Rambling On: Literature, Science and Environment

Thunder Storm in the City

2011-09-07T16:01:00.000+01:00

I love thunder storms. Right now I'm at work and the rain is pouring down. Every now and again, there's a bright flash in the sky followed by a window rattling rumble.

Thunder storms in D.C. are great. It's not a very tall city, so there's still plenty of sky to be seen, plenty of lighting strikes to be spotted.

The storm is coming from the south. (The rain is slanting to the east.) The windows in my office face north and I'm guessing all the flashes are coming from behind the building I'm in right now. A few minutes and hopefully I'll get sight of them.

I've been out in thunderstorms in the city. Wandering around, rushing from overhang to overhang, enjoying the sound of the thunder bouncing off the brick and concrete structures.

With rain like this, the gutters fill up quickly. Sometimes the water stays for hours. I've been soaked standing on a street corner, splashed by a passing vehicle. Buses are the worst.

The building I am in is more than 100 years old. The big 30 foot windows provide an excellent view of the sky, the street and the water rushing down the gutters, carrying bits of debris.

Usually at this time of day, there are people walking about the street. I've seen one in the last fifteen minutes.

Thunderstorms in the city are a different experience than thunderstorms in the country, just as thunderstorms in hilly areas are different from flat areas. In flat areas, you can see them coming. I spent a good portion of Sunday driving through hill parts of West Virginia in a thunderstorm. Once I got to a section of the road that flattened out, I could see the lightning strikes from top to bottom. In a city, it's mostly flashes, like a flash light passing over your eyes and the thunder offers it's own kind of satisfaction. Counting the seconds between the flash and the rumble. Trying to predict where the next flash will come. Keeping eyes upwards, to the clouds and crossing my fingers it's coming this way.

Come on, Irene

2011-08-27T23:47:00.000+01:00

Her name is Irene. She was born in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean seven days ago. She's the 9th of her kind this season, but the only one to accumulate enough power to become a hurricane. She's currently a category 1 with winds up to 85 miles per hour. She's creeping up the eastern coast of the United States at a slow pace of 13 miles per hour, drowning the seaboard on her way.

The first of the rain bands hit the DC area around noon today. It's been raining steadily since. The intensity is increasing as is the wind.

A few years ago, I was working as a researcher on a Discovery Channel show about climate and energy. The show was a mix of fact and fiction, projecting into the future what the world would be like if we did nothing to change our current carbon emitting behaviors. This future saw a hurricane travel up the east coast of the United States and into the Chesapeake Bay. The storm caused massive rain, flooding, wind damage to the nation's capital. We worked with storm surge modellers and looked at historic records for hurricanes and assumed warmer ocean waters to create a massive and terrible hurricane season that caused loss of lives and millions of dollars of damage around the country not dissimilar to the record breaking hurricane season of 2005 that featured storms with such names as Rita, Katrina and Wilma, as well as Irene.

In the hurricane of the future, DC had been having very wet summer. After a few weeks of heavy rain and flash floods, the big Ricardo came through. It was a massive, slow moving, powerful hurricane. It brought inches of rain and fast winds. Tornadoes spun out of it as it made it's way north. It brought several feet of storm surge which flooded areas of the mall. The heavy rain washed pollutants into reservoirs. The tornadoes took out windows, roofs and buildings. So much damage was done that there was discussion of rebuilding. In this scenario, a innovative and environmentally sensitive president opted to rebuild the city green. The tidal basin and other areas of the Potomac waterfront were returned to wet lands and marshes which would have served as a flood barrier had they not been taken out. Green buildings were erected and for the ones still standing and structurally sound, they were retrofit to be more energy efficient and healthy. This lead the way to the United States having a big green makeover and paving a path towards an energy independent, carbon neutral (headed towards negative) state. An optimistic and still very possible future.

So here I am, about 4 years later, living just outside of D.C. in Arlington, Virginia prepared to weather out hurricane Irene. I've filled up some trash cans with water in case the supply gets cut off or contaminated and the toilet needs to be flushed. I am charging up my phone while the power is still on. I have purchased some foods that don't need preparing such as fruits, crackers, cereal and salad stuffs (though I expect the gas stove would still work). I have a shake flashlight, though I can't really imagine what I'd need it for at this point. I've pots and pitchers of filtered water for drinking and some juice. I've run all of my errands and I have no forseeable need to go out. So I'm home, on the 5th floor of an apartment building, on top of a hill a few miles from the Potomac and a 1/4 mile from 4 Mile Run creek watching the rain poor down and the trees bending in the wind. I'm ready for some excitement.

This is my first hurricane. And while I'm so far inland it may not count, it is exciting. I'm ready for a good storm. In 2005, I had a little over a week off between two jobs and was considering a last minute vacation. I was thinking about New Orleans. I'd never been and it seemed worth exploring. About a week later, watching images of a flooded city, people stranded on roof tops, I was glad I'd opted to save money and stay home.

Today, I get a milder experience of a hurricane. 4-8 inches of rain are expected along with 40-50 mile per hour winds. Officials are predicting downed power lines and trees, power outages, flash floods, flooding, and possible water outages. Already 71,000 are without power in the state. Six storm deaths have been reported including one child who was killed by a tree fell onto his house. An area governor called for those on the coast to go and stay with the ones who love you. Cities are being evacuated. Train service has been suspended. Sand bags are being given out to D.C. residents.

We'll be sheltered from the worst of it by miles of land separating this area from the Atlantic, but storm surge is predicted and flooding will still be present. With a few days of warning, all should be prepared. This will be the second natural event this week -- the first being an earthquake on Tuesday. The 5.9 trembler was centered 80 miles south of D.C. but felt all the way up to Toronto. My brother and his wife in Boston felt it. I was in a restaurant at the time. Being from California, I'm fairly familiar with earthquakes but don't expect to feel them here. In California, you get under a door way. In D.C., apparently, you flee the building. After the quake, everyone was out on the streets. (Including me -- we'd just paid the bill at the restaurant and I had started to think about being trapped in the parking garage that went a few stories below the building. (I've never had that issue in California.)

With an earthquake, there's no warning. It can strike at any time. Growing up, we always had earthquake kits. They contained flow sticks, foil blankets, food, first aid kit. We had water around. When the big Northridge quake hit in 1994, we had our kits. The house didn't fall down (but the dead-bolted door swung open and walls, ceilings and floors cracked), so we had shelter and the rest of the food that was in the house. We lost power and water. We had to turn off the gas. We used water from the pool to drink and cook (boiled, of course) and to flush the toilets. For the first few hours, we sat in the dark of the early morning as a family on the couch and rode out the aftershocks.

Hurricanes give you time to prepare. With the weather service in place and emergency planning, no one should be surprised. Except maybe the birds -- who are battling the winds on their way to who knows where. Ships go out to sea. Barrier islands are evacuated. People are moved to higher ground and away from coast lines. There's time to buy supplies and time to move. While flash floods and tornadoes can occur and take one by surprise, and while houses, memories and materials can be lost, a hurricane isn't such a scary disaster. I suppose that's why I'm so excited about it. I'm hoping for an awesome storm that maybe gives me a day or two off work. And some thunderstorms would be appreciated, too. I'll happily sit and stare out my window for the next few days as leaves fly off trees and the rain pours down.

And I'll probably find myself comparing this storm to Ricardo, the fictitious hurricane of the future and wondering if we'll ever see the kind of leadership that can turn the environmental, climate and energy situation around. The kind of leadership that sees the potential, wants America to be at the forefront of technology and responsible action, wants to create jobs and create technology and not be a slave to fossil fuels or special interests.

While an example of innovative leadership on energy and environmental issues still remains to be seen at the top levels, individual citizens are trying to fill the void. The same day that Irene came into begin, protestors began engaging in civil disobedience outside of the White House to try to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. 381 people who have used their bodies to stand up for the Earth (and the rest of us) have been arrested so far. Given a lack of top down leadership, we each have to stand up for what we believe in and work to make a better, healthier, greener and more equitable future possible.

Kayaking on the Potomac

2011-08-27T04:49:00.000+01:00

Hot and humid days are not unusual during a summer in the District of Columbia. They are to be expected and even dreaded. I enjoy them and the thunderstorms that come with them. One of my favorite ways to spend hot and humid days is on the water. I rent a kayak from Jack's in Georgetown and go paddling. A few weeks ago, in the midst of a heatwave, I went kayaking with a friend. 115 degree heat that's killer in the city with all the black top is manageable on the water. We paddled around Roosevelt Island for about an hour, enjoying the breeze, the scenery and the company. One of the things I like about D.C. is that there's so much nature and greenery integrated into it. Sometimes is strikes me how nature is all around. I was reminded of this when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted an osprey with a large fish in its beak looking for a branch to land on. I watched the bird for a while, carefully selecting the right tree before putting his beak to the fish and starting to eat. I don't know that I'd ever seen an osprey before that moment. I'd heard of them and had heard that one was nesting on a crane in the southeast of the city. What a treat to get a bit of wildlife in the city. That bird sighting was followed up with many turtle sightings on the way back to the dock.

Lightning Start

2011-03-22T02:34:00.000Z

Since the time change, mornings have been a bit bleaker and waking up a bit slower. Lights are needed to navigate through the dark closet. This morning, the sky turned on the lights for me. Passing thunderstorms are worth getting out of bed for.

Worms

2010-12-12T20:42:00.001Z

I took a trip down to North Carolina in September with some friends. They were headed down for a wedding and I took my dissertation along with me, hoping to write in the quiet of the North Carolina hills.We stayed at a beautiful house in the hills, a creek running down the hill beside it. It was a great place to spend the day outside, in the sunshine, and was a stark contrast from the place I was trying to write about: the Maldives.

I spent the day outside with the dogs, the trees, and the worms (pictured below). I learned what a buckeye is and enjoyed lounging on a giant trampoline. Excellent way to relax. Hope to be invited back.There's nothing like hanging out in the woods, surrounded by trees, bathing in sunshine, with the sound of birds and running water.

I think this one is a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar. (reference: http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Caterpillars)


Inchworm

Treehouse


Hickory Tussock? (compare: http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Caterpillars)

Last Entry

2010-09-15T04:45:00.000+01:00

This is post number 200. Tomorrow is the 15th of September. I have met my goals. This evening, I mailed off my dissertation (2 copies, printed bound and offset) to the department administrator, and with that, I am no longer a student. Back to the real world and then off to work on Friday.

The past year has been challenging, mostly in unanticipated ways. The course was not what I wanted or expected. Still, good has come from it. The big paper I just submitted is one of those goods. Even if it's not particularly good as a piece of writing, it has been an educational experience, an exercise in discipline and focus, and an opportunity to try something new. This blog is another good thing. I began this blog as an exercise to make myself write about the ideas, themes, and theories I have encountered. It has been a lot of fun inventing topics and writing about the joys I experience as a result of the world around me. There are a few unwritten posts still lurking around and I aim to complete. I am sure this blog will continue, even if only sporadically, for a while. And maybe I'll get brave and post my paper.

Stay tuned. More rambling after a brief brain break.

Interview: IPCC Coordinating Lead Author

2010-09-10T20:07:00.000+01:00

Today I interviewed Dr. Pete Smith, Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Review and professor at the University of Aberdeen. I wanted to better understand the Assessment Review process. I've been curious about how it all happens, from selection of scientists to published report. Dr. Smith was kind enough to walk me through the whole thing.

I think there's some suspicion about how these things are done. There seems to be a suggestion of a sinister nature or some less than scientific agenda that drives the reports. After hearing about it all, I am quite impressed with the process that these reports go through and I think if people knew about it, they'd probably be less suspicious of them.

About the IPCC

This body was established by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization with the purpose of being the leader in assessing climate change. In its efforts to do this, it releases assessment reports every five years which review the available literature on climate issues. Over two thousand volunteer scientists who officially and thousands more who unofficially, upon request, along with government agencies participate in the production of each report. All countries who are members of the United Nations and World Meterological Organization are welcome to partake. Scientists are nominated by their countries to participate in the writing of the report. The world’s leading scientists on the subject areas covered participate in areas of their expertise. The selection process is carefully designed to ensure balanced representation from developed and developing countries and to ensure that the report is as balanced and inclusive as possible. All peer-reviewed scientific studies are considered and included within the reports, even when two or more present conflicting findings. A scale of low to high confidence is used to help clarify the level of certainty in the statements made. There are two drafts which are circulated widely before a final draft is presented to the government bodies. The comments made on each draft must be addressed by the chapter’s lead authors before it can go to a second draft. Once the report is compiled by the scientists, it goes to the governments for acceptance, debate over language, the opportunities for countries to pick out specifics they disagree with, and then it is released to the general public. With all of the hands and eyes that work on the reports, it is nearly impossible to have them overly representative of one perspective.

Some climate skeptics and deniers call these reports alarmists, but in fact, being alarmist in the scientific community is looked down upon. The scientists who work on these reports are often conservative, not wanting to stick their necks out for fear of them being discredited potentially leading to an inability to continue working. Also, if extreme and unfounded views were being expressed, it would be picked up on by other authors, scientists and governments and would be addressed.

Recent events such as “Climate Gate” the leaking of e-mails from a leading climate research institute and a mistake about Himalayan glaciers melting have fueled skepticism, but neither invalidates the rest of the report as a whole, which consists of three volumes and few thousand pages. To date, it is the most comprehensive and authoritative document on climate change and will continue to be until the IPCC publishes the Fifth Assessment Report in 2012.

Attack of the Shield Bugs

2010-09-10T20:03:00.000+01:00

There are a few unwelcome visitors in my new apartment. 4 freaky shield bugs, aka stink bugs. Turns out, they're not only invaders in my house, they are also invaders in this country (hitched a ride from Asia). They creep me out. They're loud, clumsy, and like to fly back in the direction they've been pushed away from. So if you're trying to flick one off of something, careful, it'll come right back at you. I think the screens on this place must not be fit right because these freaky creatures are coming in. I caught two yesterday and two more today. They're being kept under glasses. The one I just caught is super aggressive and is making a ton of noise in his new cage. You can't smash them because they stink, so what do you do? Well, my plan is to keep them under the glass until they die and then I'll flush them down the toilet. Good thing glasses are the one thing we have extra of. In the old house, I'd take them outside, but that's a less attractive option in an apartment, when outside is down a long corridor and five flights of stairs. I do okay with most bugs, but these things are so totally gross they make me squeal (thank goodness no one is here to witness it). A friend of mine seemed to have a car infested with them. They'd crawl out of no where, especially in the warmth. No bugs in the morning, and 4 dead ones on the dash and two crawling up the windows in the afternoon. They'd crawl out of who knows where and tend to be exactly where you needed to put your hand--ie the steering wheel or the gear shifter. If you touch them, they fly at you. So you just have to avoid them and hope they don't fly at you while you're driving. And once one did. I was in the passenger's seat and either a window was rolled down or the air turned on and one flew right in my face and then into my hair and down my shirt. I was picking stink bug legs out of my hair for the rest of the ride. I hate these things and one day, when I grow up, I want to move to a place where they don't exist.

Creep yourself out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug

Explaining the Science bits

2010-09-02T05:38:00.001+01:00

I'm not a scientist. I'm not a scientific person. My last science class was about 10 years ago and it was in geography. I've never taken a biological, chemistry, or physics class in my life. I'm not bragging. I do feel that I'm missing out. My point is that this doesn't give me an advantage when it comes to translating scientific things into lay terms. It doesn't mean I can't do it or can't understand it, but it often takes a bit of extra effort and reading about the topic. I'm happy to put in the work, but it also delights me when I find explanations of things (terms, events, theories) that are comprehensible. Today, I found it very challenging to come up with a thorough definition of thermal expansion. It seems pretty straight forward, right? Things (not necessarily gasses since they can be compressed, or so one website told me) expand as they warm. It has something to do with the particles that make up the things moving at more rapid rates and needing more space to do so. My brain imagines this as particles bouncing off one another at an increasing speed meaning that the bounce back sends them further apart, and thus you have expansion. Whether or not this is the case, I cannot tell you. I am still searching for a thorough definition. If you have one, please share. Your help is appreciated. Bet one of these books would do it . . . .

The Suburbs

2010-08-31T20:39:00.000+01:00

I'm a bit uneasy living in the suburbs of Virginia. I'd much prefer to live in DC. I feel disconnected from everyone and everything. I looked up a trip on wmata.com and it said it'd take an hour to get from where I live to Alexandria. That's crazy. Of course, the feeling of being disconnected will improve once I get the bus system down and finish my dissertation so I can go out and interact with the world. There are some things that are making me feel more comfortable with my new location, namely the lighting bugs, the trees, and the cardinals. They're like little presents. This morning, there was a bright red cardinal on the branch outside my window this morning, chirping away. What a lovely sight for 7am. One of these days, I'm going to go park hunting. Until then, enjoying the view from my window.

Crossing Guard

2010-08-27T14:34:00.000+01:00

Today I assisted two Banded Woolly Bear Caterpillars across the road. I was out for one of my two daily walks--designed to make sure I'm getting outside and fresh air while being cooped up finishing my dissertation--when I saw the first. Woolly Bear Caterpillars are pretty big. They're fuzzy and black with a brown stripe across their midsections. Old wives' tales say that the length of their brown middle is related to the harshness of the upcoming winter. I'm quite happy to report that their brown middles were quite small in comparison to their black ends. If the caterpillars can predict it, this winter won't be as nasty and full of snow as last. (Sorry, government employees, no paid week of work due to snow.)

I laid down a stick to get the first caterpillar up and into a flower bed. He curled up when I laid him down and I stood around for a minute making sure he uncurled and continued on his way. No sticks in sight when I happened upon the second caterpillar, so I used a semi-dried and two-days cut piece of weed. It still had leaves on it. That made it hard to pick the caterpillar up since it was more interested in eating the leaves. But that was interesting, too. I watched it devour about 5 of the leaves before rolling it on to the stem and moving it to the grass where there were tons of leaves for it to munch. Watching it eat was interesting because you can't see it eat, but rather quickly the leave just sort of stops being there.

If my identification is right, then these little guys, providing they make it, will turn into Isabella Tiger moths. They'll overwinter in their caterpillar stages and sometime next spring start their transformation. Hope you make it, guys!

Some info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctiidae
http://www.asktheexterminator.com/Caterpillar/Woolly_Bear_Caterpillar.shtml

Do you hear what I hear?

2010-08-23T21:11:00.001+01:00

Spotted: the creature making the cawing sound in the tree tops around the neighborhood. I've been looking out for a few days now for birds, big birds, like birds of prey, strange birds--anything bird, really that's the source of the noise. Turns out all that noise comes from a black squirrel. I stared in disbelief as a black squirrel was coming down a tree, and the noise seemed to be moving with it. Is it a mating call? A cry? Heat stroke? How strange and new and exciting. City wildlife!

The black squirrel is my favorite type of squirrel. Its fur looks so much silkier than that of the grey squirrel. Turns out they're one and the same, just a darker pigmented version. I also learned two greys can produce a black. A grey and a black and produce a half and half--looks kind of like one of the milk/dark chocolate pastilles that Droste makes.Yum.

Sing away, squirrels. I'll be listening.

Fairy rings . . . and mushroom randomness

2010-08-21T13:12:00.000+01:00

Learning is exciting. The other day, I learned a new term: fairy ring. It's a circle of mushrooms. Mushrooms are the fruit of a fungus that grows beneath the surface of the ground.

The first one I saw was on the groups of the Apricot Centre. There was a near-complete circle of mushrooms at the edge of the orchard. The second one I saw was out my window in the Quays. It was less impressive: a few mushrooms and a dead spot. It was also a funky shape, much more amoeba like than circular.

It's mushroom time in DC, too. There are some really large ones around, thanks to the wet warm conditions. Last night, I saw what looked like the start of a fairy ring, but it was interrupted by cement.

I'd like to have the knowledge to go about picking wild mushrooms and not risk my health. I've been told that it used to be, at least in Europe, that you could take your pickings to the pharmacist who could sort out which was which and tell you the ones that were safe to eat.

Then, the other day, I heard about a guy who's growing mushrooms in his fridge. Not the throw-in-your-pasta sauce kind, but the magical variety. The lengths people go . . . . When I was at UEA, I used to hear stories about people who'd gone magic mushroom picking in the woods. Apparently, they grow naturally wild there. I suppose there are worse things one could do and at least it gets the kids outside.
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4735253393075093930&postID=7357773752020649866
I have mixed feelings about mushrooms. I suppose it all comes down to how they are prepared and how much mushroom there is. Portobello is too much mushroom. Diced and in a sauce? Sounds nice. Smothered in garlic and butter? I could do with a few. Button mushrooms raw? If it were served to me. Stuffed mushrooms? I want to like them, but I'm just not that into them. I prefer to see them growing, in the ground, in random places, all different varieties. Mushrooms are fascinating, especially when they clean up toxic waste and cure smallpox.

Paul Stamets' Ted Talk

Organic confession

2010-08-20T15:56:00.000+01:00

There are some foods I find myself more comfortable eating if they were conventionally grown. Conventionally grown means pesticides have been used on them. Why? I don't like to have bugs in my food.

This seems like a horrible thing to admit, but I admit it. After picking a season's worth of raspberries infested with larvae, I find myself reaching for the non-organic berries in the store. While some might find the presence of a wormy thing a comforting sight as it indicates the presence of organic growth or at low pesticide use, it turns my stomach. And that's one of my flaws; it doesn't take much to turn my stomach.

There were many berries I picked that didn't seem to have a hint of bug presence and many of them were gorgeous, great smelling, bright red berries. Still, one worm and I lost interested. No way were any of those going to make their way into my mouth. I tried. Several times. I'd get an awesome looking berry, near perfect, with no signs of worm or pest. The berry would look clean inside and out, no holes, no spots, just perfect. I still had a hard time eating it. I'd pop one in my mouth and my tongue would be searching for the presence of a worm. I'd rather not eat something delicious than possibly eat a worm.

Anyway, I'm working on over-coming this fear. I hope to go out and buy more locally grown, farmers-market sold, organic things and support the local agriculture. I think all I need is a big of encouragement and a little distraction.

DC Delights

2010-08-19T22:09:00.000+01:00

Today's walk around the neighborhood featured funky houses, a black squirrel, butterflies, lavender, and a not-so-healthy looking tree full of sparrows, blending in as leaves. Also, the background noise of airplanes. The one downside to the Palisades neighborhood is that, as it borders the Potomac, it's right in the line of flight for planes landing at Reagan Airport (aka DCA). In addition to thinking about the noise pollution, how despite the beauty of the neighborhood, I probably wouldn't really like living there, and about the air pollution. Silly, I know. On the upside, I saw huge hibiscus flowers that were deep red and walked down streets I'd never visited before. So much to explore.

Fireflies

2010-08-18T15:31:00.004+01:00

Fireflies. Lightning bugs. Fire bugs. Awesome by any name. I'd almost forgotten about them and how magical they are to watch.

This time last year, I was camping with two of my best girlfriends. Our camp was on a rock bed, complete with fire pit. Just behind it there was a green patch that formed in the drainage ditch. Once the sun went down, the fireflies came to life. Never had any of us seen so many at once. It was like being at Disneyland with the fake fireflies set to go off at regular intervals. It was like a blanket of twinkling Christmas lights. It was amazing. Just when I was lamenting the loss of goldfinches, magpies, tits, and oystercatchers, the firefly came along and reminded me that there's wonderful nature in this neck of the woods, too. I only need to go outside and find it.

Wikipedia tells me there are over 2,000 species of firefly. I'm thinking that firefly spotting would be a fantastic way to travel around. Can you imagine? New places, long quiet evenings spent watching these creepy and amazing little bugs light up, the different colors you could see: yellow, green, red.

In an unrelated story, a friend posted a news piece about a group of researchers who went camping for a week to find that the brain functions differently when away from computers. No shit. But that's a great excuse to take a vacation masked as work. And another reminder to go outside!

Murder Mystery: The case of the cygnet killer

2010-08-10T19:43:00.001+01:00

This weekend, 4 cygnets were shot dead on campus. Rumor has it, someone with an air rifle shot them in the head. Campus security found them on Saturday morning. It was kept hush hush, but reported in the Gazette. E-mails circulated around campus today asking for donations to the Essex wildlife trust in memory of the cygnets. Horrifying to think someone would shoot baby animals for sport. Sad to think the cygnets won't be around campus anymore. The bird life is one of the best parts of this campus--certainly the liveliest. Thoughts go out to the parents of the four young swans.

(Thanks to Andrew Spiller for the photo.)

Last Day at the Apricot Centre

2010-08-10T00:43:00.001+01:00

Today was my last day at the Apricot Centre. A bitter sweet day, but a great way to spend it. I turned up on the late side and found Aidan in the glasshouse. I stood around for a few minutes like a useless lump and watched him water before he recruited me to help move the chicken coop. The brambles had started to claim the coop and the ladies were roosting on the roof. They ran for the cover of the nettles and trees as soon as we came through the gate. Nice to see those girls again! (Still no sign of the little brown one.) Then we (mostly Aidan since I vowed not to get stung by nettles on my last day!) dislodged the coop from the things growing on/through it and we lifted it to a new spot.

Next job, onion harvesting. The tops had rotted off, which made pulling some of them up pretty slippery business, but the shovel and I managed. The plot was overgrown with weeds, nettles and thistle included. Tons of nettles, stinging and non-stinging. I have the stings from finger tip to elbow to prove it. And thistle is mean! Spikes all the way down to the roots. I managed to uncover two mini potatoes while I was down there and a ton of bugs and worms--the sign of happy soil.

I met two friendly faces today. Mark, Marina's partner, who is the reason I first came to the Centre; and a frog. It was great to chat with Mark, albiet briefly, as it was through my meeting him at a CSA event in Colchester last spring that I first learned of the Apricot Centre and suggested a visit. The other friendly face was that of a frog, sitting in a pond behind the centre. The pond seems to have sprung a leak and the water level has been going down these past few weeks, but the frog didn't seem to mind much. He was able to sit with his head above water, body hiden beneath the yellow-green algae.

Wheat harvesting followed lunch. I pulled the wheat out from beneath the glasshouse raspberries, a fun and messy job. Vine weed is growing everywhere and complicates things. In another part of the glasshouse, vine weed has toppled a medium sized fennel plant. So a lot of vine weed was pulled as well as wheat. Other casualties included New Zealand spinach and fennel. The raspberries are still looking pretty good. All of the wheat was wheel-barrowed over to the chicken's area and thrown over the fence for them to enjoy. Poor girls; I kept scaring them off by pitching arms-full of wheat over the fence. Hope they enjoy the wheat feast.

My last project of the day, was to take a tray of seeds that Marina and I had sown a few weeks ago which were coming up as little sprouts and to separate them out into their own little compartments. The flowers with tiny seeds were just sprinkled over dirt. They've come up nicely, but pretty close together, so we've transplanted some of them to give them more space to grow. We managed to do about 5 trays of Love in a Mist--ridiculous name for a flower--which shared a pan with Sweet Williams. Shame I won't get to see them grow! And I'm missing out on plums and apples, too!

I've had a great time at the Apricot Centre and I know I've learned a lot. I will miss my trips there and working with Marina and Aidan. Many thanks to them for welcoming me onto the farm and allowing me the opportunity to learn and to get outside and do something real. It's been the perfect balance for the mental exercise of dissertation work.

Demolition

2010-08-05T23:11:00.001+01:00

In addition to the normal picking (raspberries and blackberries), today's visit to the Apricot Centre involved a bit of 'demolition'. (Or so Aidan called it.) I pulled all the plants growing in a section of the polytunnel. It was mostly a flower bed but had plenty of nettles, fennel and deadly nightshade. Then I dug up a patch of land that had been a flower bed outside. I used the pitchfork to turn the soil, wind up dead goose grass and chop down some nettles. I (bravely) attempted the quick-grab technique with nettles. Having already earned a few stings today, I thought, it's worth a shot to try. It worked. I was surprised. Even though I did it several times, I didn't expect it to work each time. I've got nettle stings on the insides of my hands (which I got while wearing gloves), on the backs of my hands and on my forearms. But none of them were from using my newly adopted quick nettle pulling technique.

Another new experience at the farm today involved a chicken (or a chook) and a glasshouse. One of Marina's chickens has escaped. It can fly and so it flies over the fence that's been put there to keep the chickens in. Aidan's put her back once, but after he saw her fly on top of the grapes, he thought no point putting her back; she'll only fly out again. I met her in the glasshouse. She's a lovely one, very clucky, which made for good fake conversation. She was making herself a little nest in the open dirt between the courgettes (zucchinis) and whatever's growing at the round-table end of the glasshouse and giving herself a dirt bath in the process. I was quite happy getting to know her and then she disappeared. Not sure where she went off to but I do hope to see her again.

Monday's my last day at the farm. I'm quite sad about that. I really have enjoyed my time there and I've learned quite a bit. I'm grateful to Marina for letting me come and to Aidan for educating me on everything from picking to planting to digging.

More photos from the Apricot Centre

2010-08-05T18:29:00.001+01:00

Tomato

Marigold

I think it's a Dahlia

Matching accessory

Opportunist: wheat growing in the raspberry patch


Cornflower

Going in


Lily


Vine weed

Edible flower: Nasturtiums

Revisiting the original idea

2010-08-02T13:09:00.000+01:00

Last Thursday, I hit a wall in my dissertation. I found myself bored with it and asking a lot of questions. Why am I writing this? Why did I make this decision? What was the point? How does this information matter? Will this achieve the goal? What was the goal again?

I needed to go back to the beginning and remember, beyond the twenty second summary, why I wanted to write my dissertation on the Maldives and how it can be set forth as an example of climate change in a particular country and climate change as a human (rights) issue.

I'm not sure I have a handle on it yet. I'm feeling more bored with my dissertation than excited about it. I still have some thinking to do and reimagining, but I think I'm on the right track.

I chatted about it with a good friend of mine (thanks, Gabs) and thinking my reasoning is this:

The world is a huge place. It's largely anonymous. We need to be educated about something to care about it. My goal is to write about the Maldives as a place, a unique formation on this planet, to set it up as a beautiful place that's worth interest and worth caring about. In this, appealing to people's sense of beauty or their aspiration to visit amazing places or scuba dive. Then to talk about the country, the people, the history. Talking about the history beyond Islam's arrival is to set it up as one of the ancient civilizations of the world where people have deep roots. Not just a new place that's had people for a few centuries, but there are 'indigenous' people and these islands are important to world history. Today, there are real people, being affected. Telling stories about the tsunami, about people needing to move islands, is to appeal to people's sense of empathy, to get them to put themselves into other people's shoes. After the earthquake in Haiti, after the Boxing Day Tsunami, there was a huge outpouring of monies and support. I'm suggesting that a country disappearing under rising seas is a tragedy that is similar, but on a more extreme and permanent scale, in the hope that people can start to think about it in terms of human beings, and not some anonymous island they've never heard of.

Will this be successful? Stay tuned.

Hampshire Walking

2010-08-02T12:53:00.000+01:00

This past weekend, I had the great pleasure of being a guest at Ashe Park, just outside of Steventon in Hampshire. My friend, Laura, from the BB2B walk, has been inviting me to visit since November, and I've been rather slow about getting around to it, but I am so glad I finally did. I enjoyed visiting with Laura and her family and the house and grounds are amazing. I was able to accompany them on several walks. Two around the grounds of Ashe Park, which included visits to the pond, a copse, and some sheep. They've been letting the grass grow a bit longer--much to the chagrin of the gardeners who think it looks untidy--to encourage insect life. I think it's working. We saw many butterflies, including some common blue, bees, flies, grasshoppers, and moths. They also have a ton of mini frogs, soon to grow to be toads. The toads make their way to the pond at the right time of year to lay eggs. Then come summer, these adorable, finger-nail sized, little frogs leave the pond and spread across the grounds in all directions. There are so many and they are so small that one has to be careful where one steps. Laura said the gardener hates mowing the lawn this time of year.

Laura, who just finished a biking trip in France, is gearing up for another big walk: 3 1/2 days around the Isle of Wight. They do training walks a few days a week. Sundays are the big walks. We went out for two hours, starting from Ashe Park, to White Hill. Park of the walk went along the Wayfarers Walk. We were accompanied by 3 dogs, a westie, a lab, and a great dane, who added a bit of entertainment to the walk. Some sites seem to say that the book Watership Down was based on this area. It was really beautiful. There were several parts that felt like you were really out in the country. No roads, no buildings in sight. We passed through fields of linseed, barley, and oats. Some golden fields, some recently cut, some green. It was good weather--overcast, but warm--and stunning scenery. On one track, one of the other walkers informed us that we were on the old main road to Winchester, which was at one point the capitol of England.

Steventon was the home of Jane Austen. She visited Ashe Park in her time--which she probably wouldn't recognize now--and wrote letters to her sister from there. Laura also took me to Winchester--a beautiful town with a ton of old, timber frame buildings and site of the oldest bar in England--where Jane Austen is buried.

Really great, relaxing weekend with excellent company and long walks. Thanks, Laura!

Toppling sunflowers

2010-07-29T22:58:00.001+01:00

Looking up; it was time to come down

Today's mission at the Apricot Centre was one of destruction and reaping. It started out with stripping the apricot tree of all it's fruit, much of which was worm eaten or worm infested (ick). Then picking the biggest of the peaches to let ripen in the cold store. Worm eaten peaches were put into freezer bags for chutney. Then it was time for a coffee break. Thursdays are great fun when Di and Jeanie are around. They make us coffee or tea, bring cake, and we sit around and chat for a while. Today, I got to meet Marina's mom, Jo, which was a real pleasure. Marina comes from a family of horticulturalists and Jo was telling me about her two brothers who went to America, Michigan to be exact, and have done well for themselves as horticulturalists out there. Full of caffeine and sugar, Aidan asked me to pull up the sunflower bed. Some of the sunflowers were huge. Two of the stalks reached the top of the poly tunnel which is about 12 feet. The largest of them had hit the top, sprouted a big yellow sunflower with a center the size of a large dinner plate, and then curved down. It was like a street lamp. Pulling up the littler flowers was pretty easy. They came up from the roots. The larger ones took a bit of playing with. The leaves were covered in white flies; every move sent up a spray. It was sort of like confetti but in the wrong direction. Aidan asked how many I'd eaten; it's part of their biological pest control program. Taking down the 12 footer was really satisfying. I pulled it from high up, bent it towards me, heart a crack at the roots, and sort of walked it around in a half circle, pulling at different points so the roots snapped. Another stalk came up easily, but it had a huge and heavy ring of soil that came up with it. It looked just like a pole that had been set in cement. After the fun of tearing apart the sunflower bed--they were at their end and it was to make space for the other crops--I picked raspberries. 4 bags full for the freezer to make jam. Some of the berries were incredible looking. We picked from both the glasshouse and outside. Then I picked the few blackberries that were ripe and moved on to red currants. Red currants are tedious to pick. Since you can't just run your fingers along and take the berries off, you're meant to pull at the stem, it takes a lot longer than you think it should to strip a bush of it's little red gems. 3/4 of a bag of red currants and I was done for the day. Lots of nettles and I was starting to get stung. A nice reminder of what a nettle sting feels like after managing to avoid them for about a month. I won't be missing nettles when I go back home. But there will be plenty of other things to miss, like the Apricot Centre. The apples are coming on really well. I'm sorry I won't be here for the picking.

Stephen Schneider, Climate Warrior

2010-07-28T22:48:00.000+01:00

Last week the world lost a great climate scientist and climate warrior, Stephen Schneider. There are plenty of posts from people who knew him and can write about his life and work better than I would be able to, but I wanted to note his passing. The few times I spoke or corresponded with him, he was patient, always helpful, very clear in his language, able to translate complex issues into terms even I could understand, and right to the point. He contributed a lot to the science of climate change and to the call for policy, lending his voice to advice presidents and communicate with the public. Not all scientists are created equal in their scientific abilities or their courage. His passing leaves a gap.

For more, this short story includes many links to other news stories and tributes. Well worth a read, whether you knew the man or not. http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2010/07/steve-schneider-dead-at-65

Quiet day at the farm

2010-07-27T18:57:00.000+01:00

Sunflower from the polytunnel

Red currants

Turns out someone forgot to e-mail me not to come to the Apricot Centre yesterday, so I showed up and was all by my lonesome. No bother; I picked a tray of raspberries and took some photos.


Glasshouse Berries


Barley about to be harvested


Blackberries

Gooseberry