Hidden Among the Trees – The Festival of the Trees 39

Welcome to Hidden Among the Trees, the 39th issue of The Festival of the Trees blog carnival. The Festival of the Trees is a periodic revelation of our findings and imaginings from trees, forests, gardens, backyards, orchards, and oases located in different parts of the world. Our purposes are connection, celebration, a sharing of knowledge.

This month I have invited people to seek out what is hidden (or lurking) among the trees, and share a glimpse of a secret with us. By inviting others to reveal a secret, a discovery, or a dream, it is my hope that we can illuminate hidden (or perhaps, merely forgotten) connections between each other and our world.




Discovering Solutions: Environmental Problem Solving

At the new blog An Exploration of Environment & Spirituality, Antioch University Seattle graduate student Laura is “delving deeper into the connection between humans and nature.” Her introductory post tells us:


“The basis of my inquiry is my understanding that traditional cultures, in general, understood that humans are part of nature, and that, as we know from the scientific field of ecology, all life is connected in an intricate web of interdependence.”


Like Laura, I believe that our perceived separateness from the rest of the world is a source of our current environmental woes. By seeing ourselves as connected not just with each other, but with all of the Earth’s systems, we position ourselves to problem solve from the new perspective of “part of” rather than “separate from.”





Keeping Secrets: Forested Mysteries


One of my first discoveries this month arrived via Pacific Northwest hiker and photographer Stacy Marie Davis. In May 2009 Davis discovered “Dirty Harry’s Truck,” a rusting ‘museum’ in the forests of the Cascades, which she announces online with an emphatic “Suck it Dirty Harry!” in the NWHikers.net discussion forums. As Davis explains, “To find it, you must earn it.” There is no clear trail to this abandoned remnant of escapades past. Davis’ Dirty Harry's Trail photoset on Flickr shares a glimpse of her findings, but clearly we aren’t getting the full picture. If we want to see it for ourselves, we would have to strap on the boots and start walking.


Among many explorers an unending debate grumbles as to whether secret places such as these should be kept hidden, or shared with others. My internet search for more of Dirty Harry’s Truck took me to the blog KarensTrails, and her post The Power of Secret Places. In this post, Karen Sykes carefully explores the sometimes heated argument about whether or not to share secret places. As an example she tells us about hidden lakes, cherished by the pilgrims who use their will, fortitude, and love of the forest to find these mystical waters.


Bloggers everywhere are partaking in this argument whether we consider it, or not. Each day we reveal online for the unnamed audiences of ephemeral internet archives what might normally stay hidden: our journals. Poet G. C. Waldrep tells us in Apologia Pro Vita Tua: “ […] In the best paintings some key figure is always missing. This is the magic behind both Vermeer and Delacroix. / In the forest, the key figure is never missing, only hiding. […]” Which invites us to consider: what secrets do we selectively keep to ourselves when we share our discoveries online? What stays hidden, left to the imagination?


NimrodCooper presents us with just such a scenario in “It escalated into a melancholy murder.” Here, with photo and few words, the artist shares the last days of the Shaker Tree. When you gaze at this picture, I invite you to alight on the memorial stone of the Watervliet Shaker Community, take a look around, and consider what you see. Are we the fools?



Sharing Secrets: A bird in the hand…



… is worth two in the bush. Or so the saying goes. The idea as I understand it is that it’s preferable to have some advantage, rather than mere possibilities of potential advantage. Perhaps more clearly stated: don’t be greedy when you can be thankful for what you’ve got.


For those among us who are willing to share, the “bird in the hand” is in fact something which can be released – a treasure to be set free for someone else to admire. This is the spirit of Ester Wilson’s blog Daily Drawings, where she reveals moments of her ever-evolving artistic portfolio. Included among her recent drawings is Stone Mountain Graveyard, a sketch of a tree which she states she drew while sitting in a graveyard.


If you’ve ever sat in a graveyard to reflect, or to speak to someone who has passed, you can identify how this small glimpse is so revealing. When I visit a graveyard, trees are often the way-markers to finding the people whose memorials I seek. Sometimes, those trees are the only breathing audience to what I need to say. Lubna Kably of The Writer’s Cyberslate knows this too, which is why she chooses to share her post, Remember Your Roots. Herein, Kably reveals two distinct moments of wisdom: first, the power of sharing a secret with a tree, and second, the need to emulate a tree as we grow and change throughout our lifetimes, as she states simply: “Always strive to stand tall, but remember your roots.”



Author Aimée Laine remembers her roots clearly in creating her short creative nonfiction piece Nature Girls. I was (ok, I AM) one of those girls running barefooted into the unknown. Laine artfully articulates the mystery, anticipation, and discovery to which the forest lends itself, complete with tree-bridge photo, inviting you to cross into another world.


Speaking of tree bridges, I am so thankful for this hidden treasure revealed at the Damn Cool Pics blog. In The Living Bridges post we are taken to Cherrapunji, India, where they grow bridges from the Ficus elastic tree:



“The War-Khasis, a local tribe, noticed this plant and realized its potential. Using hollowed-out betel nut trunks, the tribesmen are able to direct the roots in whatever way they like. When the roots grow all the way across a river, they are allowed to return to the soil, and over time, a strong bridge is formed. It takes up to 10-15 years for a root bridge to develop, but it becomes stronger with each passing year and are known to last for centuries.”



As if the pictures and descriptions aren’t cool enough, the ladies of the Travel and… Action! blog escort us across one of these bridges for a unique video-peek at a living root bridge. You can visit their blog to see yet another amazing bridge, this one a suspended length of bamboo in Arunachal Pradesh. (Bamboo isn’t a tree proper, but it grows a lot like one!)



Meanwhile at Walking Prescott of Prescott, Arizona, Granny J shares with us a glimpse of fortitude revealed in the gritty trees of the rocky ridgelines. As you gaze at these Herculean evergreens, it’s easy to lose yourself in the silence. What do these trees see and experience up there on the rock about which we can only dream?



Lost and Found: Memories, Discoveries, and Tree-Secrets


The trees which grow in our communities and local woodlands can have significant, personal impacts on our lives. In August 2009 a powerful, passing storm felled over 200 trees and destroyed hundreds more in Central Park of New York City. At The American Friend blog, native New Yorker Druidhead shares a personal glimpse at the trees she knew, the sanctuary they provided, the personal history she shared with them, and the memories she keeps of their branching shade.


Trees don’t just keep our whispered secrets, but they also hold secrets of their own. Using fossil records of ancient trees and contemporary records of modern forests, paleoclimatologists and paleobotanists consider correlations between dominant leaf morphology (e.g. shape, size, and margins like toothed, lobed, or entire/smooth) and climate patterns in different world regions. In dendroclimatological studies, scientists consider correlations of tree ring growth to climatological, ecological, and geological history. Jeff Id of The Air Vent blog muses in An Ode to the Great Thermometer Tree on the virtues of paleodendric secrets yet to be revealed.



Meteorological studies on the formation of clouds are important for current studies in climate change. At the Ozark Highlands of Missouri blog Allison Vaughn shares a press release on cloud seeding based on the research of Henrik Kjærgaard of the University of Copenhagen which reveals newly-discovered connections between the chemicals released by certain trees which, when concentrated over healthy forests, contribute to the formation of clouds. According to Kjærgaard, a better understanding of the processes that affect cloud formation is critical to the development of meaningful climate models.


At Machines Like Us, the editors are discussing current research on the colors of autumn leaves conducted on behalf of scientists Simcha Lev-Yadun of the University of Haifa-Oranim and Jarmo Holopainen of the University of Kuopio. Lev-Yadun and Holopainen look back 35 million years to theorize about the differences in yellows and reds of autumn leaf coloring as it relates to the shared evolutionary history among of insects, plants, and seasons.

At Osage + Orange, Dave Coulter provides The Local Report: A Hawthorne in Decline from the Des Plaines River in Illinois. Coulter’s post reminds us to engage in the simple act of looking and watching as we travel our daily paths – be they urban or rural – and make connections.


Denny Lyon at Beautiful Illustrated Quotations elongates the experience of observation through a collected series of tree photography and poetry in People Trees. Stroll through the imagery until you find something familiar – something which resonates, and then stop for a while and just look at what’s there in the photo.



Arati at Trees, Plants, and More muses on the Tropical Tree Tales of old squabbles between people and trees. And in case you were doubting the connections between people and trees, hop over to Jill and Ted’s Tree-mendous Adventure to see the secret truth revealed in response to the old question, Where do people come from?

Dave Bonta of Via Negativa is Listening for the Saw-Whet. And as further confirmation of the people-come-from-trees-theory, we see someone emerging from A Hollow Hemlock. Still my favorite discovery at Via Negativa this month is the lunar moth, a gorgeous member of the mystical Saturniiae; its hugeness and iridescence remind me of forest walks I took in Belize when I first saw the Blue Morpho butterflies.


Here at Arboreality, I wasn’t sure what secret I would share for this Festival. It was the forest which decided for me. In August I discovered my newest neighbors, the Secretive Summer Residents: Bald-Faced Hornets in the Backyard. These busy insects are hidden in the branches just a few meters from my home, and I can watch them work from a safe distance.



Amber Coakley at the Birder’s Lounge blog shares a discovery which (unlike wasps) you can safely touch, taste, and smell: the Texas Persimmon Tree. It’s not just people who like this fruit, but birds as well.

At Rock Paper Lizard Hugh is also paying careful attention to the local birds, and the fruits they love. Hugh shows us The Young and the Handsome Cedar waxwings, and discovers an attentive Mother bird, a White-crowned sparrow, whose nest has been usurped by the Brown-headed cowbird. Among the neighborhood trees of Vancouver, British Columbia, Hugh reports that Frugivores are Happy.





Not a Secret: Human-Forest Connections Revealed


Discussions regarding human relationships with the Earth's systems (such as forest conservation, habitat destruction, ecological restoration, and climate change) are raised by scientists, politicians, environmentalists, and concerned citizens on all sides of the issues. These topics can remain (or become) “hidden” when they are not discussed, shared, and understood.

In South Wales Jennifer Marohasy believes that Red Gum Forests Need Water and Thinning: Not Bob Carr, while India and Pakistan seem to be neck-and-neck competing for the common goal of a Guinness World Record for tree-planting.

In an attempt to resolve the ongoing human-elephant conflicts, members of the Green Valley Forest and Wildlife Protection Society are supporting efforts to plant trees along the Indo-Bhutan border. The goal is to help reestablish important elephant corridors in order to mitigate their need to search for food in human settlements.


Audrey Rabalais at College Green Magazine reports on current efforts to restore the American chestnut tree in southeastern Ohio.


“At one time, the American chestnut made up roughly 25 percent of trees in the forests of the eastern United States and about 5 percent of Ohio’s forests. In 1904 the fungus Diaporthe parasitica was accidentally introduced to the Bronx Zoo in New York City through chestnut lumber imported from China. The parasitic fungus caused sores to develop in American chestnut trees, killing them slowly. By the early 1940s, the American chestnut was nearly extinct.”


The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) and the American Chestnut Foundation (ACF) support the planting of American chestnut throughout the region. As a fast-growing hardwood, it is believed that American chestnuts are an especially good choice for reforestation efforts, such as those planned for reclaimed mining locations.


LookAtVietnam discusses the need to support healthy growth in the region’s mangrove forests. Mangroves are slow-growing coastal trees which provide habitat for numerous creatures of air, land, and sea while simultaneously protecting coastlines from erosion.


In Malaysia, the Indigenous Peoples Organizations are speaking out for a moratorium on monoculture plantations. Chris Lang reports at PULP, Inc. that on August 9, 2009, the UN-declared international holiday of World Indigenous Peoples Day, the indigenous Malaysians submitted a statement to their governments which includes the following:

“ […] Over the past decades, our indigenous communities have faced a turbulent survival as a result of our forest being continuously exploited by the timber companies. Logging have destroyed our fundamental existence to livelihood, the plant varieties including medicinal plants, animals and fish have either become threatened or extinct. The bulldozed forests cannot be planted with crops as the soil is compacted and disturbed; crop harvests are reduced and rivers on which the people depend on for water becomes polluted. Forest produce becomes scarce and threatens the survival of the people who have depended on it for hundreds of years. […] ”


I would submit that while this problem is felt most acutely by the indigenous peoples of the world, that it is relevant for all humans. For those of us living in urban or semi-urban settings, the impacts of environmental destruction by humans may not be as immediate or as visible. This does not make the issues less relevant. The impacts of forest destruction do not pause at political boundaries, societal classes, or religious affiliations. It is critical that we consider the wisdom of the indigenous peoples who can tell us first-hand, “Hey everybody, this isn’t working!”

From suburban America, Lucille Clifton drives this message home during a 1990 poetry reading of her piece The Killing of the Trees posted at Moving Poems. Watch, listen, and consider: collected in this blog carnival are a mere handful of articles, essays, stories, images, and thoughts which reflect the deep connections shared among humans and the Earth’s systems. How much more evidence do we collectively need to examine before the health of our environments becomes personally relevant for all of us?



If you would like to continue the discussion of the human-forest connection, I invite you to visit Laura’s blog mentioned at the beginning of this month’s Festival of the Trees. Among her early posts Laura shares a glimpse into a discussion she facilitated this summer among pagans in the Seattle area. Some participants mention the struggle to connect with “nature” while living in an urban setting. Laura’s approach to this issue is to find avenues by which the separateness of “nature” can be dissolved to reveal the connectedness of life on Earth.



Regardless of where you live, or what system by which you form your beliefs about the world, each of us has something to share in both thought and action to cultivate a healthy relationship between people and planet. We are all housed under the same sky, wash ourselves with the same water, breathe the same molecules of life-giving oxygen, sustain ourselves with the fruits and roots of the worlds’ plants. The natural world is not out of reach: it is everywhere, it is in us, it is of us. This isn’t a secret; share it with the world!

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Acknowledgments

Thank you for joining us this month for the 39th issue of The Festival of the Trees. Special thanks to all our contributors, and to Dave Bonta for his many submissions of found treasures in the arborblogging world.

Thanks to D. L. Ennis of Visual Thoughts Photography (http://dlennis.wordpress.com) for the use of his photo Wise Old Owl, Copyright © 2009 D. L. Ennis. Visit Visual Thoughts for more of D. L. Ennis' colorful perspective of the green, growing world.

All other photos in this issue by Jade Leone Blackwater, Copyright © 2009 Jade Leone Blackwater.

Dinosaur photos taken in October 2008 at the Prehistoric Gardens located off of Highway 101 in Oregon State.


Upcoming Issue of The Festival of the Trees

For the 40th issue of The Festival of the Trees we return to Local Ecologist with Georgia, who asks us to submit entries on the theme of “Benefits of trees to people, wildlife, and the environment in general.”

Deadline for submissions to The Festival of the Trees 40 is Saturday, September 26, 2009. Send tree-related blog posts, images, video, and other online discoveries to: info[at]localecology[dot]org .


Ready to host The Festival of the Trees at your blog? We are seeking volunteers for upcoming Festivals. To learn more, visit The Festival of the Trees coordinating blog.

TEDxSeattle - Biome: Dancing to Save the Trees with Nalini Nadkarni

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You all know about my recent work with Dr. Nalini Nadkarni during the creation of her latest book, Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees. We've shared an interview with Nalini Nadkarni here at Arboreality, and we've talked a little about her work with Capacitor; now it is my pleasure to share the following press release:

For Immediate Release / Contact: Jodi Lomask
jodi [at] capacitor [dot] org
photos: http://www.capacitor.org/press/biome/

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In the spirit of ideas worth spreading,
the TED conference has joined forces with Capacitor Performance Group for

TEDxSeattle – Biome
"striking theatre…" – The New Yorker

"a creative force." -- The Village Voice, Critic's Choice

"uncanny precision." -- Nature Magazine

From the rainforest of Costa Rica to the Northwest floods of 2009, Capacitor is set to debut 'biome' in Seattle. After the May 30 show, Capacitor will host a special presentation of TEDxSeattle- bringing together today's leading thinkers on conservation to present ideas worth spreading. Exciting talks with be given by Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, lead scientific advisor for the 'biome' project and Jodi Lomask, Capacitor’s Artistic Director along with Seward Park Audubon Center, The Nature Conservancy, the Pacific Science Center, and others.

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The Leo K Theater (Seattle Repertory Center)155 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109

*Biome:
An exploration of yearning and desire in the natural world


Fri, May 29, 2009, 8:00pm
Sat, May 30, 2009, 8:00pm

Special presentation of TEDxSeattle after 'biome', May 30, 2009 at 9:30pm, Free

In the world of ‘biome’ everything is interconnected in a cycle of growth providing a portal into our own motivations and impulses. ‘biome’ explores human connections to the natural world while inspiring wonderment about the delicate ecosystems that lie within the heart of our increasingly fragile world. The show was conceived with world renowned ecologists on top 200ft tall Douglas fir trees in Washington State and Giant Strangler Figs deep in the Costa Rica Monteverde Cloud Forest. Special post show event with local and national conservation groups.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75toO6TcOV4&feature=related

Presented by the Audubon Society and Toyota Green and sponsored by
The National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society

ticket prices: $25 presale; $15 students and seniors
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/57559/

* Performance contains some nudity


TEDxSeattle
Lobby reception with wine and light refreshments
Sat, May 30, 2009, 9:30pm- FREE

TEDx is a program of local, self organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and personal connections. The goal of TEDxSeattle is to increase conservation awareness and participation in a fun, interactive setting. Guest speakers will include 2009 TED presenters: the Queen of Canopy research, Dr. Nalini Nadkarni and ‘biome’ Artistic Director, Jodi Lomask. The Seward Park Audubon Center, the Nature Conservancy, the Pacific Science Center, and other environmental groups will provide additional talks, education and outreach activities.


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About Capacitor

Capacitor is a performance arts group renowned for collaborating with the scientific community to create mind-expanding, heart-gripping live shows. Jodi Lomask is the Artistic Director and a fearless explorer of science through movement. Jodi was featured in this year's TED conference along side Bill Gates, Elizabeth Gilbert (Author, “Eat, Pray, Love”), Tim Berners-Lee (Inventor, World Wide Web) and others.

Biome premiered in El Salvador in 2007 with sponsorship from the American Embassy, Campos Art Group, Delta Airlines, and Hilton Hotels. The show has tour nationally and internationally. http://www.capacitor.org/

About Dr. Nalini Nadkarni

Dr. Nalini Nadkarni is a Professor of Ecology at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA and the President of the International Canopy Network (ICAN)- devoted to facilitating the continuing interaction of people concerned with forest canopies and forest ecosystems around the world. Nalini was featured in the 2001 Emmy Award winning documentary, National Geographic’s tropical forest canopies, "Heroes of the High Frontier" and the author of “Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees”. A video of “Unveiling the beautiful, fragile world of rainforest treetop ecosystems” is available. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/476

About TEDx, x=independently organize event

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. The TED conference is an annual event where the world’s leading thinkers and doers are invited to share an idea worth spreading. “TED” stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design — three broad subject areas that are, collectively, shaping our future. The diverse audience — CEOs, scientists, creatives, philanthropists — is almost as extraordinary as the speakers, who have included Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Frank Gehry, Paul Simon, Sir Richard Branson, Philippe Starck and Bono. www.TED.com

About TogetherGreen

TogetherGreen will invest in both promising environmental projects and outstanding leaders that can shape a brighter tomorrow. Along with Innovation Grants to be awarded each year, TogetherGreen funds and promotes conservation leadership training and volunteer programs designed to equip and engage diverse groups and individuals to take action today to shape a healthier tomorrow. Information on other grantees, along with opportunities to get involved in conservation efforts, showcase successful initiatives, and honor those who are making a difference, can be found at www.TogetherGreen.org

Feature Interview: Nalini Nadkarni

Today it is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, author of Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees. Nalini is a professor at the Evergreen State College and an accomplished forest ecologist with over 25 years of experience conducting research in tropical and temperate rainforests. Her specialty is the upper reaches of the forest: the canopy. You can learn more about her work at the International Canopy Network (ICAN).

JLB - Nalini, welcome to Arboreality! Thank you for taking some time out of your busy schedule to chat with us.

If you don’t mind, I’d like to start with a little background. Please tell us, when / how did the idea for Between Earth and Sky first sprout? What motivated you to wrap your arms around such an enormous subject as the connections between trees and people?

NMN - In some ways, I have been thinking about this book since I was a young girl climbing trees in her back yard. In fact, I wrote a “self-published book” when I was 12 years old on tree-climbing, called “Be Among the Birds”. I produced only one copy! I grew up with a deep love of trees and nature, and chose to pursue the academic of forest ecology to deepen my understanding trees. Along the way, however, I recognized the power of poetry, literature, and art to convey important ideas, and so I incorporated them into my book. The actual launch, however, took place when I was teaching an interdisciplinary class at The Evergreen State College, called “Trees and Humans”, in which my students and I explored the many relationships between humans and people in a systematic way. I realized that although it is an enormous subject, as you say, if I could organize it and synthesize it, it might be a good contribution to the existing literature on trees and their conservation.

JLB - What were your original goals when you set out to create Between Earth and Sky? Now that the book is complete, have your goals for the book changed?

NMN - My original goals were to create a book that crosses disciplinary boundaries to document the many ways humans and trees interact. Initially, I conceived it as a book rich in content, with facts and figures that would “convince” readers that trees are important and worthy of being conserved. However, as the work progressed, I realized that I needed to give myself permission to move from a strictly “facts” base orientation and instead tell stories about trees, about people and trees, and most of all, about my own life in order to be more effective in my goal of moving people toward mindfulness.

JLB - Of all the research and outreach that contributed to this book, could you tell us what were the biggest, or most unexpected bits of learning that you personally took away from the project?

NMN - The most important thing I learned was about my own motivation to understand and protect trees. As I wrote the book, collected stories, and examined my own connections to trees, I realized that it was my childhood interactions that have most contributed to my sense of wanting to protect them. As I describe in the very first chapter, when I was a young girl, I found that trees were places where I felt safe and protected from the bewildering world of grownups. They were my refuge. Over the course of my forest ecology career, working in trees on four continents, I am fully aware of how much trees need protection and refuge from humans. That, I now realize, is the motivation for my drive to protect trees – not only their huge importance in maintaining stable climate, a supply of oxygen, and biodiversity.

I know you’re a smart cookie with extensive scientific knowledge (and a vocabulary to match). How have you crafted your book to be more interesting and accessible than an “academic tome”?

The process of making my writing more accessible was a difficult one! I have been writing scientific articles and books and speaking to academic audiences for over two decades, so that is the “default mode” I fall into when I write. I had to be very conscious about writing on a more personal and conversational level without falling into the trap of being either too sappy or too sloppy. One critical piece of the process of writing the book was to have many eyes pass over it in the form of a generous set of readers who could point out the parts that fell into the pedantic or the maudlin before I sent material to the editor.

JLB - What were your favorite parts of this project? Are there any sections of this book which are most dear to your heart?

NMN - Although the writing of the book had its times of frustration, loneliness, tedium, and low confidence, there were many high points. I loved the creative moments when an idea from a scientific work about some aspect of trees would be echoed in a contemporary poem, or when I made an original connection or metaphor that really worked. I very much enjoyed the doing of the work with my collaborators and editors (particularly Jade!), who helped in finding and sending pieces of information my way. I enjoyed getting a previously intractable sentence “just right”. I loved hearing the tree stories people would offer me when they learned about the topic of the book. The section of the book I enjoyed writing most was about trees and symbolism, as I learned so much about how central tree symbolism is in so many cultures, which indicates the importance of trees themselves.

What were your biggest challenges in creating this book? Are there any sections that you want to develop for a second edition (or volume)?

My biggest challenges was in organizing it all. There is a HUGE volume of information, facts and figures, images, and stories about trees. Perhaps more than any other part of nature (maybe rivers and mountains are on a par), trees have evoked thinking and writing and art. I struggled with filtering out what seemed the most interesting and compelling, but still feel insecure that I have left critical pieces out. I would like to work more with trees as inspiration for art – music, visual art, poetry, literature. That would be a logical follow up, not only to enumerate the pieces of art that have been inspired by trees, but also what those products tell us about the nature of the relationship between trees and people.

Now that Between Earth and Sky has its first chance to speak to an audience, what are your hopes? What do you most want readers to take away from this book?

My hope is that after readers finish this book, they will say, wow, I had no idea that trees are so cool, so important, so beautiful, so fascinating. I want them to recall trees that have been important to them in their youth and in their adulthood from all parts of their life. I want them to walk down an urban street and say, hey, look at the body language of that tree, what was its past? I want them to climb a tree when they are feeling scared or sad, and then feel braver and not so sad. I want them to become mindful of all of the things that trees provide, and to become mindful of all of the things we must provide trees.

As the concept of sustainability slowly enters the public consciousness and conversation, how do you see Between Earth and Sky as contributing to the discussion?

I believe that my book is a direct and powerful participant in the concept of sustainability, as it is growing into our society. The book is essentially a document about conservation about one of the best ambassadors to nature – trees. The ultimate objective is to instill a sense of mindfulness about the importance of trees and forests – the lungs of our Earth. What logically follows once mindfulness is aroused is a sense of stewardship and conservation, which are both bulwarks of sustainability.

You perform a tremendous amount of outreach work which connects you with the public and the community, both local and global. What are the most important benefits that you have expected and experienced from these efforts? How have those experiences shaped your latest book?

What I have learned from my outreach activities to diverse public audiences such as prisoners, poets, legislators, urban youth, Inuits, and modern dancers, is that I learn as much about trees and forests from them as I teach. They see the world – and trees – in different ways, with fresh perspectives, and that in turns wakes up my own eyes and brain from its entrenched past approaches. I believe that this is a theme that emerged in my book. I constantly described the different ways of seeing trees that I garnered from other audiences, with fresh metaphors and analogies. I have a proclivity to do that in everyday life, but by consciously opening the door and inviting in these new guests, I was able to see the forest and the trees in new ways, and to present those to my readers.

What’s the next step for you? I know you’re a veritable whirlwind of ideas and activity. Has Between Earth and Sky inspired any “branch-off” projects?

My next steps are to sit and listen for a while, instead of speak. I want to hear reactions and questions that emerge from readers from this book. I will also be forging ahead on science projects in the temperate rainforest canopy, to keep my scientific brain engaged, as well as moving forward on the collaborative research and sustainability projects with prisoners that has now gained substantial funding from the Department of Corrections. I am currently raising funds to go on a national tour with a modern dance company to perform “biome” a dance about the rainforest inspired by joint time in my study sites. All of these will continue to provide a rich milieu to better understand the relationship between trees and people. My ultimate hope is to establish a project called “1000 Voices of Nature”, in which I gather multiple voices of scientists, artists, children, and others from all over the world to document the importance of trees and nature to humans, and in so doing, to make a strong case for its protection.

Where can readers find you for book signings and events?

I will be signing books in major independent bookstores in the Pacific Northwest in August and September 2009: Portland (Powell’s); Bellingham (Village Books); Seattle (Seattle Town Hall, Elliott Bay), and Olympia (Orca Books).

Nalini, thank you again for the opportunity to discuss Between Earth and Sky at Arboreality, and to learn a little more about your goals and projects. You’re the type of scientist AND artist to whom we can all “look up”!

Thanks!

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To learn more about Dr. Nalini Nadkarni's work, be sure to explore the following:

Dr. Nalini Nadkarni - Homepage

Research Ambassadors

Join us to discuss Between Earth and Sky on Facebook!

To meet Nalini at an upcoming book signing event, visit one of these fine bookstores:

Powell's Books

August 21, 2008

7:30pm

1005 W. Burnside, Portland, OR 97209

Powell's Events - Between Earth and Sky, Nalini Nadkarni

Village Books

September 3, 2008

7:00pm

1210 11th Street, Bellingham, WA 98225

Village Books Events - Between Earth and Sky, Nalini Nadkarni

University Bookstore

September 30, 2008

7:30pm

Town Hall Seattle, Downstairs, 1119 8th Avenue, Seattle, 98105

University Bookstore Events - Between Earth and Sky, Nalini Nadkarni

(Sponsored by Town Hall Seattle and University Book Store. Admission is $5 at the door.)

Orca Books

October 2, 2008

7:00pm

509 4th Ave E, Olympia, WA 98501

Orca Books Events - Between Earth and Sky, Nalini Nadkarni

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All photographs used in this article are © Copyright 2008 Nalini M. Nadkarni. Do not use without permission.

Between Earth and Sky cover image is © Copyright 2008 University of California Press. Do not use without permission.

Festival of the Tress 26 Now Online at Fox Haven Journal

I am pleased to announce that the Festival of the Trees issue 26 is now available online at Beau’s Fox Haven Journal. Beau has created an excellent collection of posts which help us all see the world with fresh eyes and from fresh perspectives. Take some time this weekend to explore the woods!

The Festival of the Trees (FotT) is a monthly blog carnival which has been published for over two years featuring posts about trees, forests, wood, conservation, and environment. FotT is always seeking submissions and blog hosts. Visit the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog for submission information or to volunteer to host a future festival.

During Arboreality’s recent hiatus we missed announcements for the following issues of the Festival of the Trees:

FotT Issue 22 – Árvores Vivas em Nossas Vidas by Juliana

FotT Issue 23 – 10,000 Birds by Mike

FotT Issue 24 – Wrenaissance Reflections by Wren

FotT Issue 25 – Earth, Wind, and Water by Tai Haku


That should keep you busy! This weekend I’ll be reading my copy of Nalini Nadkarni’s Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees. Stay tuned for the book review and author interview coming up this August.

New Book Release by Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees

At long last, Dr. Nalini Nadkarni’s book Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees (UC Press, July 2008) is now available for purchase. I had the unique pleasure of assisting Dr. Nadkarni in the preparation of this book, and I look forward to sharing more about her work here at Arboreality.

First up, I’ll be reviewing her book, and following that I hope to take a few minutes of Nalini’s time for a brief interview. There’s no need to wait for me however: I can tell you right now that this is an outstanding book derived from Nalini’s own willingness to ask new questions, and search for answers in both the obvious and the obscure. Grab a copy and give it a read!

Want to see more about Nalini Nadkarni's recent work? Check out the video special "Green Prison Reform" from KCTS9.

UN Climate Change Conference in Bali

While you’re waiting on my Christmas tree post, I encourage you take a few moments to visit ClimateProtect.org.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is underway in Bali, and tomorrow, Friday December 14, 2007, Al Gore will be addressing the conference.

As a part of his presentation, Al Gore will be sharing the plethora of signatures collected at ClimateProtect.org which support Al Gore’s visionary treaty addressing the current issues of climate change, wherein

“[he] will urge the delegates in Bali to adopt a bold mandate for a treaty that establishes a universal global cap on emissions and uses the market in emissions trading to efficiently allocate resources to the most effective opportunities for speedy reductions.”

I encourage you to hop over to ClimateProtect.org and add your name to the petition. The health of the Earth and her environments is also our health as humans. Regardless of our personal philosophies, we all share a common ground on the Earth. There is no one right answer, but we can all be a part of the discussion.

Thanks Joanna for passing the word!

Book Review: The Curious Gardener’s Almanac

The Curious Gardener’s Almanac: Centuries of Practical Gardening Wisdom, by Niall Edworthy

The book for today’s review was provided by: Perigee Books, Penguin Group (USA)

At Arboreality I like to share the joy of discovery by bringing you glimpses of the trees and plants in my corner of the world. Niall Edworthy echoes this spirit with his new book, The Curious Gardener’s Almanac: Centuries of Practical Gardening Wisdom.

In his introduction, Edworthy attempts to wrap his arms around this book and explain the “what” and the “why” to little avail. Perhaps I can lend him a hand: this book is itself a garden.

The Curious Gardener’s Almanac is essentially a book of happenstance. As in a garden, you wander the pages and find yourself distracted by flowers of thought here, nuts of wisdom there, and all the while cognizant of the dark earth that engenders such a wealth of gardening wisdom.

Rather than chapters of how-to’s and when’s, Edworthy’s pages are filled with bits of poems, quotations, advice, facts, proverbs, and parables. Edworthy is not a condescending gardening guru, but like so many of us, he is a man with a basic curiosity about his garden, learning literally from the ground up.

As a self-taught gardener, I giggled with recognition when he explained the most unfortunate fate of his onions: rotted to death when left out to dry… in the rain. Those of us who did not grow up with gardens typically lack the innate wisdom of how to manage a thriving garden. What Edworthy shares with us is that not only is this wisdom not lost upon us, but that we can all find a spot of green on our thumbs if we just keep shoving it into the dirt.

Creating a garden is never an instant transformation – nor should it be. In Edworthy’s introduction he confesses, “The first year in the vegetable patch was a perfect disaster—I just scattered a variety of seeds over it, expecting it to turn into the Garden of Eden by the end of summer, like it does on the TV.”

Therein lies the deepest wisdom of all: gardening is never a process to be finished. It is an ongoing process of learning and growth of which we gardeners, proficient and novice, are a part. Edworthy’s book includes accessible advice on gardening in each season. I found it refreshing that he includes information both contemporary (like why you don’t need to water your lawn), and traditional (like companion planting and uses for herbs).

This book is like a happy little backyard garden: tangible, unassuming, nourishing, and meaningful. The Curious Gardener’s Almanac is not a reference book—it is a book of discovery. Flip through its pages, and what you’ll find is a chorus of shovels and rakes, plucking at the earth to see what comes up.

Earth Day at Arboreality: Go Green Part II

Green Products and Services

We're celebrating Earth Day at Arboreality by sharing thoughts about a greener lifestyle. Yesterday we talked about some of the (many) terms used today to inform consumers about the "green" qualities of goods and services. Today, I'd like to talk about green goods and services more specifically.

Buying green isn’t just about a fashion trend, it’s about that consumer awareness I mentioned in yesterday's segment on Green Terminology. Consumer awareness speaks to a knowledge of what you’re purchasing, where it comes from, and how it affects you and the planet Earth from conception through creation, right down to its end-use.

While some of this knowledge inevitably comes from our own legwork and desire TO KNOW, a little word-of-mouth never hurts! So in that spirit, allow me to share a few places where I like shop online for organic, green, local, socially-responsible, fair-trade, and otherwise Earth-friendly products.

I am a woman who does not like to shop. Living far from natural markets makes "green shopping" even more of a challenge. Consequently, I do as much shopping online as possible. One added benefit of online shopping is the increased availability of product information. The shops below frequently include product details such as "green" attributes, fair trade information, and artist information.

Kokopelli’s Green Market
I started shopping at Kokopelli’s several years ago. I was looking for a place to purchase natural, biodegradable household products like soaps, toilet paper, and organic oils. This is important to me because I frequently live somewhere remote and off-the-beaten path, so not only are natural products scarce, but buying in bulk helps significantly reduce repeat shops.

Kokopelli’s is one of my regular one-stop stock-shops. This is where I get earth-friendly palm wax votives, incense, coffee, tp, paper towels, oils, shampoo, and soap. This is where I buy Bi-O-Kleen dish soap and laundry soap in bulk, and any Earth Friendly or ECOVER cleansers I need to stock up on. When I feel like spending more than I should, I can find all kinds of toiletries, hand-crafted goodies, and sweet-smelling oils to make my wallet groan in bittersweet acquiescence.

Mountain Rose Herbs

Now here’s a place that came highly recommended to me. I’ve got a list a mile long of all the good things I want from Mountain Rose Herbs! Bulk organic herbs, oils, clays, and other goodies include just about everything you need to make your potions and concoctions.

In the Garden: Seeds of Change and Planet Natural

Seeds of Change (in case you’ve never listened to NPR) is a company offering a wide variety of organic and non-GMO products. I use Seeds of Change for my garden seed purchases. Heirloom and organic varieties provide beautiful, earth-conscious yields.

Planet Natural is my other organic gardening stop online. They offer a variety of garden products such as natural pesticides and gardening additives, as well as literature for more specific garden needs. And of course, as if I needed additional temptation, they also have a beautiful collection of seeds and beneficial insects.
Organic Bouquet
In the US we’re observing Administrative Professionals Week (or “Secretary’s Day” if you’re old school like me) this month. Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and who are we kidding anyways? We all like to get flowers! (Yes, even the bitter old Betties who think that cut flowers aren’t nearly as nice as something still alive and growing).

The floral industry, like many other agricultural industries, relies heavily on pesticides and other synthetics for maximum yields. If you want a green option to your flower-giving, I absolutely insist you check out Organic Bouquet. They have beautiful flowers, a wonderful selection, excellent customer service, and a slick, easy-to-use website to boot.

Organic Bouquet doesn’t just stop with organic flowers. If you take some time to review their site, you will learn that they work with growers whose business practices include sound, environmentally-friendly agriculture, and just as importantly: social responsibility.

Rawganique

I love natural fibers and clothing. Even better are fibers that are organic, and which have been cultivated, harvested, spun, fabricated, and sold using socially-responsible business practices.

Rawganique offers an ever-growing selection of organic, natural-fiber clothing for women, men, and children. Among my favorites are their organic cotton socks, hemp t-shirts, and hemp yoga pants. Their organic cotton and hemp towels are fantastic – I can’t tell you how much I love them. Rawganique also offers a variety of other products (and books) for home and hearth.

Gifts and Other Pretty Things: Uncommon Goods (*link removed by request in 2017, because Google is not always smart*) and NOVICA

Uncommon Goods offers a variety of gifts from the novelty to the fine art, which includes something for every wallet, and every taste. Usually I poke around and find that "one thing" somewhere that really grooves for gift giving. Some of the products at Uncommon Goods support fair trade, independent artists, and use a variety of recycled materials.

NOVICA is somewhere I go to look and oogle at all the many lovely things, but rarely have the budget to purchase. They have GORGEOUS, handcrafted items for sale from all around the world. You can read about individual artisans and their craft with each product.

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Yes, yes, yes… there are many others, but these include a few of the greats, the tried-and-tested, and the clearly unique.

While it’s easy to see that these products are sometimes more costly, the reason why is even more important to recognize. The additional costs are intended to support and sustain green and fair trade business. Fair wages, organic agriculture, and social responsibility all require just a little bit more from each of us to make a huge difference in the way we engage with the providers of our goods and services.

If you’re like me and working on a budget, I suggest you do as I do: buy what you can according to your budget, and prioritize what "green goods" are most important to you.

Please feel welcome to share all your favorite green, socially-responsible, and otherwise world-friendly goods and services, available online or in your local area. Shine the spotlight on your favorite green businesses, artisans, craftspeople, and growers!

I'd like to wrap up with this thought: you DO NOT have to spend money to go green. Part 3 of our series will share a small assortment of green people, projects, and ideas to help inspire you. A change in mindset can have a far greater impact on the world than shopping bag ever could.

Going green isn't about the label on your shirt, or the sticker on your banana - it's about being conscious of your relationship with the Earth. If you're not too sure where to start... go ask a tree!

Earth Day at Arboreality: Go Green Part I

With Earth Day shining on the horizon, the advent of the “Step it up campaign,” and increasing movements in communities worldwide to improve our relationships with the Earth, I thought this would be a convenient time to connect you with some of the great, green businesses, people, projects, and ideas I know, enjoy, and respect.

Today I wrote up a post for you, and then realized it was six pages long. (Doh!) Considering that I have other exciting tree-things to talk about this week, I’ve broken it up into three parts to be published over the next couple days:

Earth Day at Arboreality: Go Green

1) Green Terminology
2) Green Products and Services
3) Green People, Projects, and Ideas

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Green Terminology

We’re going to start with Green Terminology today, because while I didn’t originally write my ideas in this order, I think it makes the most sense to start here.

“Buying green” is becoming fashionable in everything from power for our homes to food for our pets, but for those who did not grow up with a mom who shopped the co-op (hi Mom!), you may not know where to begin when you want to find quality green products that you’ll actually enjoy swapping into your life.

Here at Arboreality, we care about not just the trees, but all the other systems with which they connect. Forests don’t exist in a vacuum. All the choices we make affect the forests and other world biomes. Building an awareness of how and where our goods come from helps us to become conscious consumers. Making conscious choices as consumers affects our ability to protect the world’s diverse environments through informed decisions.

It's tough to make informed decisions with the virtual jungle of "green terminology" to which we pay so much lip service. Every day there seems to be a new, multi-word adjective describing another “green quality” ascribed to a given product.

There’s a good reason for this: consumer awareness is still evolving. So is consumerism. Some of the growing awareness of human effects on the environment is motivating change in the way the world manufactures goods. However, change takes a lot of time (and plenty of rough drafts).

As new terminology evolves, it’s important to take the time to learn what each term means, how (if at all) those terms are enforced by any sort of standards, and why they even matter to you.

Here are a few terms that are important to me as a consumer. I have included my own basic understanding of what they mean. Please feel welcome to share more terms, and/or supplement/revise what I have presented.

Organic – Speaking in generalities only, the term organic means that a given product has been cultivated without the use of synthetic chemicals.

The term organic (as it applies to consumer goods) has been evolving for decades, and unfortunately it’s not quite as cut and dry as the above statement. Today we can find a lot of debate over what the “spirit” of organic means, versus the actual application of organic in our agricultural industries. To learn more about how the organic label is used and what it signifies, check out the USDA National Organic Program homepage as a starting point, or google your region's organic standards.

(Buy) Local – I made mention of the “spirit” of organic. Well, that’s getting back to the co-op days of my childhood. Some of the original impetus behind organics began with the civil rights and youth movements of the mid-20th-century. This era inspired many people to take a long, hard look at the world around them, and consider how things might be better.

If you subscribe to the notion of “organic” as more of a way of being than an attribute like color, weight, and volume, then you can understand how organic refers to a way of living that works with the Earth’s natural processes, rather than against them. From this we get the “buy Local” slogan. The "organics consumer line" has grown so rapidly that not all consumers have had enough time to come up to speed on the spirit of the thing. What good does an organic apple do the Earth if it has to travel 5,000 miles (consuming oil for transportation along the way) in order for that apple to find its way to my fruit bowl?

It’s a really simple idea that our ancestors never even had to think about. (In fact, they’d probably think you’d had one too many if you were to suggest that a fruit from halfway around the world was in any way better than the one grown a few kilometers away).

Buy local is just that: support local growers, farmers, artisans, craftspeople, and businesses by purchasing goods made as close to home as possible. Forget about radius and seatmiles and unfair practices for a moment; get out into your community and see what’s growin’ on. Give to your community by supporting your community.

Fair Trade – Fair trade is another term that is at least simple in concept if not application: it’s about trading fairly with the people who cultivate, construct, and curate our goods and services. It’s about ensuring that all the people involved in bringing me my shade-grown, organic coffee beans are paid fairly for all their hard work, and are able to make a good living for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Social Responsibility – Fair trade and social responsibility go hand in hand. As capitalism has evolved, businesses have changed their relationships with their employees. Social responsibility is a practice anyone can subscribe to: it’s a common sense thing about giving a hoot as to what’s happening to your neighbor, whether s/he lives down the street, or Down Under.

Socially responsible businesses take a measure of responsibility for their employees, their communities, and their consumers. For example, some socially-responsible businesses ensure that their employees have safe working conditions, company-sponsored healthcare, schools, and day cares, and adequate time off for personal and medical leave.

Earth/Environmentally-Friendly – These are perhaps slightly older, and less-concrete terms, but they are also self-describing. A product or service which could reasonably consider itself to be Earth and/or environmentally friendly does not have negative side effects on the Earth’s plants, animals, people, biomes, or systems (or anything in between).

Biodegradable – One common attribute of Earth/environmentally-friendly products is biodegradability. This means that something breaks down freely in the environment into non-toxic constituents within a reasonable amount of time. This is an ESPECIALLY important quality of soaps, cleansers, and other household “chemicals.” Some simple biodegradable cleansers aren’t even marketed as such: vinegar, salt, baking soda, lemon juice, and yes, water are all simple biodegradable products usually found in the kitchen or baking goods aisle of your nearest grocery store. (Just say no to chlorine!) They clean like a charm, and they're affordable too.

Made from/with Recycled Materials – Simple, elegant, and self-explanatory. The more recycled material in a product, the less volume there is piling up in a trash heap or a landfill somewhere. Recycled materials are found in all sorts of products. Look for them!

Eco-harvested – Eco-harvesting is a slightly more ambiguous term, but it’s pretty easy to understand. Eco-harvesting means that a product is cultivated and harvested in a way that is Earth and environmentally friendly, especially with relationship to the space of Earth where a product is cultivated. For example, eco-harvested lumber comes from companies using sustainable forestry practices, successive harvests and replantings, and/or giving careful attention to the both the immediate and the long-term environmental impacts of their agribusiness. In other words - sustainable.

Shade-Grown Coffee – Shade-grown coffee is an important one to mention because so many of us drink coffee. In case you thought coffee came from the coffee fairy, coffee is a tropical shade-loving plant (genus Coffea). More recent sun-tolerant varieties of coffee trees have helped the industry expand beyond its South American origins. However, while this shift generated profits by improving yields, it has had negative impacts on forests and their respective biomes world wide. Shade-grown coffee is important because it works with the coffee plant's natural love of shade by growing with the forest, thereby ensuring habitat for insects, birds, and other creatures, and retaining forest soil quality.

Non-GMO – GMO’s (or Genetically Modified Organisms) are just that: organisms which scientists have deliberately modified at the genetic level to manifest certain non-natural characteristics (such as an improved tolerance for sun or dense growth, the production of certain micronutrients, or rapid germination and ripening). Because genetic modification is such a new technology, many people are concerned about the potential unknown (and known) side effects of GMO’s, which is why organic growers choose not to use them.

Not Tested on Animals and Cruelty Free – I hope this isn’t a new one to you. In the US, you can usually find a little bunny symbol on soaps and cosmetics specifying that the product has not been tested on animals. Do I really need to explain why this one is important to us as humans?

Free-Range and Humane Treatment (including slaughter) – While movements against animal testing have gained a foothold, concepts such as “free range” and “humane slaughter” as still relatively new and not widely adopted. While trying not to dwell on the curious irony of how our current industrial model is what necessitates us to even have to create specific guidelines about the proper treatment of animals...... (ahem) ......I’d like to summarize by pointing out that the labeling for free-range and humane-treatment is spotty at best. Buying local helps you know what you’re buying and how the animals have been treated. If you would like to learn more about the evolution of human slaughtering practices today, I suggest you check out Temple Grandin’s homepage as a starting point.

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OK...

All fancy, new-fangled terminology aside, you don’t have to spend money to go green. In fact, reducing your consumption on all fronts is good not only for your budget, but for conserving the Earth’s resources.

Coming up: Part 2, Green Products and Services, and Part 3, Green People, Projects and Ideas