Office Bulletin Board

A small section of the bulletin board behind the computer in my office. Selected items:

1. The Indonesian license plate from our Land Rover in West Kalimantan

2. Arrival card from my first trip to Myanmar in 2005

3. Trading card of Son Goku in his Super Saiyan form 

4. Ticket to 2007 Farm Aid concert on Randall's Island. Row B (second row), Seat 5.

5. Mr. Yu's handwritten list of plant species from our transects in Guizhou

6. Pamphlet from the USDA Plant Pathogen and Quarantine Program about how to set up an appointment to have your shipments from overseas inspected. We had just moved back from Indonesia and had lots of boxes. 

[NOTE: It's amazing that I get anything done with all of this to look at].

Planetary

Trailer for an upcoming documentary about the planet, the universe, humans, plants, animals, mountains, and rivers, and that each and every thing is interconnected and inseparable from the other. Interesting premise, no? It's  time. Includes contributions from astronauts, ecologists, poets, teachers, environmental activists, indigenous elders, Zen priests, philosophers, and storytellers. Go here for more infomation about the film.  

A Song of the Rolling Earth

Seems like a good time for some Walt Whitman. From Leaves of Grass #10, A Song of the Rolling Earth (1881 edition):

The earth does not withhold, it is generous enough,
The truths of the earth continually wait, they are not so conceal'd either,
They are calm, subtle, untransmissible by print,
They are imbued through all things conveying themselves willingly,
Conveying a sentiment and invitation...
I speak not, yet if you hear me not of what avail am I to you? 

Useful words for ecologists, and foresters, and Zen students, and all human beings concerned–or unconcerned–with impending planetary crisis. The earth is clearly sharing its truths with us. [NOTE: A complete version of Whitman's A Song of the Rolling Earth is available here].

Wonder Where We Are?

U Naing Oo (Nam Sa Bi), U Myint Thein (Htamanthi WS) and I take a concerted look at the GPS while laying out the baseline for the Nam Sa Bi Village Management Area (see Nam Sa Bi VMA). [NOTE: We actually knew exactly where we were; I was checking to see how close our measured and satellite distances were. And they were real close (thx, Myint Thein)]. 

Ode to Plywood

Surprisingly lovely video from Tom Sachs about plywood. Plywood is such a basic and common feature of our life, yet there is a general lack of appreciation for this noble forest product. Truth be known, I've always kind of liked working with plywood. Something for Friday. [NOTE: I knew the video was going to be good when they referred to the plywood as "she"].

Tree On A Ruin

White limestone, white tree (probably a Ficus sp.), cloudless blue sky, and blazing sun. Thinking of this trip to Calakmul in Campeche years ago, and how hot and dry it was, and doing all that I can to ignore the fact that it is 3° F with blustery winds in New York this morning with a wind chill of -28° F. 

The Myanmar Times

Can't remember what this says. But it was in The Myanmar Times in late February 2005 and that's me standing in front of a large pile of rattan cane in Kachin State with a fieldbook and a Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey baseball cap (see Mandalay Express; wait until the end of the video clip). [NOTE: Anybody read Burmese?  I'd love to know what this says].

A Bit of Background

There is usually a back story to the images that I post. Like the one above. So, yes, I was pausing to catch my breath near 7 mile camp on the Ledo Road when I heard the rumble of a truck coming, and then I saw it was a rattan truck loaded with people, and packages, and lots of cane, so I got out my camera and took a picture.

And then I flipped the camera and took a landscape image (above) as the truck got closer. And I remember thinking, "What a great truck". And so I waited a bit, until it was right on top of me and I could see the faces of the driver and the passengers–and then took this. Which is one of my all-time favorite "people and plants–in a hurry" shots.  

U Linn Zaw and I

Really like this picture. U Linn Zaw, a villager from Nam Sabi, acted as my assistant/helper during all of the fieldwork setting up the Village Management Area (see Nam Sabi VMA). He carried my pack most of the time, helped me across the streams and up the steep slopes, and generally did whatever needed doing without having to be asked. Which I couldn't have done anyway because he speaks no English. Really a wonderful man and a dear friend. [NOTE: Photo by Sein Day Li (thx)].     

Ten Years Ago Today

Ten years ago today I was drying palm specimens with a charcoal-heated plant drier in the yard of the Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary headquarters at Tanai. That's U Myint Maung (see U Myint Maung), the warden of the Wildlife Sanctuary, lifting the cardboard to peek into the drier, and U Tun Shuang (see Group Photo) bending over to check the stoves.

I like the "Ten Years Ago Today" concept and will probably do more of it. And now that I store all of my images in the cloud with Picturelife, and get a link every morning to the pictures that I have taken on that day, it's all pretty easy. A more orderly chronology of the "thus" that "i have seen".