Caño Supay

During the years when I was living in the Peruvian Amazon and studying camu-camu (see Camu-camu), every morning I would meet up with Umberto (see Umberto Pacaya), walk down to the boathouse, throw all my gear in the Myriciaria (a dark green, wooden boat made for me by a local villager), and motor off to Supay cocha to count, tag, measure, collect, or do something with camu-camu plants. Trip took about 30 minutes, and after turning left off of the Ucayali River we would enter a winding channel, or caño, known as Caño Supay. Image above shows what this channel looked like on most days. It was usually 7:30 or 8:00 AM, i.e. rush hour, when I made this trip, and I would always reflect on the people inching forward in cars on the Hutchinson River Parkway on their way to work. And feel the wind in my hair. And see the kingfishers, the monkeys, and the Couroupita trees. And smell the river. And count my blessings (thx, Umberto).

Mantled Guerezas (from the Archive)

This is really kind of a crummy photo, but seeing these two Mantled Guereza monkeys (Colobus guereza) leaping from tree to tree in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Reserve (see Bwindi Impenetrable Forest) with their long white mantle trailing behind was breathtaking. 

...faces among the leaves,
being ears and eyes of trees,
soft hands and haunches pressed on boughs and vines

Then - wha! - she leaps out in the air
the baby dangling from her belly,

they float there,

-she fetches up along another limb - and settles in.

Mountains and Rivers Without End
Gary Snyder, 1966.

Fall

The arboreal color palette in my neighborhood right now is dominated by Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida L.) and Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum Marshall). And I can't imagine anything more beautiful. Fall in the northeastern U.S. (see In Praise of Northern Hardwood Forests).

Aung San Suu Kyi

No words for this. Only bows of gratitude.  And a glimmer of hope. [NOTE: Go here for details].

Minka

Touching trailer for Minka, a film - that hasn't been made yet - about a 250-year old farmhouse in Japan that is restored by an American journalist (John Roderick) and his adopted son architect (Yoshiro Takishita). John Roderick died in March of 2008 at the age of 93.  Beautiful meditation on place, architecture, memory, and the meanings of home. [NOTE: The trailer was triggered by a book that John Roderick wrote about the restoration experience. The filmakers (Birdling Films) have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to complete the documentary].

Mandalay Express (from the Archive)

After finishing the rattan survey in the Hukaung Valley (see Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey), we arrived at Myitkyina to learn that our flight to Yangon had been canceled and that no planes would be available in the near future. Our flight from Bangkok to New York was in four days. For lack of any better options, we decided to traverse the 919 miles from Myitkyina to Yangon by train.  We bought our tickets, got blessed by a Buddhist monk, and then wobbled and lurched and squirmed for almost 48 hours.

[NOTE: Music (local pop) was playing the entire trip - all night and all day.  They never turned the lights out in the cars for security reasons. The springs kept popping out of the cushion of my seat.]



Miao Kids

My first impression of a village is usually formed by my interactions with local children. They are invariably the first ones that come forward to engage with and shyly giggle at "the strange visitor". And I invariably take their picture. The following shots were taken in the village of Wudong (see Nice Backyard, Miao Still Life, and Carpenters). [NOTE: The last little guy wasn't so sure about the camera. Love the red boots].

Roof Tiles

They say it takes about 30,000 clay tiles to roof a Miao house (see Roof Aesthetics). And these are carried about 40 tiles at a time to the construction site. [NOTE: Several dozen clay roof tiles are very heavy].

Witch Hazel

There are a couple of things that I really like about witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana L.).  An extract from the bark and leaves is used medicinally as an astringent. This is what the barber used to splash on the back of your neck after you got a haircut when you were a kid. The twigs of this small tree are also used for making diving rods to "dowse" or locate ground water.  And, perhaps the best thing of all, late in the fall this species produces a bunch of small, pink and orangish flowers (shown above) just before it drops its leaves.  The last thing to flower in my backyard. [NOTE: The genus name means "together with fruit", the flowers, fruits, and next year's leaf buds all appearing on the branch at the same time].

Linotype

The linotype is such a beautiful, complex, and useful machine.  Revolutionized printing. Does the job, but requires an operator who is both mindful and skilled. If I wasn't so invested in forest ecology, I'd probably be a printer. [NOTE: A nice, detailed article about the linotype typesetting machine can be found here].