#Landscape language

[mountrainiernps]

Landscape Language

Zygomorphic (adj) – flower that divides along an axis into mirror-like parts

Also known as bilateral symmetry, zygomorphic flowers have an irregular flower structure that can be divided into mirrored halves. Classic examples are members of the orchid family, such as the Calypso orchids found in Mount Rainier National Park. Calypso orchids have a crown of five petals and a slipper-shaped lower lip that forms a mirror image if you imagine a vertical axis splitting the flower in half. In addition to the 15 orchid species found in the park, other examples of zygomorphic wildflowers include monkeyflowers and penstemons.

NPS Photo of Calypso orchids in the Longmire area, April 2016. ~kl

[sayitaliano]

Valerio Minato's photo that won the Astronomy Picture of the Day Contest by NASA on December 25th, 2023.

In the picture: the moon, the Monviso Mount and the Basilica of Superga (on the Superga hill) outside Turin are all aligned. it took him 6 years to take this shot (and I take it as an example to never give up on your dreams).

[kemetic-dreams]

[adventuresofalgy]

It had been a wild and stormy night, and Algy had had great difficulty clinging on to the tree in which he had chosen to sleep, waking frequently in the darkness as the wind howled and the branches thrashed all around him, and the sleet and snow turned to drenching rain which soaked his feathers.

And from time to time he had heard eerie, eldritch sounds from the direction of the lochan; strange sounds that he did not recognise but which caused his feathers to shiver and shake involuntarily… But he had hugged his magic pumpkin lantern as tightly as he could while perching on a trembling branch, and hoped for the best. And when the morning eventually arrived, Algy found that all was well, and the landscape had been transformed into a thing of beauty once again, for the Atlantic storm had brought a great change in the weather, with much milder air sweeping in from across the great ocean on strong winds, to blow the menacing clouds away and melt the snow.

Hopping down to the ground, Algy surveyed the lochan carefully, but he could see nothing out of the ordinary. Deciding that he must simply have been imagining things, as a fluffy bird is apt to do during a disturbed and sleepless night, he was about to set off on his journey once again when a raven happened to pass by. "I'd no' bide there if I was you," it croaked, as it flew overhead. "Do you no' ken there's a kelpie in yon lochan, you daft bird…"

A kelpie! A shiver shook Algy's feathers again. The lochan was lovely to look at in the morning light, but he recalled the fearful noises he had heard in the darkness and resolved to move on hurriedly, before the day faded into night yet again…

I’m feared o’ the road ayont the glen, I’m sweir to pass the place Whaur the water’s rinnin’, for a’ fowk ken There’s a kelpie sits at the fit o’ the den, And there’s them that’s seen his face. But whiles he watches an’ whiles he hides And whiles, gin na wind manes, Ye can hear him roarin’ frae whaur he bides An’ the soond o’ him splashin’ agin’ the sides O’ the rocks an’ the muckle stanes. When the mune gaes doon at the arn-tree’s back In a wee, wee weary licht, My bedclaes up to my lugs I tak, For I mind the swirl o’ the water black An’ the cry i’ the fearsome nicht.

Which translates from Scots into standard English roughly as follows:

I’m afraid of the road on the other side of the glen, I’m reluctant to pass the place Where the water’s running, for all folk know There’s a kelpie sits at the foot of the ravine And there’s those who have seen his face. Sometimes he watches and sometimes he hides And sometimes, if no wind moans, You can hear him roaring from the place where he dwells And the sound of him splashing against the sides Of the rocks and the great stones. When the moon goes down at the alder tree’s back In a wee, wee miserable light, My bedclothes up to my ears I take, For I remember the swirl of the black water And the cry in the terrifying night.

[Algy is thinking of the first three verses of the poem The Kelpie by the late 19th/early 20th century Scottish writer Violet Jacob.]

[thesilicontribesman]

David Harding's 'Henge', Glenrothes, Scotland

[miraenart]

Forget Me Not.

[noosphe-re]

Stone erratics. Transcending time, eclipsing distance. Shipwrecked monoliths that sail across the empty landscape. As natural markers and ports of call, they have been worshipped as loci of divine power since time immemorial. They have formed the focal points for human wonder and wish fulfilment. And being untethered from their place of origin, they are a kind of pilgrim – commuting across the ancient byways and migrating from ancestral grounds of stone. The root of 'erratic' is in the Latin errare which means to wander. As they wander through the immensities of time and space these giant rocks become witnesses to the earth's internal monologues. They are the eavesdroppers of the sediments.

Paul Prudence, Figured Stones: Exploring the Lithic Imaginary

[des-vanecido]

— Love languaje.

[bfpnola]

nov 9 - nov 13 readings

hi! this is reaux (she/they)! as many of you know, BFP is slowly waking up and will be undergoing a full makeover in the coming months. in the mean time, to help get back into the pattern of posting and to continue to share resources, i want to start posting what i read each week!

without further ado, here is everything i've been learning from and engaging with so far just between last saturday night [nov 9, 2024] and right now [wednesday afternoon, nov 13, 2024]! i tried to post this on tiktok @/edgeofeden.17 (go check me out for cool political talks and reading recs!) with my reactions as well, but they said it violated community guidelines :(

journal article: The House on Bayou Road: Atlantic Creole Networks in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

wikipedia: Plaçage

wikipedia: Signare

paperback book: Africans In Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth-Century

article: Why Is Gen Z So Sex-Negative?: A prehistory of the Puriteen.

article: Policy-makers must not look to the “Nordic model” for sex trade legislation

article: Sex workers face unique challenges when trying to unionize: Anti-sex work stigma and labor status create roadblocks in sex workers’ fight against the industry status quo

wikipedia: Decriminalization of sex work

short youtube video: "Decriminalization of sex work does not mean the decriminalization of human trafficking."

short youtube video: What About Legalization? Decriminalization is the only solution

short youtube video: Dis/Ability and Sex Work Decriminalization

short youtube video: "Helping people through police is inherently coercive." - Gilda Merlot

wikipedia: Page Act of 1875

essay: Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power by Audre Lorde

wikipedia: Erotic Capital

long youtube video: KATHERINE MCKITTRICK: Curiosities, Wonder, and Black Methodologies // 09.14.20

journal article: Black life is Not Ungeographic! Applying a Black Geographic Lens to Rural Education Research in the Black Belt

journal article: Black matters are spatial matters: Black geographies for the twenty-first century

journal article: Unspoken Grammar of Place: Anti-Blackness as a Spatial Imaginary in Education

short video: Chicago Works | Andrea Carlson: Shimmer on Horizons

zine: Evaluating What Skills You Can Bring to Radical Organizing

diagram + workbook?: The Social Change Ecosystem Map (2020)

essay: How to Build Language Justice

guide: Anti-Oppressive Facilitation for Democratic Process: Making Meetings Awesome for Everyone

radical resource library: Center for Liberatory Practice & Poetry

short essay: The Short Instructional Manifesto for Relationship Anarchy

essay/blog post: Access Intimacy: The Missing Link

i think that's everything? whew. let's see how i finish off the week! if you need PDFs for anything i didn't directly link, lmk and i'll find a way to get it to you. might upload it to my google drive or something!

--

topics: Louisiana Creole history + heritage, women of color + erotic capital, sex work decriminalization, Black geography, revolutionary organizing, language, relationship anarchy, disability, intimacy

[worldtalks]

Which skyline is this? (don't check tags)

[rebirthofdiana]

the type of love that i crave 💕😔

[mountrainiernps]

Landscape Language

Skirting effect (noun) – trees with denser branches towards the ground

It may be summer, but signs of Mount Rainier’s long winters are still visible in the landscape. Look for the "skirting" effect on trees with stunted upper branches and longer, denser branches near the ground. Harsh winds stunt the higher branches, while snow protects the lower growth. At this location, the changes in the branch growth reveals that the typical snowpack is about 5-6 feet (5’9” person for scale). What other signs of winter are you still finding in the park?

NPS Photo of skirting effect on a subalpine fir along the Crystal Lakes Trail, 7/4/23. ~kl

[useless-catalanfacts]

View of the Pedraforca mountain, in the Pyrenee mountain range. Central Catalonia.

When there's a small layer of snow like this, in the Catalan language we call it an "enfarinada", whose literal translation would be "sprinkled flour", because it looks like the top, thin layer of flour on a bread.

Video by Visit Pedraforca (Instagram, Facebook).

[virromanus]

How the Renaissance Shaped the Italian Language

The Renaissance, a period of immense cultural, artistic, and intellectual growth in Europe, played a crucial role in the development of the modern Italian language. This era, spanning the 14th to the 17th century, witnessed a revival of interest in the classical art, literature, and learning of ancient Greece and Rome, significantly influencing the evolution of the Italian language.

Dante Alighieri's Contribution:

Dante Alighieri, often referred to as the "Father of the Italian language," was instrumental in establishing the Tuscan dialect as the standard for the Italian language. His most famous work, "The Divine Comedy" ("Divina Commedia"), written in the early 14th century, was one of the first major works of literature written in the vernacular, i.e., the local Tuscan dialect, instead of Latin. Dante's choice of the vernacular over Latin marked a pivotal moment in the development of Italian as a literary language.

Dante's works demonstrated the expressive and aesthetic possibilities of the Italian language, elevating its status and proving it could be used for serious, high literary pursuits, a domain previously reserved for Latin.

Petrarch's Influence:

Francesco Petrarca, known as Petrarch, further solidified the use of the vernacular in literature. He is best known for his Italian sonnet sequences, which focused on themes of love, personal reflection, and the human experience. Petrarch's poetry, particularly his "Canzoniere" (Songbook), greatly influenced Italian literature and language. His refined use of the vernacular and his development of the Italian sonnet format set a standard for lyrical poetry in Italian.

Boccaccio's Contributions:

Giovanni Boccaccio, another key figure of the Italian Renaissance, also contributed significantly to the development of the Italian language. His most famous work, "The Decameron," is a collection of novellas written in the vernacular. It not only had a profound impact on Italian literature but also helped to shape the Italian language by demonstrating its suitability for both serious and more lighthearted, secular topics.

Impact on Standardizing Italian:

The works of these authors were essential in the standardization of the Italian language. Their choice of the Tuscan dialect, particularly that of the Florentine region, as their literary medium contributed to its status as the basis of standard modern Italian.

Legacy and Continued Influence:

The Renaissance's focus on humanism and the return to classical sources also played a role in shaping the Italian language. This period encouraged a deeper exploration of the human condition, emotion, and intellect, aspects that were deeply integrated into the Italian language through literature and art.

In sum, the Renaissance was a period of reawakening that not only rediscovered the riches of classical antiquity but also set the foundation for the development of the modern Italian language. The works of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio were not just literary masterpieces but also linguistic milestones that established the prestige and potential of the Italian vernacular, leading to its evolution into the modern Italian language we know today.

[thesilicontribesman]

Last day of the Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris Exhibition, 'Lost Spells, Lost Words: Beyond & Before' Exhibition today at Rheged, Cumbria. A great journey home!

[artstationable]

Daniel Dana

Freelance Concept Artist & Illustrator

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