Would you?

Pack out what you pack in.

Sources:

            Clouds by Trudi Strain Trueit, Franklin Watts, a division of Scholastic, Inc. © 2002.

 

 

Creator

 The beauty of nature always points me to the Master Creator.

 Psalm 148:5 “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.”  The God of the Universe commanded the very creation of the Earth and everything in it.  You can read Genesis for yourself if you don’t believe me.

 The book of Psalms has all sorts of poems about creation and the Creator.  Psalm 148 is a call for all things on earth to Praise the One who created them.  Yes, even the animals praise Him.  Listen to the birds in the morning.  Watch the way trees reach for the sky.  The glory of the flowers blooming all points to a Master Creator.

 He created every living thing to be unique.  Yes, every human, every animal, every plant.  We all have a unique fingerprint, no two zebras have the same stripe pattern, and no two Holstein cows have the same spot pattern.

 We can praise him in our own unique way as well.  Thanking Him for the beauty of His creation is very simple.  Close your eyes lift your face to the sky, say thank You.   See that was easy.  If you want to get long winded read all of Psalm 148.  Make it unique just like you are.

 Pack out what you pack in.

Pageantry

Pageantry

 The trees are wearing

scarlet gowns

and golden crowns

and bits of them

 are falling down.

By Anna Grossnickle Hines

 

From Pieces:  A year in poems and quilts, Greenwillow Books (an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers), © 2001 by Anna Grossnickle Hines.

www.harperchildrens.com

www.aghines.com

Age of Trees

Trees are the best part of hiking.  They take great photos.

 Have you ever seen a tree stump?  Do you look at the rings?  Each small circle around the diameter of the tree is a year of life.  A small ring means it was a hard year for the tree to grow.  It had little water or it was cold.  A thick ring means the tree had ideal conditions to grow.  Water, sun, warmth.

Without doing a formal coring you can figure out the age of a tree by giving it a hug.  Let me explain.  If you take a small boring through the tree’s trunk you get a sample of the rings without doing damage to the tree.  But only a trained arborist should try it.

Instead with a string or a measuring tape go around the trunk and determine the diameter.  Do this about three feet from the ground.  On average one inch equals one year.  Without looking at the rings you can’t be specific.

Why is a tree’s age so interesting?  Well, I find history fascinating.  I wonder about the place where the tree is and how things around the tree have changed during its life.

Was it always in a forest or did one develop around the tree?  Did a forest disappear around the tree and it was left standing?  Was there a fire or a flood?  How many animals have or do call the tree home?  All this stuff interests me.

Green space is a good thing.  Don’t let it completely disappear.

Pack out what you pack in.

Sources:

            Trees of the United States and Canada, World Book, Inc. Chicago, Anova Books Company © 2007

Cameras

Old camera

I recently upgraded my camera.  Some of the photographs on past blogs were taken with an old film camera.  I purchased that little point and shoot 35mm camera when I was in college.  (Oui that ages me)  It still takes great pictures, but the flash no longer works and it’s getting harder to find film.  So I had to break down and get a new camera.

I did a lot of research before I made a purchase.  It was important for me to find a camera with a view finder.  That took me a long time.  I played with a couple different cameras at the store before I made a decision.

New camera

These photos are taken with the new camera.  There are still features I need to figure out but that will come with time.  I did learn that my new digital camera is heavier than my old film camera.  I need to change the shoulder that I carry the camera on often.

Hiking is a great way to enjoy the beauty of nature.  Taking photographs is the best way to take that beauty home with you.  Never take a cutting from a plant.  Never ever try to bring a bug or an animal home from a hike.  Always leave the nature in the forest.  [Duh, I know but there is always that one person who will try.] Sometimes you’ll see a place to scrape your boots so you don’t bring seeds, or bugs from one forest to another.  Use them both before and after your hike.

That leads me to another saying hikers use.  Leave only footprints, take only pictures. 

Pack out what you pack in.