(Ever notice that I upload quite a lot of swamp pictures here? What can I say? I've loved them since I was a child.)
Appearing also on My Corner of the World.
Showing posts with label swamp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swamp. Show all posts
Wednesday, 31 March 2021
Wednesday, 10 February 2021
WW: Mystery tree
(Found this all alone in the middle of the swamp that has figured in many recent posts. The white trunk that so gleams 'midst the dead winter foliage and sulking North Pacific sky is none other than Betula papyrifera, the famous paper birch from which Eastern First Nations build their canoes.
Emblematic of the Eastern Woodlands and not uncommon in the Prairies and Rocky Mountains, canoe birch is perishing rare on the Pacific Slope. Hence Whatcom County's Birch Bay, whose endemic birches were noteworthy to early settlers.
But south of the Fraser Valley, B. papyrifera drips and drabs into scarcity, before disappearing entirely around Everett.
Which is 100 miles from here.
Nor is this the site of any disappeared habitation, which lets out persistent landscaping. So I'm flummoxed. I don't believe there are any other paper birches within five miles in any direction; probably a great deal further.
But I'll tell you this: when I saw it there - after I recovered from my disbelief - I almost cried. B. papyrifera covers the Laurentian Shield, and was the dominant species in the Québec hills that I lived in and loved, and where my Zen practice began. There I got to know it intimately, hiking under and through it, burning it in my woodstove through the winter, and meditating on all of its phases and stages.
This one may stand awkward and alone in this alien forest, but happening on it brought a kind of joy that is hard to explain.)
Appearing also on My Corner of the World.
Emblematic of the Eastern Woodlands and not uncommon in the Prairies and Rocky Mountains, canoe birch is perishing rare on the Pacific Slope. Hence Whatcom County's Birch Bay, whose endemic birches were noteworthy to early settlers.
But south of the Fraser Valley, B. papyrifera drips and drabs into scarcity, before disappearing entirely around Everett.
Which is 100 miles from here.
Nor is this the site of any disappeared habitation, which lets out persistent landscaping. So I'm flummoxed. I don't believe there are any other paper birches within five miles in any direction; probably a great deal further.
But I'll tell you this: when I saw it there - after I recovered from my disbelief - I almost cried. B. papyrifera covers the Laurentian Shield, and was the dominant species in the Québec hills that I lived in and loved, and where my Zen practice began. There I got to know it intimately, hiking under and through it, burning it in my woodstove through the winter, and meditating on all of its phases and stages.
This one may stand awkward and alone in this alien forest, but happening on it brought a kind of joy that is hard to explain.)
Appearing also on My Corner of the World.
Wednesday, 29 July 2020
WW: Christmas in July
(It's difficult to see at this resolution, but this tree – overhanging an idyllic spot on a swamp – is richly decorated with fishing tackle. Bass gear, for the most part. This in spite of the fact that as far as I know, no-one has ever pulled a fish out of here. But catching fish is not really the point in a place like this, at this time of year.)
Appearing also on My Corner of the World.
Appearing also on My Corner of the World.
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
Wednesday, 15 January 2020
WW: Swamp
(Though most people sneer the word, I've loved swamps since I was child. They promise discovery and adventure.)
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