Via Negativa

November 13, 2006 by Dave Bonta

Briefs

When we moved here in 1971, the outhouse had a metal sign on the wall with faded black letters, evidently taken from an old passenger train: Kindly flush toilet after each use, except when train is in station.

No hobo with any sense ever walked between the rails.

***

My brother went to the high school football game last Friday night. The stands were packed, but the air above the field was crowded, too: hundreds of migrating red bats swirled above the field, diving at anything that moved, including the players and the football, he said. Screw the game — I would’ve gone just for the bats.

***

This past weekend, my Aunt Jean told an amusing story about her daughter Hillary’s encounter — if that’s the word — with President Clinton. She was standing on a street corner in Washington, D.C. sometime back in the mid-90s when the presidential motorcade went by. The President was lounging in the back of his limousine eating a banana. When they passed Hillary, he caught her eye, smirked, and waggled the banana at her. She called up her mother. “I think the President of the United States just made an obscene gesture at me!”

***

I’m tired of the same old stale oaths. I think I’m going to start saying “Crikey!” and “Balls!”

According to the Wikipedia, “In Italian there are at least 140 vulgar words for penis and around 100 that mean vagina.” Crikey! So much for the Eskimos and their legendary 100 words for snow.

***

I’ve heard my mother re-tell the story of my birth so many times, I almost feel as if I remember being there.

“A month before he was due, he flipped in the womb. Fortunately, he wasn’t as big as the other two, or they would’ve had to do a Caesarian. As it turned out, he was my easiest birth by far! A half-hour before he came, the doctor let all the other doctors and residents in the hospital know — everyone wanted to see what a difficult breech birth looked like. So there were all these people crowding into the room! It felt a little strange at first, but then I thought, ‘Oh, well.'”

I wonder how many people were actually there? It would be nice to know. Considering how few people come out to poetry readings, I’m thinking that might have been one of the largest audiences I’ve ever had.

Nor did I disappoint, apparently. I not only mooned everybody, but my penis was tucked between my legs in such a fashion that that was one of the first things they saw. It was visible for quite some time before I actually popped out. I may be reading too much into this, but I suspect it was a gesture of contempt for a world that I was clearly not at all anxious to enter.

November 12, 2006September 23, 2012 by Dave Bonta

Tree stands

When the leaves come off the trees, it’s not unusual to find men and women sitting or standing in them, holding very still. Do not be alarmed. They are merely practicing a locally popular form of spiritual exercise — hunting meditation.

Archery season for white-tailed deer in Pennsylvania began on September 30 this year, and ended on November 11, giving the deer two weeks to lose their wariness before the onset of regular rifle season on the Monday after Thanksgiving. (See here [PDF] for a complete list of hunting seasons in Pennsylvania.)

Tree stands, as they’re called, may be as simple as a ladder of spikes and a flat spot on a limb, or as elaborate as the fanciest tree house. The tree stand above is on a neighbor’s property; I posted photos of a few other examples of fixed tree stand architecture here.

On my parents’ 648 acres of mountaintop land, we don’t allow any fixed tree stands. All stands must be portable, and can only be strapped to the trees. The only things we nail into trees are the “No Hunting Except By Written Permission” signs around the perimeter. Our hunter friends are only too happy to patrol the property and keep out the slob hunters and the local miscreants. So it’s no coincidence that tree stands are often located near the property lines, where they do double-duty as watch towers.

Tree stands are a fascinating and under-appreciated form of vernacular architecture. Requiring the hunters to use portable stands seems not to have crimped their creativity too much. One black cherry tree supports two stands back to back, and is often used by a mother and daughter who, between them, command a 360-degree view. I’m not sure that the camouflage paint does much to disguise these particular stands, but it does give at least symbolic expression to the underlying ideal of blending in with nature. It is this ideal that most distinguishes tree stands from other types of tree houses — let alone from more conventional dwelling-house architecture.

Hunting meditation is about more than just putting meat in the freezer. For some of the hunters, the two weeks of regular rifle deer season are the high point of their year, and they tell us they would rather hunt in Plummer’s Hollow than vacation in the Bahamas. Considering how cold and nasty the weather can be this time of year, and how early in the morning they have to get in their stands, that’s quite a statement.

Some of the hunters bring cameras as well as rifles into the trees with them, and often seem just as happy to get good photos or videos of non-huntable wildlife as they are to bag a deer. (Non-huntable wildlife on my parents’ property includes all predator species: bear, fox, coyote, bobcat, etc. We only allow hunting of deer — which we badly want taken off, for the health of the forest — turkey, and small game such as ruffed grouse and gray squirrels.)

Notice the green garden hose running down the inside of the ladder to the tree stand in back.

The hose connects to a funnel, which is mounted in the seat, as shown. The top of the seat is hinged, and can be lifted to allow access to the funnel. This tree stand was designed to make a daylong sit as comfortable as possible.

I sometimes hear non-hunters make fun of those who use tree stands, implying that they’re lazy because they’re not, you know, hunting. But we’ve been keeping careful records over the past fifteen years since we posted the property, and the records show that those who are the most patient and spend the most time sitting have the best success.

Hunting from tree stands is safer for us and for the hunters — it virtually ensures that they’re firing at the ground. It’s also practically a necessity in some habitat types. Much of the mountain has a dense understory of mountain laurel, a broad-leafed evergreen common in Pennsylvania. Whenever white-tailed deer come under intense hunting pressure, their normal instincts as a prey animal kick in and they do what they would do year-round if their natural predators, wolves and cougars, were still present: they bed down in the laurel, or other thick cover, only moving about when absolutely necessary. You need to sit well above the laurel if you want to have any hope of a clear shot.

Some of the hunters do use prefabricated tree stands, and some of the homemade ones incorporate lightweight, prefabricated ladders. But the wooden ones have the most aesthetic appeal, I think, especially as they age and weather and get chewed on by squirrels and porcupines. Many of the stands remain in place throughout the year, so casual hikers like me can enjoy them, too.

Sometimes “enjoy” isn’t quite the right word, though. The tree stand in these last three pictures is especially high, and is strapped to a large red oak right at the end of the ridge overlooking the Little Juniata River. It’s completely open except for two, flimsy rails on either side, and when the tree rocks in an icy blast of wind off the gap… well, let’s just say the deer aren’t the only ones stricken with terror. I have a healthy respect for anyone whose idea of a good time is spending two weeks in late autumn sitting in a tree.

__________

Don’t forget to send in tree-related links to The Festival of the Trees.

November 10, 2006 by Dave Bonta

The Wait

The priest performs his sleight-of-hand
to a nearly empty cathedral: two women
sit in a back pew, flanked
by three black garbage bags
containing their worldly possessions.
The stained-glass windows are dull
with November light.
–What’s he saying?
–It doesn’t matter. Wait.
There will be free samples at the end.
Under the pew, safe from the janitor’s mop,
the house spider has eaten all her children.
On the back wall of the sacristy,
the sworn enemy of time continues to tick.
__________

Poem modified Nov. 11, 4:00 p.m. and Nov. 12, 10:04 a.m. — see comments for original version.

November 9, 2006September 23, 2012 by Dave Bonta

First Time

Qarrtsiluni, the literary blogzine I help out with as managing editor, is seeking submissions for its current theme, First Time. As the guest editors explain,

There’s a first time for everything. The obvious: first kiss, first love, first sex. The first day of school. Less obvious: first time around the block, first poem, first loss, first Christmas you remember. This first time for everything theme is wide open, so we don’t want to limit you with our suggestions. Surprise us!

We are looking for memoir and essay, for poetry, fiction, photography, artwork. For a form that perhaps we’d be seeing for the very first time.

This edition will run through the end of December, but submissions must be in by December 15, and should be no longer than 3,000 words. For additional guidelines, see here.

Image courtesy RedKid.net.

November 9, 2006 by Dave Bonta

Landmark

The trees clack
& sway as I walk
between them. Cloud-
shadows race over
the ridge, making the sun
flicker like a movie projector.
It’s thirty years ago, or twenty.
It’s just last week. I hear
a harsh cry & look up.
Right overhead, a raven —
out flying, I’m sure, for the sheer
hell of it — kites sideways
& upside-down into the wind.
It keeps pace with me
for half a minute, as one
might navigate by any
predictable thing.

November 8, 2006 by Dave Bonta

Blast Area

The blast was larger
than anticipated: beds
of limestone can dip
in odd directions.
The ground shook with release.

In the yellow house
next to the quarry,
the crash of a plate rolling
off a plate rail
& onto the tile floor
was followed by a couple
seconds of silence,
then the trucks
yelping into reverse.

The windows were all open.
Raindrops began to blow
against the curtains.
An index finger
resumed its pilgrimage,
dipping into
the hollow at
the base of a throat
too frozen with joy & terror
to make a sound.

November 7, 2006 by Dave Bonta

Election Day morning: haiku

Election Day morning.
I wake from lascivious dreams
to a screech owl’s quaver.

Election Day morning.
In the bathroom, small toothmarks
all over my soap.

Election Day morning.
The factory whistle seems
to go on forever.

Election Day morning.
Smell of rain, sound of woodpeckers
banging their heads.

Election Day morning.
I make a neat little pile
of my toenail clippings.

Election Day morning.
My wristwatch is now six days
& four hours behind.

Election Day morning.
Gray squirrels forage in the oaks.
The clatter of acorns.

* * *

Feel free to leave your own Election Day haiku in the comment boxes. And read this.

November 6, 2006September 23, 2012 by Dave Bonta

Via Negativa endorsement: kiss of death?

The editor of Via Negativa would like to announce his official endorsements of candidates in the 2006 U.S. general election — which, in case you’ve been living under a rock, is tomorrow.

True, Via Negativa is not a political blog. We have few readers in Central Pennsylvania, and quite likely none of them are going to be influenced by what we have to say about politics. At least, we sincerely hope not! But who can resist the temptation to speak of himself in the first person plural and wax self-important on the burning issues of the day? Political endorsements by the editors of small-town newspapers are an endearing and enduring form of all-American entertainment, a chance for the editors to show that despite their paper’s general focus on high school football scores and drunk driving accidents, they are high-minded public citizens with a deep commitment to, you know, voting and stuff. We would like to pay homage to that tradition in our own, small way.

U.S. Senate – None of the Above

Unlike the main-party candidates, None is not an anti-choice candidate who supports capital punishment and the invasion of Iraq and opposes an Iraq withdrawal policy. While we acknowledge that Bob Casey, Junior (D) would make a more tolerable — or at least less embarrassing — senator than Rick Santorum (R), and while we admit to being somewhat influenced by the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club, of which we are a member, we are annoyed and offended by the cynicism of Democratic Party operatives and their allies in putting forward such an anti-progressive candidate solely because he is likely to ~~kick Santorum’s weasely little ass~~ win.

Please note that None of the Above is a write-in candidate. Voters in Blair County might want to familiarize themselves with the proper procedure for write-ins on the new ESlate voting machines — check out the nifty online demonstration. Alternatively, you could vote for one of the third party whack-jobs whose names will undoubtedly be on the ballot, but we can’t be bothered to research any of them, because let’s face it, none of them stands a chance.

Alert readers may observe at this point that None of the Above doesn’t stand much of a chance, either. However, a vote for None is not a vote for a candidate or a party, but a vote for a principle. Hell, more than a principle: a value. We’re strictly “values voters” here, you know, and we believe in freedom! In particular, we believe that people who want to vote against a given candidate or slate of candidates should have the freedom to do so, without the obnoxious necessity of expressing a positive choice. We support a nationwide re-jiggering of the electoral process to make None of the Above a valid option in every race at every level, from President to Dogcatcher. If None should win over half of the votes cast in a given race, a new election would have to be held with all new candidates. We believe that such a re-jiggering would inspire more people to register and vote, especially in the elusive, toxically cynical 35-and-under demographic. Even better, it would inspire a healthy fear among candidates, who would suddenly be faced with the prospect of losing to Nobody.

U.S. House of Representatives, Pennsylvania 9th District – Tony Barr

We like Tony Barr (D), and not just because he is other-than-Shuster. (We have written about the corruption of the Shuster political dynasty here in the past.) Barr — unlike Casey, for example — has more things going for him as an environmental candidate than simply a pledge not to support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and a vague set of promises to advocate for renewable energy. Barr has specific proposals that would actually result in a large and fairly immediate reduction in fossil fuel use if implemented, such as bringing back the goddamned railroads.

Well, that’s not quite how the Barr campaign phrases it:

To protect our environment, our economy, and our national security, we have to change our priorities. We are a petroleum dependent society facing a rapid reduction in petroleum availability. The result will be fuel scarcity and escalating prices, not just for travel, but for goods and services. Petroleum dependence has the potential to destabilize our economy. We can’t continue to depend on cars to get us everywhere.

A critical piece of the solution to our problems is public transportation, and in particular, rebuilding our derelict rail and light rail systems. It currently takes 7Â½ hours to travel by train between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. A modern bullet train could make the journey in about two. Absence of rail transport forces us to use cars, which burn far too much fuel, or fly, with flights becoming costlier and less frequent every day. Trains are cleaner and more fuel efficient than auto-mobiles and airplanes. They emit fewer volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide than cars and planes, and fewer nitrous oxides than cars. Per ton-mile, studies show that a freight train uses between one-third and one-ninth as much fuel as trucks. Trains can move a ton of freight (or passengers) 410 miles on a gallon of diesel. While trucks will always be needed for local delivery, for transport across long distances, we must start moving to rail.

In addition to its other benefits, rebuilding our rail system will provide work for years to come, help to revive Pennsylvania’s steel industry, alleviate city and highway traffic congestion, reduce accidents, and increase the speed of freight delivery. And if we reduce the need to import fuel from other countries, we can increase our national security by disengaging ourselves from regimes with poor human rights practices that give rise to terrorism.

Barr has also staked out shockingly non-vague positions in a number of other areas. He supports: public financing of all campaigns for Federal office; higher taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals; better funding for Head Start and other public education programs; a single-payer, universal health care system; a living wage; better funding for veterans’ hospitals; reproductive rights for women; and the return of paper ballots in every election. You may not agree with all these proposals, but you have to admire the guy for sticking his neck out, especially in such a conservative district. We like the fact that he’s a special education teacher, which suggests that, if elected, he may have a pretty good idea how to get along with his colleagues across the aisle. And finally, Barr is a hunter and gun owner, so we don’t think he’ll try to take our guns away. We like guns.

Pennsylvania Senate District 30 – John Eichelberger

Having just endorsed a progressive Democrat, we feel compelled to endorse a conservative Republican to demonstrate that fairness and balance for which we are legendary. We like Eichelberger in part because he beat the incumbent, Robert C. Jubelirer — the most powerful member of the State Assembly — in last spring’s primary, capitalizing on voter anger at the notorious Pennsylvania pay raise scandal. We find most of Eichelberger’s positions on social issues odious, but as you may have gathered, the environment is our number-one issue. We like the fact that Eichelberger cared enough about the environmental vote to show up at our local Audubon chapter’s annual banquet last spring and bore us nearly to tears with a rambling, poorly delivered, semi-coherent speech. We feel that his lack of charisma and Pillsbury DoughBoy appearance are positive attributes for any candidate for higher office. He does not strike us as a child molester or sociopath.

Eichelberger’s support for the environment as a Blair County Commissioner went beyond rhetoric. I asked an environmental activist friend who is intimately involved with local politics for his assessment of how Eichelberger measures up against his Democratic Party opponent, Greg Morris. He wrote,

I am voting for Eichelberger (R) because he has a great record of
supporting land acquisition at Fort Roberdeau County Park ($800,000 for the purchase of an additional ~150 acres) and he’s been a faithful backer of the Blair County Conservation District. He’s also a critic of the financial incentives given to industrial windplant developers.

Morris (D) specializes in purchasing land that is subject to regulatory hurdles (e.g.: wetlands and steep slopes) cheaply and then developing them. At his fundraising dinner a month ago he boasted that he’s restored more wetlands than any other developer in PA. That’s because he’s destroyed more original wetlands than any other developer in PA.

Morris is personally responsible for devastating hundreds of acres of prime, interior forest habitat along the very ridge we live on (Brush Mountain), as the lead developer of the Logan Town Center, an unneeded shopping center. Further, he brags about his conservative views and says, quite correctly, that he is a Republican in all but name. So it’s not as if he presents liberal voters with much of a choice.

We thought about endorsing None of the Above for this seat, but remembered how pivotal Senator Jubelirer’s support for the Logan Town Center was in over-riding the state Department of Environmental Protection functionaries who wanted to deny Morris the permit to destroy wetlands in that instance. State senators don’t have much influence on the war in Iraq, but they can have a lot of influence on the war against nature. If Eichelberger’s record is any guide, he may be able to stand up against the “property rights” fanatics and work for open space protection and comprehensive land use planning at the state level.

In general, we believe strongly that the Republican Party needs to recover its once-strong support for conservation. It’s extremely unhealthy — literally as well as figuratively — for one party to have a virtual lock on the environment. Democratic politicians have little incentive to do more than make vague promises on most environmental issues as long as they think tree-huggers like us will vote for a Democrat over a Republican no matter what. So that’s why we are going to hold our nose and vote for the Pillsbury DoughBoy tomorrow. We’re sure his campaign will be happy to collect this ringing endorsement, which could well provide that extra little nudge to put him over the top. Then, power and influence will be ours!

That’s all the endorsements we have time or stomach for today. We do, however, have one additional suggestion for voters all across this great, freedom-loving land: take off work tomorrow to vote. In many parts of the country, polling places close long before working people can get to them, so if you want to cast a ballot, you may have little choice but to take the morning off. A general strike might convince the next Congress to make Election Day a national holiday, as it is in virtually every other so-called democracy in the world. Only when that happens will we at Via Negativa feel compelled to take all this voting stuff seriously.

Now, about that last football game…

UPDATE: We have just been informed that the Pennsylvania governorship is also in play this election. Oops, right! We knew that. A football star vs. a sports commentator. Wow. That’s a toughie.

UPDATE #2: We have just been chided in the comments for not endorsing Richard Pombo’s challenger, Jerry McNerney, for the 11th District in California. Richard Pombo is an environmental disaster, a veritable walking Superfund site. If you happen to live in Pombo’s district, and you need help deciding whom to vote for, lord help you — we certainly can’t.

November 5, 2006 by Dave Bonta

Beneath the surface

Yesterday, I kept looking at leaves in shallow water (slideshow). I was entranced by the play of sunlight on patterns in the surface. Floating leaves reminded me of sealed-up windows; sunken leaves were like sealed-up doors.

It was a quick trip to town that had gotten me thinking that way.

In standard Western dualistic thinking, it’s commonplace to scorn the surface in favor of what lies beneath. Deep is good; shallow is bad. “Beauty is only skin deep,” we say, which of course is utter nonsense. But supposing that superficial prettiness were the whole of beauty — wouldn’t that constitute a pretty strong argument for superficiality?

“Only a facade,” we say, as if there’s such a thing as a true face underneath all the masks. And as if one doesn’t have a perfect right to choose which face one wants to show the world, and to keep the rest private.

If seeing were the whole of knowing, we would have nothing but surfaces to go on. Fortunately, though, there’s also hearing. When something emits a sound, relative pitch and quality of tone suggest things about its internal structure that the unaided eye could discover only through dissection. Hearing respects the wholeness and integrity of the other in a way that looking never can.

It’s in our nature to see faces everywhere, and to impute personality even to the most impersonal forces of nature. The encounter with the face of another may be, as Levinas suggests, the very origin of ethical behavior. But there is also something that resists our looking, along with any and all attempts to domesticate it. We know it by the music that appears when, to our limited way of thinking, a mere cacophony should prevail. Go crouch beside the stream sometime and you’ll see what I mean.

November 3, 2006 by Dave Bonta

Advice for prospective troglodytes

Living under
a rock, you learn
to listen.
It’s not all thuds
& rustles & the odd
shriek. Things
grind, other
things grow,
& the difference
can be subtler
than you imagine.
A slow wheel
can sound
a lot like a snake.
You learn to tell
a clock from
a bomb, if only
for analog. Living
under a rock, you
won’t have heard
anything from
the digital revolution.
But voices sound
so much better
for traveling down
through the body
& coming out
the delicate
bones in
the feet.
Words
sound like
the thoughts
that bore them,
grave & resonant.
Living under a rock,
the news
may seem
one-sided, with
an over-emphasis
on body counts,
but the ground
can only catch
whatever falls.
You hear little from
the affairs
of distant stars,
& from the wind’s public
whipping of the trees,
you pick up
nothing but
the applause.
But at least
with the proper
sort of rock, rolling
will never be an issue.
The neighbors
won’t complain.
Moss gathers
like a second,
softer head.