June 17th, 2006
more about arborglyphs
As some of you may recall, I have written about arborglyphs a couple of times in the recent past. This was the first post, and here is the second. Yesterday, Carel posted a fascinating piece on arborglyphs and about Quaking Aspens over at Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding. It’s a very nice read.
Well, there’s rain in the forecast for today, but the sun is trying to shine, so I think we’re off to do a bit of hiking before the weather changes its mind. So no real post for today unless I see and photograph something neat while we’re out and about. Have a good weekend!
Tags: arborglyph
June 17th, 2006 at 2:57 pm
How funny, I didn’t even know there was a name for the practice of carving into trees. I just read your first post about it, and Carel’s as well. Quite interesting. I’m firmly in the camp that sees arborglyphs as defacement of a living thing, like the worst kind of graffiti, but it is an interesting mark of our so-called civilization.
I hope you saw something neat while you were out and about today. We’re having gray, showery weather, but I think we’re going to have to take a walk with camera in hand, too.
June 17th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
RA – Yes, I agree about them being a kind of defacement — really a kind of graffiti. Some of it has historic interest, but I’m glad that few people would bother to carve into a tree anymore. Fortunately, these days I think most people who write their names on things are looking for instant gratification and don’t want to wait several years for a tree to grow. Apart from the aesthetic disfigurement, cutting into tree bark probably makes a tree more vulnerable to invasion by fungi and insects — and with so many new varieties of both attacking our native trees, they don’t need the extra stress.
And yes, we saw some very neat things while we were out hiking. Also, many turtles crossing the roads to find nesting spots. We stopped so that I could move one to safety, and we drove around a couple and watched as the people behind us did the same, so I think that at least those turtles will have made their crossings okay. I shot some interesting photos of the turtle that I moved and will post them later tonight. It was looking like rain here, but we did manage to walk for a couple of hours and saw much of interest. I shall report back on all of this later!