Good morning beneath white pine

Happy Almost Halloween!

Don't you totally dig those spider's webs in the hemlock? Ooooo, this is my ultimate favorite time of year!

Maples in the mist...

This morning I awoke to a gorgeous mist after a long day of rain yesterday!

Can you spot the spider's web in the second image? [Remember to click on pictures for an enlarged view.]

Big Leaf Maples

I've heard it said that the Big Leaf Maples [Acer macrophyllum] are the real jewels of the Pacific Northwest… but personally, I’ve always felt it was the evergreens. Regardless, this time of year is when those Big Leafs make sure they get noticed, and lay their orange-yellow claims across acres and acres of PNW forests, cities, and in this case: backyards.

JLB Does America!

The trees were right! Big changes are in store!!!

This Winter I’ll be moving from Washington State to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. During my trip, I’ll have the opportunity to see all kinds of wonderful things that I haven’t seen before! As you might expect, one of the things that excites me the most as with any travel, is seeing new trees!

During my trip and following my arrival in PA I will be cataloging the trees/forests that I encounter, and sharing with you my learning as I try to identify a whole new set of tree species!

As it stands, I am not much of a taxonomy buff, and most of my knowledge of tree names is based in colloquialisms and common names. Let’s consider me starting from scratch teaching myself tree-identification as I venture to the East Coast!

Winds of change

If you’re ever in need of a little help, talk to a tree. I’ve been doing it for about 25 years, and hey, look at me!

Seriously though, I talk with trees each day for updates on world and weather, for help with heart and head… or just to say howdy.

These days, all the trees seem to say is change, change, change! Autumn is indeed a season of drastic change, and the trees seem to suggest that there's some in store for us humans too...

If you are looking for a second opinion, try visiting Jonathan Cainer’s website. I’ve been reading his work for about eight or nine years, and he has withstood the test of time! Yesterday, he mentioned that the lunar eclipse of Monday, October 17, 2005 marks the end of events which began during the solar eclipse of Monday October 3, 2005.

Oh yeah, the trees were right! Change, change, change!

Happy just-past-Full-Moon everybody!

The Ides of October

Washington State Quarter Designs

Back in January of this year I decided that I wanted to create a design for the Washington State Quarter. Above is the final version that I sent to the Washington State Arts Commission. My design which you see here includes the following:

- The Coastal Rhododendron: Washington State’s flower

- The Western Hemlock: Washington State’s tree

- Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams: notable Washington mountains

- The Salmon: designed in the spirit of Northwest Native American traditions

- The clouds, rivers, and waters that keep our state “ever green”

[Each item was first drawn by hand, then scanned in, resized, and arranged on the quarter template.]

A few months later, Governor Gregoire established the Washington State Quarter Advisory Commission, whose job it was to sift through the designs they had received, comb through narrative ideas submitted online, and come up with about five narrative designs to send to the US Mint for drafting. Once those drafts come back, Governor Gregoire will make the final pick.

The final narratives announced on October 4, 2005 actually include bits of what I have drawn above... however, I was a little surprised to see that none of the design suggestions include trees!

True, a couple narratives include apples (I tried to get the apple in my design, but it just wasn't happening), but for being the Evergreen State, I would have hoped for at least ONE tree!!!

Mice in the cones...

Greetings!

Thanks to two of our readers, we have a little information to supplement my post "Check out the size of those cones!" from October 07, 2005.

Here’s what the Arborealists have to say:

RMD tells us:

"…so in the little known facts department - the mice hanging out of the cones are brachts that are unique to Douglas Fir which really isn't a true fir. It's the common tree here in the lowlands [West of Cascades] that everyone calls fir but the scientific name is Psuedotsuga because the cone morphology is closer to Tsuga (Hemlocks). True firs are Abies - like the Alpine fir or the Grandfirs. In true firs the cones fall apart when they are ripe."

And many thanks to AND for filling in my memory gaps:

"If my memory serves me, the owl wanted to eat the mice & tricked them into in the cones by telling them that is where they'd be safe from the fire..."

Thanks guys!

And, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the Douglas Fir, here is a picture of a couple cones. Unfortunately, the closest Doug Firs are on the other side of the fence, and somehow I doubt the neighbors would believe that I was just collecting cones… so… this is a picture of an older cone specimen, likely from last year.

Big Sky

This photo (also taken at the Renton PO) made me think "big sky."

Years ago I worked with a gentleman who told me that he loved to travel to the coast. The reason, he explained, was because he was at his most creative by the coast. He went on to say that he wasn’t sure why that was, but he suspected that it had something to do with the "big sky."

It hadn’t ever occurred to me to think of a treeless space in terms of the "big sky."

That phrase stuck with me, and I remember thinking about the term "big sky" for days afterward. Also, as often happens to me, I learned that same week that Montana is the "big sky" state. Then I remembered something else: Eastgate.

Oh yeah, for anyone in Western Washington who is familiar with the I-90-hugging Eastgate, you know it’s not the most scenic of townships. However, I’ve seen some incredible and beautiful things in Eastgate, not the least of which are the trees located on my first college campus, the "University of Eastgate" (Bellevue Community College).

I remember on more than one occasion staring up at the "big sky" in Eastgate. I’ve seen outrageous sunrises, sunsets, moonrises, and moonsets. I have also seen some amazing cloud formations, including a cloud-woman kneeling while exhaling smoke, and a perfectly cubic cloud! No fooling! It was an ENORMOUS cube-shaped cloud, with NO other clouds in the sky.

Now I’m thinking that perhaps I should take a "field trip" to my ol’ stompin’ grounds, and take pictures of my favorite trees at BCC. I sure hope they’re all still there!

Red Doves

[Click on the picture to enlarge for ultimate viewing pleasure!]

Here's another from the Renton PO. This picture really impressed me when I took a look at it. I swear I can see those leaves and clouds moving! I mentioned that the leaves looked like birds in flight, and PAL called them "red doves," which I thought was most appropriate.

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood...

This honey is located in the parking lot of a post office in Renton, Washington. I just had to get your October Monday morning started off right!!

[Remember to click on photos for a larger image!]

Transcience

In light of the earthquake affecting people in the India-Pakistan-Kashmir regions, I would like to share the following:

Transcience by Sarojini Naidu http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/naidu01.html#2

Note: Transcience is the second poem on the page.

Second note: I had to look up ashoka. Here's a good picture that came from a quick google:

http://www.geocities.com/indiatrees/ashoka.jpg

Check out the size of those cones!

Good morning! Here's another picture of some trees in parking lot b. If you look closely, you can see all the swelling cones on this pair of gorgeous firs!

When I was about eight years old I took a field trip to a local park where we walked along trails with a guide. As usual, I drifted into my own thoughts, preferring to slip among the trees when no one was looking.

I did listen up long enough to hear the guide tell a couple folk tales about fir cones (seems as though she was trying to kill time). I remember somehow thinking that her stories were rather unconvincing (not the first time for me), but strangely, I’ve never quite forgotten the telling.

I can’t seem to find these stories online (at least not quickly), so here’s what I remember:

Back in the days of fairy tales the owl was the wisest in the forest. One day, a massive fire swept through the wood, and the frightened mice cried out, “Owl! What should we do?!” Owl told them to get the heck out of Dodge, and as usual, the mice didn’t listen. Instead, they climbed the nearest fir trees and hid inside the fir cones, hoping that the fire would pass them by. Their failure is evidenced by looking at a fir cone, where you’ll notice the bottom half of the mice hanging out from under the cone plates.

The second story had to do with deer… if you crack off the little cone plates, you can see deer tracks on the underside. Perhaps I half-heard the second bit on some other field trip during which I was lost in my own thoughts…

Was anyone else paying attention?

J'adore l'automne!

Here's a lovely shot from this morning in my back yard. You're looking at a big leaf maple who has finally started to turn her leaves.

I've got the clouds... Now I'm just waiting on the rain!

Half past midnight

I find working through the night to be both productive and inspiring.

Trees sans migraines

It must be great
to be a tree
who never has migraines
quite like me!

Well that didn't take long...

I received my first three spam comments already today! Goodness! Sorry folks, but I'm switching on the word verification feature. Since you stopped by, how about another piece from parking lot b?

Linda Lovisa - "Natural Transitions"

One of my current projects includes researching tree-related poetry, artwork, and other materials. What I gather will be used for a couple upcoming tree-related books.

In my search, I recently came across Linda Lovisa’s site with her series, “Natural Transitions.” I just can’t say enough about her work – you have to see it for yourself. Linda drew her inspiration for this series from her travels by canoe in the boreal forests of Canada.

PS – I found Linda Lovisa by way of another excellent artist, Hoka-shay-honaqut at BingoRage.

Good morning!

Thought you might like to see more of parking lot b! This is one of a few trees underwhich I habitually parked.

It was that easy

I recently graduated from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. My primary reason for choosing Evergreen was the trees (and of course, the creative approach to education).

On Sunday September 25th I returned to Evergreen for the first time in over a year to work with a former professor. I arrived an hour and a half early, snapping over 60 pictures as the sun came up over parking lot b.

How I adore Autumn in the Pacific Northwest!

Planting Time!

Greetings world, and welcome to our first entry! In case you didn't guess, we're going to be talking about trees.

If I can figure out the photo hosting, then you’ll get to see a different, beautiful tree each time I write.