CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Trees in the 18th century

ABSTRACT DEADLINE: June 30, 2009

Call for submissions for a volume on the history of trees in the long eighteenth century, eds. Laura Auricchio, Elizabeth Heckendorn Cook, and Giulia Pacini

We wish to assemble an interdisciplinary collection of essays that investigate the material culture of trees and forests in the global long eighteenth century. Essays might discuss the history of trees and their representations as objects of science and commerce, or how they intersect with political movements and various kinds of affect. Papers might analyze wood as a living or a dead material, as a design element in landscape gardens, or a useful resource for construction, crafting, fuel (domestic and industrial). Other issues of interest could include: commemorative tree-planting; tree tourism; debates about pruning and grafting; estate/plantation management; forest histories; deforestation; government policies; bio-prospecting; the acclimatization of exotic plants; the global market in timber; etc. While there is a rich register of Enlightenment arboreal metaphors (trees of knowledge, "heart of oak"), we are particularly interested in papers that take trees and representations of trees literally. Accepted articles should ultimately be approximately 5000-6000 words, and will be due in spring 2010.


*Please send abstracts of 500-750 words and a c.v. before June 30th to Laura Auricchio, Elizabeth Heckendorn Cook, and Giulia Pacini at: auricchL@newschool.edu, ecook@english.ucsb.edu, gxpaci@wm.edu.

Saving Family Land

Tonight our family realized its dream of saving our family land. For the past two years, I and two of my uncles have been negotiating the sale of a conservation easement or restriction over about 20 acres of woodland in Wareham, Massachusetts. This land is part of a larger waterfront property we call Windrock that my grandparent's purchased in 1947 for $11,000. The cost of keeping the place today is many times more than that, and the value of the entire property with the big, ramblong house and outbuildings is $3 million. There is not one of us who could afford a place like this today. Thanks to this transaction, there will be enough funds for a modest endowment that with continued family contributions and summer rental of the smaller house on the property, should ensure that future generations of the family will know and love it as we have.

It was an extremely complex transaction, involving public funds, public access, town politics, non-profit partnerships, and saving the family along with the land. Because this is also my stock in trade, I was able to make what I know is the the single most meaningful contribution I could to my family by leading this effort and guiding us (and our conservation partners) through the many twists and turns we had to travel to get to this day. I first told you about it here: http://whorledleaves.blogspot.com/2006/12/saving-windrock.html

what I've been reading lately

Hi all- I can't remember when I last posted on here, so I thought I'd share a recent phenomenon that has been happening in my life: I've been READING! Whole books! And it has taken weeks, sometimes even less than a week, to complete a book, not months. I don't think I've read so many books, with such a diverse nature, at any time in my adult life, especially since having kids.

I can't really explain why the sudden revival in reading; I think it goes along with the general feeling of awakening I've had in my life lately. I certainly don't have any more free time than before, but maybe I'm taking advantage of moments I may have wasted before- I do a lot of reading during breaks at work, for example. Sure beats conversation sometimes.

So here's a little rundown of what I've read since...I don't remember, some time last spring:

Deep Economy by Bill McKibben. A somewhat hopeful look at the economic changes we will be facing in the near future, and why such changes are a good thing.

The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler. The other side of the coin- the dire situations we could be facing due to peak oil, climate change, and our own short-sightedness as a nation. I personally think Kunstler is a bit of an extremist in his predictions. At least I hope he is.

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. This is one of those books I thought I was wasting my time with, even though Pollan is a good writer, because it didn't convince me of anything I didn't already know. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. I've been trying to avoid as much processed food as I can. (going out to put frozen pizzas in oven...sigh...)

Big Sur by Jack Kerouac. Not long after the fires in the Big Sur area subsided this summer, I picked this one up. It brought back memories of places I've been on the California coast, and it almost made me give up alcohol. Almost. Moderation is good.

Boonville by Robert Mailer Anderson. I was browsing the shelves of the local library and the title of this one jumped out at me. I spent a few months living near Boonville, California, probably right about the time this book came out. The locals hated it because it portrays them all as hippies or rednecks. Okay, some of the characters may have been a bit exaggerated...or not. It was a fun read, partly because it talked about places I could still see in my mind, and partly because the writing style reminded me a bit of Tom Robbins. It had me laughing out loud.

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence. So many themes going on here- family ties, coming of age, social expectations, the dehumanizing effect of industrialization, but what really caught me was his lyrical descriptions of the countryside around Nottingham. I would almost call him a nature writer.

World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler. This is a good follow up to The Long Emergency- a fictional account of what small town life in upstate New York could look like in the future, as people recover from the loss of oil, electricity, ready-made goods, and supermarkets. The writing itself is not spectacular, but the ideas presented are thought-provoking. One detail that resonated with me was how the protagonist was a musician, a fiddler, and that music- live, not recorded, not amplified, played an important part in the morale of the community.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I somehow managed to escape being assigned to read this in high school and college, but it's probably just as well. I am half way through and enjoying this with a perspective I would not have had as a teenager. I had expected the story to be much darker and depressing, but it is more about the will of the human spirit to make it through the toughest of times. There's a lot more humor than I expected. And now I know exactly where the Kris Kristofferson song "Here Comes That Rainbow Again" came from.

I don't have anything lined up yet after Steinbeck- any suggestions?

"All through autumn we hear a double voice: one says everything is ripe; the other says everything is dying. The paradox is exquisite."

--Gretel Ehrlich, The Solace of Open Spaces

Check Out These Mushrooms ... WOW!

Flower ID Help Please :)

This flower was blooming in an acidic, damp soil near mixed hardwoods and hemlocks, labrador tea, sheep laurel, and swamp candle (now passed). Unfortunately, I didn't have my book with me, and I'm having trouble identifying it now. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. :)

The Happy Planet Index

I read an interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor this morning, "Why Your Happiness Matters to the Planet." It referenced The Happy Planet Index.

Thought you all might want to check it out. :)

Ospreys in Fabric

As some here may remember, my mother Betsy Abbott is a gifted quilter, an artist in fabric whose quilts are truly spectacular. This one now hangs in the living room of the old, rambling house by the sea we have managed to keep in the family for 61 years and plan to do for at least 61 more. She made it in honor of my grandmother, who passed away at nearly 97 last November and whose life we and over 100 friends and relations celebrated over the past weekend.


Mom and Gran shared a deep bond and a mutual love of birds. When my grandfather died in 1991, for my Mom something in his spirit became an osprey, those glorious birds that have reappeared, unhoped for and phoenix-like, after the ravages of DDT. I can remember the first time I ever saw an Osprey - August 1974 when I was 6 years old, because it send my parents into raptures as the first of its kind they had seen in many, many years. Now they soar and dive out beyond the bluff at our beloved Windrock and cry to their life-long mates on the wing. It is absolutely fitting that she should have decided on a pair of Osprey, one patiently waiting while the other wings homeward, as her great gift of love in honor of her mother.


The view is clearly recognizable to any who have been to the family homestead on the shores of Buzzards Bay - so called because of these fish hawks and not any vulture. Indeed, it mirrors the view from the brace of picture windows in the room where the quilt now hangs, except the osprey pole outside has never attracted a nest. No matter: my mother has righted that small injustice with her artist's license. The fabric that comprises the nest actually twists and dangles into the third dimension, just as the outstretched wing of the descending bird breaks the bonds of the frame. It is a masterpiece, and I am incredibly proud of her.

Dragonfly? Damselfly?

Dragonfly
Originally uploaded by paynehollow

Something even more specific??

Looking for help again. Anyone here good at identifying damselflies, dragonflies, flying bugs?

I am a total novice in this category - even moreso than my ignorance in the flowering world.

And, by the way, just one week until Henry David Thoreau's birthday, have you got your celebrations all arranged?

=======
What's the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?

******

I was born upon thy bank, river,
My blood flows in thy stream,
And thou meanderest forever
At the bottom of my dream

*******

It is pleasant to have been to a place the way a river went.

*******

Remember thy creator in the days of thy youth. Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures. Let the noon find thee by other lakes, and the night overtake thee every where at home.

~Henry David Thoreau

Sculptcycle 2008 -- Montpelier, Vermont

Yale Launches Environmental Online Magazine

Yale University (CT) has launched "Yale Environment 360," a new online magazine that aims to become one of the leading websites for commentary and reporting on the crucial environmental issues of the day. The magazine’s inaugural edition features articles by noted environmental advocate and author, Bill McKibben; New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert; climate scientist Richard C.J. Somerville; marine biologist and author Carl Safina; British journalist Fred Pearce; and many other writers and thinkers. The first issue contains reports, analysis, and Op-Ed-style pieces on such issues as climate change, the concept of “clean coal,” the impact of water shortages on global food supplies, and the challenge of crafting an innovative energy policy in the United States. Yale Environment 360 is a publication of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and Yale University and is supported by grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

New findings on the social behaviour of plants

I was fascinated by an article in today's online New York Times, Loyal to Its Roots, concerning the social life of plants. I thought that some Whorled Leaves folks might enjoy it, too. It begins:

From its diminutive lavender flowers to its straggly windblown stalks, there is nothing about the beach weed known as the Great Lakes sea rocket [shown in photo at left] to suggest that it might be any sort of a botanical wonder. Yet scientists have found evidence that the sea rocket is able to do something that no other plant has ever been shown to do. The sea rocket, researchers report, can distinguish between plants that are related to it and those that are not. And not only does this plant recognize its kin, but it also gives them preferential treatment. If the sea rocket detects unrelated plants growing in the ground with it, the plant aggressively sprouts nutrient-grabbing roots. But if it detects family, it politely restrains itself. The finding is a surprise, even a bit of a shock, in part because most animals have not even been shown to have the ability to recognize relatives, despite the huge advantages in doing so. If an individual can identify kin, it can help them, an evolutionarily sensible act because relatives share some genes. The same discriminating organism could likewise ramp up nasty behavior against unrelated individuals with which it is most sensible to be in claws- or perhaps thorns-bared competition.

The research was carried out by Susan A. Dudley, an evolutionary plant ecologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and a graduate student, Amanda L. File. Dr. Dudley said: "I'm just amazed at what we've found. ... Plants have a secret social life." Since publishing this research last August, Dr. Dudley has since found evidence of three other species that can also recognize their relatives.

The article continues by relating how some plants can sense potentially competing neighboring plants through subtle changes of light or by the chemicals released into soil and air, and how they take advantage of this.

The article ends by talking about the ongoing debate among plant scientists of "which of the abilities and attributes that scientists have long considered the real of just animals, like sensing, learning and memory, can sensibly be transferred to plants?" and discusses the controversy surrounding a new group, the Society of Plant Neurobiology. 
--------------------------------------------
The online article includes a video of a seedling of the parasitic weed, dodder (Cuscuta pentagona), seeking out its victim (a tomato plant).

The photo of the Sea Rocket flower is taken from the New York Times article. For more photos and information about the Great Lakes Sea Rocket, see Andy's Northern Ontario Wildflowers. 

Ecopoetry Anthology Call for Submissions

EARTH'S BODY: AN ECOPOETRY ANTHOLOGY

Coeditors Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street solicit submissions for an international anthology of ecopoetry. We are looking for a wide and varied array of submissions. Our working definition of "ecopoetry" is flexible; it includes not only what might be called nature poetry, and not only poetry that focuses on environmental issues, but also experimental poetry--poetry that explores language in its relations with the other-than-human. We welcome work by emerging as well as established poets. We welcome serious poems, playful poems, poems in open or traditional forms. Depending on limitations of space, we will consider not only short poems but also poems of several pages. The anthology will include only living poets or poets who were alive as of July 2007, and will include only poems either written in English or already translated into English; for poems not written in English, both the original and the translation must be submitted, and if accepted, both will be published. We will consider work that has been previously published, but the poet (and/or translator) MUST control rights to the work.

The deadline for submissions is DECEMBER 15, 2008. Please send up to six poems to BOTH Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street. You may send them as email text or by snail mail. If they come as email text, make sure the spacing and lineation travel accurately. WE WILL NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS AT THIS TIME. Please also include a short bio and a cover letter, and an SASE for our reply.

Ann Fisher-Wirth
English Department
Bondurant C-135
University of Mississippi
University, MS 38677
afwirth@olemiss.edu

Laura-Gray Street
English Department
Randolph College
2500 Rivermont Avenue
Lynchburg, VA 24503
lstreet@randolphcollege.edu

Another Unknown White Flower

Unknown White Flower
Originally uploaded by paynehollow

Okay, since nothing else is happening here, how about if I offer another wildflower challenge?

This tiny white flower is, I believe, about the size of a pinky tip. I found it blooming in Mid-May in Southern Indiana and you can sort of see the shape of the leaf below. Only four petals on the flower.

Thoughts?

======

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.


~Edna St. Vincent Millay

White Wildflower

White Wildflower1
Originally uploaded by paynehollow

Hi.

Looking for quick help from smart people.

Can anyone identify this wildflower? Tiny white flowers, blooming mid-May. Southern Indiana location.

Thanks!

Young Explorers

Young Explorers 2
Originally uploaded by paynehollow

Hey, everyone!

I guess that, like me, y'all've been busy. Adulthood stinks, sometimes. But then it's better than the alternative (the alternative being adolescence!!)

Anyway, thought I'd share a photo of some young adventurer friends of mine and a quote, just to let you know I'm still around...

You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.

~EB White, "Charlotte's Web"

Writers' Retreat in Craftsbury, Vermont

My friend, Julia Shipley, has a Writers' Retreat in Craftsbury, Vermont. She's a delightful spirit and a very talented writer and poet. If you're looking for a good excuse to spend more time in the Northeast Kingdom, she's got one for you: 

http://www.writersretreat.com/vermont.htm

Spring comes ...

Spring comes ... and with it, new life in the desert.

KNOCK Ecolit Contest

Ecoliterature Contest Submission Guidelines

* Manuscripts will not be returned, but recycled.
* Notification of winners will take place by August, 2008.
* Include your name, category, and "Ecolit & Green Art Contest Submission" on your cover letter (or in your subject line).
* Include a SASE for notification of results (email address may substitute). Submissions can be made by email and regular mail.

Categories:

Poetry :: Fiction :: Nonfiction :: Plays :: Art :: Cartoons

Please:
* Limit prose to 10 pages.
* Limit poetry to 4 poems, or 8 pages total.
* Limit plays to 10 pages. 
* Art & cartoons can be B&W or color; limit to 5 pieces.

Send Submissions to:

KNOCK
Antioch University Seattle
2326 Sixth Avenue
Seattle WA 98121

or:

knock@antiochseattle.edu

http://www.knockjournal.org/submit/ecolit-contest.html

E-Conference -- Looks Interesting

Environmental (In) Justice: Sources, Symptoms, and Solutions ~ Online

April 11-24, 2008 ~ Online Join academics and activists, scientists and social critics, researchers, journalists, and concerned citizens from around the world in this EcoRes online forum as we examine the roots of environmental and climate injustice and search for ways to right these indefensible wrongs.

http://eelink.net/cgi-bin/ee-link/newclick/5168794