Interview No. 3

Our third household interview in Xijiang (see Xijiang Landscape) was with this delightful 88-year-old Miao man. He only spoke Miao, but this was not really a problem because Mr. Yu Yong Fu from the Leigongshan Nature Reserve (see First Plot) was with us and could translate. More problematic was that the gentleman was extremely hard of hearing and all the questions had to be shouted - repeatedly.

In spite of these difficulties, we learned that 30 years ago all of the local forests were collective forests and that management decisions and harvest allocations during this period were made by a village committee.  Most of the decisions about what happens in the forest are currently made by the provincial Forestry Department. We also learned that there had been no big fires during the last 30 years (see Fire Hydrant).

Fall Colors

I am a huge fan of Fall as manifested by northern hardwood forests (see In Praise of Northern Hardwood Forests and Fall)). This video by Jamie Scott shows why the seasonal change of leaf colors on the east coast is such a big deal. Complied from 15 locations in New York City with footage shot twice a week for six months with the camera in the exact location each time. Best at full screen with a little volume. I especially like the red oaks at 0:28 and the spectacular sweep starting at 2:02. Enjoy the colors. [NOTE: Music is "I Get Nervous" by Lower Dens].

Rattans of the Central Truong Son

Have just finished and submitted the final report to the MacArthur Foundation for the "Conservation and Management of Rattan in the Central Truong Son Mountains of Vietnam" project (see Where Are Those Transects II and Field Books). Productive, fun, and ground-breaking piece of work: 1) six new species of rattan described for the region (go here), 2) largest rattan inventory ever conducted with 960 transects and over 175,000 rattan plants identified, counted, and measured, 3) size-specific growth data collected from 4,500 rattan canes of six commercial species, 4) dissemination of management protocols to 40 villages in central Vietnam, 40 villages in Laos, and 20 villages in Cambodia, and 5) first management plan based on voucher specimens and quantitiative data on rattan density and growth developed for a protected area (Song Thanh N.R.) in Vietnam. 

Will miss my annual trips to Vietnam, the long drives from Hanoi to Hue and back, and my frequent e-mails with Dr. Ninh Khac Ban (see Which Rattan Is That?). [NOTE: Image shows field crews at Dakrong Nature Reserve laying out an inventory transect. And smiling (thx, guys)].

Don't Buy What You Don't Need

Timely words from Patagonia about consumption, resources, and taking nothing from Nature that you can't replace. A useful reminder after Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday: Don't buy what you don't need. [NOTE:This type of thinking is long overdue. Living does not mean buying. Go here to participate in Patagonia's Common Threads Initiative].

Blacksmiths

A group of blacksmiths in West Kalimantan making a parang, or bush knife, out of the leaf spring from a Toyota Land Cruiser.  Interesting/scary that everyone is wearing sandals as they pound the red hot metal. [NOTE: I actually had an old Toyota Land Cruiser (40 Series) when I lived in West Kalimantan in the early 1990's. Amazing vehicle].

Norway Spruce

Picea abies (L.) Karst. Needles: evergreen (1.2 - 2.0 cm), stiff, 4-angled, sharp pointed, spreading on all sides of twig from short leafstalks; twigs: hairless, reddish-brown; European, widely planted for Christmas trees.

We went to Maple Row Tree Farm yesterday and cut our Christmas tree. In the past we have always gotten firs (e.g. Balsam Fir, Frasier Fir), but this year we found such a perfect specimen of Norway Spruce that we decided to make a change. It does have really prickly needles, and it maybe it will dry out a bit faster than a fir - but the form of this little tree is absolutely perfect.  Plan is to start trimming the tree later this morning.

[NOTES: The tallest Norway Spruce is 63 m tall, growing in the Sutjetska National Park of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The city of Oslo provides Norway Spruce trees to New York, London, Edinburgh, and Washington, D.C. each Christmas to show their gratitude for the assistance of these countries during World War II].

Thanksgiving Day 2012

So much to be thankful for this year: families, and wives, and mothers, and teachers, and pets, and electricity, and a warm house, and good jobs, and beautiful weather, and forgiveness, and miracles, and laughter - and leftovers.

Gratitude is humility on a plate.
-Karen Maezen Miller

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. [NOTE: Image shows Song Dynasty statue of Avalokiteshvara from the Metropolitan Museum of Art; foxglove with pigments, gilding, quartz, and carnelian].

Parade of Turkeys

In preparation for Thanksgiving, Amy made a delicious batch of nutmeg maple butter cookies (go here for the recipe) - and cut them out in the shape of little turkeys. Last night, the breakfast room table was covered with dozens of golden-brown turkeys. They are going fast. [NOTE: These are great cookies. Smitten Kitchen describes them as "a tumble of butter and maple syrup, crackly sea salt and a whiff of nutmeg". And, just so you know, Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is finally out. Would make a lovely gift for the holidays]. 

Thanksgiving Parade 2012

Went to the Thanksgiving Parade in New Rochelle last weekend to watch daughter Amy (see Amy and the Dolphin) march with the NRHS band. Marching bands and bagpipes and antique cars and roller derby clubs (they were great), but the star of the show was undoubtedly the large man in the red suit with the long white beard. Lot of nice details in this image: the two-handed, politician wave, the Christmas lights strung over the albino reindeer, the Queen's Wig store in the background, and the three kids looking out from the second-story window. [NOTE: And of course, let us not forget the appearance of the big man in Laos last year (see Santa in Vientiane)]. 

Hedda and Ernst

Notes page from The Ecology and Management of Non-Timber Forest Resources. Highlighted passage reads: "The basic text of this report was written over an eight-month period from 1991 to 1992 while the author was in residence in West Kalimantan, Indonesia conducting fieldwork". What isn't explained is that the text was written in the back bedroom of Hedda and Ernst Kuester's house in Pontianak.

Elysa and I had just come back to West Kalimantan after a brief trip to the U.S. so that our first son, Case (see Many Years Ago in Pontianak), could meet his grandparents. When we got back to our house on Jl. Jenderal Urip in Pontianak, we found out that there was no water. It had been a very dry summer and water from the South China Sea was slowly moving up into the Kapuas River, the source of water for the city. To avoid pumping salt water through the pipes - and ruining them- the city opted to turn off the water. Not a promising situation to be in with a nine-month old baby. 

Our German friends, Ernst and Hedda Kuester (shown below with Theo, their adopted Indonesian son), had just moved into a nice new house with a large water tank, air conditioning, two-car garage, and manicured front yard. Ernst was the director of a large GTZ project and his housing allowance was a bit more substantial than mine. Anyway, when they found out that we had no water, they immediately said "Why don't you just move in with us?" We did. And we lived with these dear, gracious people for over a year.  And I wrote my first book in their back bedroom.

[NOTES: Ernst passed away several years ago (sigh); Hedda and Theo are back in Hamburg. Truly an amazing, wonderful time sharing life in Western Borneo with this German couple. My non-timber forest resources book  is currently out of print, but I have posted a copy in the Bibliography section].