Comments on: The cloud of unmaking http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/the-cloud-of-unmaking/ How can we live without the unknown before us? —Rene Char Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:48:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Via Negativa » Blog Archive » Silver linings http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4047 Via Negativa » Blog Archive » Silver linings Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:11:14 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/26/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4047 [...] Via Negativa « The cloud of unmaking The Quickening » [...] [...] Via Negativa « The cloud of unmaking The Quickening » [...]

]]> By: Dave http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4046 Dave Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:53:49 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/26/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4046 Thanks! Thanks!

]]> By: Lily http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4045 Lily Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:20:27 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/26/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4045 Really enjoying your photos. Really enjoying your photos.

]]> By: Crafty Green Poet http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4044 Crafty Green Poet Sun, 01 Apr 2007 21:00:50 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/26/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4044 Such sadness and destruction but your photos make it all look so beautiful.... Such sadness and destruction but your photos make it all look so beautiful….

]]> By: Words and Pictures http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4043 Words and Pictures Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:00:26 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/26/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4043 <strong>Festival of the Trees 10...</strong> Welcome to the 10th edition of The Festival of the Trees, a monthly blog carnival for all things arboreal. I received a very diverse selection of links for this edition. I've included almost all of them, even though some are... Festival of the Trees 10…

Welcome to the 10th edition of The Festival of the Trees, a monthly blog carnival for all things arboreal. I received a very diverse selection of links for this edition. I’ve included almost all of them, even though some are…

]]> By: Dave http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4042 Dave Wed, 28 Mar 2007 01:50:27 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/26/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4042 That's good to hear! That’s good to hear!

]]> By: Gina Marie http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4041 Gina Marie Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:42:16 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/26/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4041 I don't mind hearing about the ecological changes going on in PH, even if a bit unsettling. But yes, your pretty pictures and sensitive verse <i>do</i> do a good job of sparking interest in nature. I've always had a passion for nature, but your blog has helped me rediscover that passion. I don’t mind hearing about the ecological changes going on in PH, even if a bit unsettling. But yes, your pretty pictures and sensitive verse do do a good job of sparking interest in nature. I’ve always had a passion for nature, but your blog has helped me rediscover that passion.

]]> By: Dave http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4040 Dave Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:10:50 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/26/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4040 Hi all - Thanks for the comments. I hope it's obvious that the "cloud" here was figurative as well as literal: objectively speaking, things aren't quite as bad as I've depicted them, but it is easy to get depressed at the way things are going after 35 years of almost continuous residence in one place. In general, over the 3+ years that I've been writing in this blog, I've tried to avoid communicating my own depression about the state of the natural world, preferring to try and spark interest in nature with pretty pictures, sensitive verse, etc. But once in a while, I guess it's O.K. to let a little anguish or despair show, too, so that you know where I'm coming from. bev - Butternut is the only tree species we've lost entirely since I was a kid. The biggest changes in the forest compostion here undoubtedly occurred in the 19th century, but a host of recent pests and diseases is threatening species such as flowering dogwood (dogwood anthracnose), eastern hemlock (woolly adelgid), and American beech (beech bark disease), to name the most prominent examples. Parts of the hollow that were plowed or heavily pastured at one time, even if they've had over 100 years to recover, can't seem to get beyond a black cherry - maple composition (the kind of woods in these photos), given the frequency of ice storms, the browse preferences of deer, and probably changes in soil chemistry and structure, as well. Oaks, hickories, hemlocks and white pines - the species that probably dominated prior to the 19th century, along with chestnut - are much more resistant to ice storms (though not neccessarily to other disturbances, such as hurricanes, which are also incereasing in frequency due to global climate change). We lost a lot of mature, ridge-top oaks during the initial gypsy moth invasion in 1981, and unfortunately most of those areas have not regenerated to oak due to deer herbivory and probably other factors. But in other ways the increase in dead timber at that time increased biodiversity. As always in ecology, it's difficult to generalize given the tentative nature of knowledge about almost all of these things, and the inevitable biases (e.g. in favor of macroscopic organisms) of even the most dispassionate of observers. I'm currently working on a post that will attempt to assess overall changes to biodiversity in Plummer's Hollow since 1971. Larry - That's a black cherry with a severe case of black knot, a fungal disease. Be sure to click on the photo for a better view. Hi all – Thanks for the comments. I hope it’s obvious that the “cloud” here was figurative as well as literal: objectively speaking, things aren’t quite as bad as I’ve depicted them, but it is easy to get depressed at the way things are going after 35 years of almost continuous residence in one place. In general, over the 3+ years that I’ve been writing in this blog, I’ve tried to avoid communicating my own depression about the state of the natural world, preferring to try and spark interest in nature with pretty pictures, sensitive verse, etc. But once in a while, I guess it’s O.K. to let a little anguish or despair show, too, so that you know where I’m coming from.

bev – Butternut is the only tree species we’ve lost entirely since I was a kid. The biggest changes in the forest compostion here undoubtedly occurred in the 19th century, but a host of recent pests and diseases is threatening species such as flowering dogwood (dogwood anthracnose), eastern hemlock (woolly adelgid), and American beech (beech bark disease), to name the most prominent examples. Parts of the hollow that were plowed or heavily pastured at one time, even if they’ve had over 100 years to recover, can’t seem to get beyond a black cherry – maple composition (the kind of woods in these photos), given the frequency of ice storms, the browse preferences of deer, and probably changes in soil chemistry and structure, as well. Oaks, hickories, hemlocks and white pines – the species that probably dominated prior to the 19th century, along with chestnut – are much more resistant to ice storms (though not neccessarily to other disturbances, such as hurricanes, which are also incereasing in frequency due to global climate change). We lost a lot of mature, ridge-top oaks during the initial gypsy moth invasion in 1981, and unfortunately most of those areas have not regenerated to oak due to deer herbivory and probably other factors. But in other ways the increase in dead timber at that time increased biodiversity.

As always in ecology, it’s difficult to generalize given the tentative nature of knowledge about almost all of these things, and the inevitable biases (e.g. in favor of macroscopic organisms) of even the most dispassionate of observers. I’m currently working on a post that will attempt to assess overall changes to biodiversity in Plummer’s Hollow since 1971.

Larry – That’s a black cherry with a severe case of black knot, a fungal disease. Be sure to click on the photo for a better view.

]]> By: Larry Ayers http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4039 Larry Ayers Tue, 27 Mar 2007 02:57:25 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/26/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4039 That first photo impressed me. What tree species is the black silhouetted one? That first photo impressed me. What tree species is the black silhouetted one?

]]> By: Peter http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4038 Peter Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:54:21 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2007/03/26/the-cloud-of-unmaking/#comment-4038 Wow, bev, that's impressive to me. I visit trees, but not where I live. I'll see a few favorites next week near my parent's place. The first picture looks like a big, hairy crack in the sky. <i>The fallen trunks and branches bubbled with white fungi.</i> Well said. Wow, bev, that’s impressive to me. I visit trees, but not where I live. I’ll see a few favorites next week near my parent’s place.

The first picture looks like a big, hairy crack in the sky.

The fallen trunks and branches bubbled with white fungi. Well said.

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