#ponderosa pine i love you <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[landwriter]

a ponderosa pine through binoculars

[i-am-still-bb]

Whumptober 2024 - Day 1

Race against the clock (search party / panic attack / “if only we could hold on”)

A/N: A month late, but I'm still here. NaNo started on Friday. My goal is 25k not the full 50k and I'm glad I made that decision because I would already be so far behind if 50k was the goal.

--

The Hobbit, T Gen Words: 2,128

--

The air was cold. 

That was all Thorin could think about.

It was cold.

It has already snowed a handful of times. The roads over the Divide had already closed once. That snow had melted quickly. And the road had opened within 48hrs of closure. But it had closed. And it was getting colder. And the days were getting shorter by 3 minutes each day. 

And there were low clouds on the horizon. And they loomed threatening. And Thorin could smell that more snow was on the way.

And Fili and Kili were missing.

He looked to the mountains. It was sunny right now casting the peaks in sharp relief. In the dark shadows the white patches of still unmelted snow lingered where they had been untouched by the sun in days. The sky was bright blue, deeply saturated. It was a beautiful day. The yellow aspens practically glow in their groves nestled among the round topped ponderosa pines.

But he shivered. 

It had been a beautiful day and he had been looking forward to taking the boys to the park where they would sprint down the short trails that ended where they began, run from swings, to slide, to climbing apparatus, and back again, all of which were fenced in. Safe. He often lost sight of one of them for a bit, but he usually found them hiding behind a tree, climbing a slide, or he had jus somehow missed them when he had scanned the scene. 

But the woods had no fences. No safe trails that were gently graded with no real way of getting lost in any fashion. 

Dis’ voice yanked him away from his dark thoughts. 

She was squared up to a sheriff in dark brown and yellow uniform. Her voice increased in volume, and Thorin recognized the sharp edge to it from their childhood. Dis was settling in for a fight. “They’re just little boys! What do you mean it’ll take time for people to get here? I’ve lived here my entire life! The worst thing that has ever happened to occupy was when one of you—” here she stabbed a finger at him, and Thorin completely dropped his thoughts to intervene to prevent his normally logical, greater-good minded sister, from doing something she would regret. “--was embezzling! What is there going on? A big horned sheep in the road? Who the fuck fucking cares?!” Her voice cracked. “My boys, my sons are missing.”

“Ma’am…” the sheriff deputy started. 

“Are you just going to lea—” her voice was quiet now, cracking. 

“Hey,” Thorin stepped between Dis and the sheriff, angled so he was entirely blocking out the sheriff.  He took her shoulders in his hands, heavy, reassuring. “I can do this.”

Dis’ eyes were wide, wet and she nodded. She reached up and took one of Thorin’s hands in both of hers. Her grip was crushing, but her hands trembled and spasmed against his. He gave her hand a squeeze, quick, fast, a remnant from their childhood, a silent I’m here. I love you. And then loosened his grip a modicum. 

“I can have some guys here within thirty minutes, and more will be able to come as they get off work, make the drive, whatever, to join with your guys. What I need from you is someone to co-ordinate.” 

“Sir, it really is best if we handle the search—”

“You’ve already said that it will take time to get your people here,” he held up a hand to halt the deputy’s words, “I don’t give a flying fuck why it will take time. All that matters is that the can’t be here right damn now. And we need people looking right fucking now. And we need more than just two people looking. We looked until we saw your car coming and covered basically no ground.”

“I understand your concern. But too many people tends to create more problems than it solves. It’s best to let us deal with everything from the start.”

“I don’t think you do! Are your kids out there? Fili is only 7. Kili is 5. He only just learned how to tie his shoelaces. Surviving in the woods overnight is probably going to be a bit beyond him,” Thorin’s voice is acerbic. “If problems happen you can tell my guys to fuck off, but until then I want eyes looking for my nephews to bring them home. I will be calling my guys no matter what you say. I’m really just giving you a heads up and giving you the opportunity to make us more effective because we’ve never had to fucking do this before.”

“I understand, sir. Let me talk to my superiors and see what they say.”

Thorin’s voice is still sharp, “You do that.”

He glares at the straight back of the officer as he crosses the lawn to his cruiser and his radio. Thorin did not look away until he saw the officer pick up the radio and hold the mic to his mouth to speak. That’s when he pulled his phone from his pocket and opened his contacts. 

“We should have just done this first,” he grumbled.

“I called you.”

“You did. And I should have called all of the guys instead of thinking I could just…” he sighed, sounding defeated. “I don’t know.” He slammed his thumb into the phone icon under Dwalin’s name. It rang out; Thorin’s blood pressure increasing the entire time. 

Redial.

“He has Do Not Disturb on,” Thorin said, explaining to Dis and to his own hammering heart. 

Five rings later…

“What do you want?”

—

Dwalin was at the house within fifteen minutes with Ori and Nori in tow. Dwalin was still wearing his welding gear and Ori’s bewilder expression said that he had not been told why they were leaving the job sight in the middle of the day. Dwalin had turned monosyllabic, answering with grunts and yeahs before he hung up the phone with Thorin. His mind already turning over ideas, plans, and trying to ignore any negative outcomes that came to mind.

The others slowly trickled in over the next hour or two. 

The sheriff's deputy returned with the information that Search and Rescue was being activated. Thorin had nodded and still taken the local topography map that Dwalin had stored in the glove box of his car for whatever reason. Together they muddled through half-forgotten information about how lost people behave that they had heard over the years.

But Fili and Kili were not grown ups. And sometimes the logic just did not seem to work for them.

They itched standing over that map. Arms were crossed, feet shuffled, but everything about their bodies screamed for action. Ori and Dis had set about gathering backpacks, and bits of gear, ropes, baselayers, emergency blankets, food, a comfort item for each of the boys and stowing them in backpacks for each searcher. 

—

“Wait!” Kili shouted.

Fili stopped and turned around. Kili was crawling up the slope behind him. The hanging straps from his backpack kept snagging on low hanging, sharp branches. Fili scowled. His cheeks were red and he felt hot, but his fingers, nose, and ears were stinging with cold. 

“Are we almost back?”

“I think home’s just that way,” Fili pointed.

Kili grinned. “I hope mom has dinner ready! I’m starving.”

“How are you hungry? You ate all of your snacks.”

Kili shrugged and took off, sneakers sliding in the leaf detritus that covered the ground and he headed down the slope. Fili followed quickly. It was getting dark under the trees. If Kili was more than 10 or so feet away Fili could no longer see him and that made Fili feel sick and scared. But with Kili there, he was still a little scared, but not as much.

—

“Fili!”

“Kili!”

Voices echoed around the house. 

The parties had driven down the mountain to the curve in the road where there was better signal for their radios. They had finished searching between the house and there and had found nothing. So now Dis was alone. 

Dis stood on the front porch. Her arms were crossed, clutching a too large sweatshirt around her body. Her throat was raw. She had fought them when they told her to stay here. “What if the boys come home? Someone should be here. We don’t want them to come home and leave again because there’s no one here.” She had screamed at them in frustration. But here she stood. She shivered despite the fur lined boots, the sweatshirt, the blanket, and the hat she had pulled low around her ears. Her fingers tightened.

“They must have found them. They will be home any moment. I’ll see lights coming up the drive in just a minute…” she didn’t let herself think about her boys being cold. She had already covered their beds with all the spare blankets she could find. She had fished stuffed animals out from underneath the bottom bunk, and found baby blankets and tucked them beneath pillows just in case they were wanted. Logs were piled high beside the fireplace and coals had been banked. And she had put things in the big crock pot that she had hauled up from the basement. Anything to keep her hands busy. But now there was nothing to do but wait.

And the warm colors of sunset were cooling over the mountainous horizon.

And she was cold.

—

“I’m cold,” Kili whined.

Fili rubbed his nose, it stung as it ran. “I’m cold too.”

“I thought you said we were almost home.” Kili’s voice wobbled on the verge of tears. 

Fili’s voice was small. “I thought we were.” He peered at the brass compass he held in his cupped hands. It was too dark to read the face and the hands had stopped glowing a while ago. 

“I’m scared.” Kili’s voice was barely above a whisper, and Fili almost did not hear him. Fili stuffed the compass with the engraved initial on the lid into the pocket of his sweatshirt and took Kili’s hand. They both squeezed the other’s hand twice.

—

Dis was sitting on the porch swing, knees drawn to her chest, a blanket tight around her shoulders, when lights turned the corner and started up the driveway.

She did not even consciously think about moving before she found herself standing at the top of the drive.

Waiting.

Thorin’s black truck came to a stop. She knew the answer to her question before he even got out of the truck. He paused. There was the space of a breath or two before his door opened. 

Fili and Kili were still out there.

Her knees buckled.

—

“And what do we have here?”

Fili froze when he heard the voice. He had been looking at his feet; trying not to trip as they worked their way up a ridge. 

The voice belonged to an old man with long white hair and a beard. His cream colored cable knit sweater and light colored pants almost seemed to glow in the darkness. 

—

Dis never did remember how exactly she ended up on the living room couch. But that was where she was when she woke up. A couple coals glowed dimly in the fire. A glass of water sat on the coffee table next to a bowl of the food that she had thrown together in the crockpot. Thorin was stretched out on the recliner, head thrown back with an arm over his eyes to block out the light that was starting to make its way into the room.

With a nauseating roll of her stomach she remembered why she was here and what had happened. 

But then she heard the sound that had woken her up again—the creak of the screen door’s hinges. Blanket around her shoulders, one arm outstretched for the wall to help with her unsteadiness she went to see what it was with no real expectations.

She opened the solid wooden front door to find Fili and Kili on the doorstep, conferring with each other about how to get into the house. 

Thorin found them there several minutes later, woken by their excited shouts and Dis’ joyful sobbing. 

When asked what had happened, where they had gone, just what, all the boys could say was that they went exploring, got lost, and then some old man wearing white had found them, taken them home, fed them, let them wash their faces, and then he and a man that wore all brown told them stories about the mountains until both boys had fallen asleep. 

Thorin looked for years. But he never saw, heard, or found any trace of two men that matched the descriptions that Fili and Kili gave him.

--

Taglist: @silvermoon-scrolls @metztlilua @I-am-pinkie @dubhlachen

[elhuei]

Writer Q&A | Tag Game

Thank you to @mthollowell-writes for tagging me! 💞You can find their original post here! :)

1) What motivates you to write?

(Stories are like ghosts that haunt my thoughts and writing is the only way to exorcize them) I'm motivated to write the kind of books I want to read + the sort of characters I want to read! Not enough black lesbian girlies in fiction so I gotta do my part by releasing them into the wild 💅🏾

2) A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

I'll share the first few paragraphs from Little Infernos! Its old + I shared it before but it lives in my head rent free <3

Possession is an impossible skill to grasp. The doctor told her as much. “Think of yourself as a ghost,” he’d said, with a chuckle and a thin-lipped smile. Play pretend. A game to take her mind off the terror of stealing back her body from whatever’s taken it the night before. Remember, start small. The tips of a finger, a big toe, maybe even a whole pinky, if she was feeling so bold. Slip back in, one part at a time. This time, Dante is sprawled out in a bed of Ponderosa pine-needles. Bitter moss and loamy soil weighs down her tongue, pebbles rolling hard behind her throat. Aftertastes of pondweed and eelgrass. A ring of trees loom overhead, peaks fading into a dark and stainless sky. She moves her right index finger first, dragging in a breath of dirt and timberland air as she revels in the prick. Something small. Next is her left finger, then her pinky and middle. Soon, she is grabbing a fistful of earth and leaves and morels, propping herself up on empty arms. Another fight to push herself back into her body. The thin-lipped doctor says it’s sleep paralysis. Her father says it’s demons, the ones which drew her to Beau. Web M.D. also says sleep paralysis, so it must be true.

3) Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

Hmm Dante from Little Infernos! She just like me fr (in an alternate universe where I'm a little freak who has little freak things happen to her.) Since I focus on my fantasy projects so much I don't often get to explore more contemporary characters. I love Dante because she's the kind of black girl we don't often see in media (shy, quiet, introverted, ✨feral✨) and I get to aspects of myself in her that I can't quite replicate in my fantasy wips.

4) What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

Worldbuilding! I love building out worlds for fantasy projects, and thinking about all the little intricacies that go into developing a fleshed out world. It's super time consuming, and if I don't reign myself in it can become a never-ending process, but it's so much fun regardless.

5) What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Hmm I think I'm fairly good at scene/setting descriptions! Ironically enough I do suffer from White Room Syndrome during first drafts because I tend to focus more on dialogue/character interactions, but during editing I think I do well setting scenes + making the worlds I'm writing about feel alive.

6) What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

I love how friendly and encouraging everyone is! We're all here to write our silly little stories and obsess over our silly little characters together :)

7) A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

I used to use Scrivener to compile all my worldbuilding notes (personally I don't enjoy drafting in Scrivener lol) BUT I've recently started using Notion and I love it so much! Very easy to use and satisfies my urge to make all my notes ✨aesthetically pleasing✨ Its like having secret wip pages just for myself and I love it sm <3

8) A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

I love the magic system I've built for A Killing of Kinfolk! Mayhaps one day I'll make a more in depth worldbuilding post but tldr; all living things have magic (Kin) within them, some people can wield Kin while others cannot. A person's magic (regardless if whether or not they can wield it) essentially works like antibodies, protecting from outside sources of magic. Casting/using magic on another person is always going to be a painful, invasive, and if prolonged, deadly process. This makes the most prominent use of Kin, healing magic (Mendwork) extremely difficult. Healers have to work slow and meticulously to ensure they exert enough Kin to heal their patients without too much pain or further harm. There are other schools of magic within AKOK (seedweaving, bonewielding and banework) but Mendwork is by far the most complex and interesting to me. I really liked the idea of a magic system that's actively hostile to its user—a healing magic that hurts just as much. Very fun <3

9) What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

READ! I feel like this is overused advice but I know all my worst writers block moments come when I haven't read anything in a while. I'm trying to be better about reading regularly and revisiting old favs when I get stuck to inspire me and remind me why I want to write.

10) Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

I'm continuously inspired by writers such as @coffeeandcalligraphy , @fluoresensitive , @yvesdot & @seasteading, and I have to shout out @aninkwellofnectar , and my beloved @harehearts for being such kind and supportive writeblr friends 💞

I'll no pressure tag: @cuntylittlesalmon , @serenanymph , @thepixiediaries , @meerawrites & @tragicbackstoryenjoyer + anyone who'd like to join in!

[hikeofthemonth]

June 2023 Mangum Dental Hike of the Month Granite Basin Lake Loop

Distance: 3.1 miles

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

Elevation Gain: 374 feet

Parking: There is parking on the west and east side of Granite Basin Lake and both sides have restrooms.  There is a Forest Service day use fee of $5.00 for parking.  I recommend parking near the boat dock on the east side of the lake.  

Directions: From the corner of Williamson Valley and Iron Springs Road, head west for 1.6 miles and take a right on Granite Basin Road.  Drive north on Granite Basin Road for just over 3 miles passing Yavapai Campground, and Cayuse Day Use Area.  Immediately after passing Wekuvde Day Use Area, the road turns into a one-way loop.  Stay to the right and in 1/4 mile turn right towards the boat dock.  Park near the boat dock.  

Summary

Many visitors to Granite Basin Lake consider it to be a pond, however, this area of Prescott is more precious than rubies.  It is close to town and this area offers camping, hiking, fishing, birding, mountain biking, and picnicking.  This time of year the Mint Creek area is teaming with green grasses, wildlife, and the melodious sound of running water.  The wet winter has provided a spring to remember.  This little lake and surrounding trails are safely tucked in at the base of Granite Mountain like a well-fortified city behind a strong wall.  On a recent Monday evening, my 7-year-old son was willing to hike with me.  This was a surprise as I am known for frustrating family members by misrepresenting the length or difficulty of hikes. This hike was short enough that we didn’t get too tired, and long enough to enjoy the outdoors and create positive memories. The trail was not overly exposed and the elevation was just enough of a challenge. The spring weather was absolutely perfect.

Exit the parking lot on the north side near the restrooms.  In May, there was still plenty of water flowing over the dam making Mint Creek a beautiful spectacle.  Just after the dam start hiking on Trail #345, Mint Wash Trail.  Stay to the left and follow the creek.  Barely into the hike (0.1 miles) there is the first of two creek crossings.  Strategically placed stones make it passable.  Hike mostly downhill for about 3/4 of a mile and come to the first junction.  Take a right on Trail #354, Mint Wash Connector Trail.  This is the second creek crossing.  Take this trail mostly uphill for 1 1/4 miles and enjoy the views of Granite Mountain on this well-marked trail with excellent signage.  The plant life is consistent with the area’s chaparral with pinyon pine trees, scrub oak, manzanita, and a couple varieties of cactus. Our next junction was Trail #348, Chimbley Water Trail.  Turn right and hike for about 1/4 mile.  The habitat changes quickly to Ponderosa Pine Forest, with plenty of shade and a soft breeze.  Turn right about at the junction with Trail #351, West Lake Trail.  This trail parallels Granite Basin Road for 1/2 mile.  Take another right on Trail #345 Mint Wash Trail.  The lake becomes visible as the trail climbs for an excellent view of the lake with the mountain in the background.  It is surprisingly easy to follow this trail.  Just remember when given the choice,  choose the right and enjoy this hike.  During our hike, we were able to identify a few birds including Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bewick’s Wren, House Finch, Bridled Titmouse, Red-winged Blackbird, Yellow Warbler, and Mallard Duck.  

Other hikes that we have recorded in this immediate area include: April 2021 West Lake to Balancing Rook Loop October 2017 Just Go Left Loop from Cayuse Trailhead February 2015 Granite Mountain #261 Find these and all other achieved hikes at https://hikeofthemonth.mangumdental.com/

Link to Forest Service Map: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3832043.pdf

Mangum Dental is a general dentist office that loves bringing you the hike of the month.�� Find our past hikes at www.MangumDental.com.

[kaitlin-murphy]

I was going through my sketchbooks today and rediscovered these lovely little mountain portraits. I know some of you expressed interest before, so now's your chance! I'm letting them go for a super fair price. DM me if you want one! And if they all find good homes, maybe I'll even continue the series! Each one is 7x5in on heavy acid free paper: 1. Mahogany 2. Pinyon 3. Ponderosa 4. Whitebark Pine 5. Monsoon 6. Alpine #letsdothis #painting #mountain #watercolor #impressionism #naturenerd #artinthewild #illustration #crag #ascent #getout #enjoy #west #wild https://www.instagram.com/p/BhKj4VdlqGn0T0SBC2-RvO-ZtDPuFkTLpmRbcs0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[walaw717]

Single trees are extraordinary; trees in number more remarkable still. To walk in a wood is to find fault with Socrates’s declaration that ‘Trees and open country cannot teach me anything, whereas men in town do.’ Time is kept and curated and in different ways by trees, and so it is experienced in different ways when one is among them. This discretion of trees, and their patience, are both affecting. It is beyond our capacity to comprehend that the American hardwood forest waited seventy million years for people to come and live in it, though the effort of comprehension is itself worthwhile. It is valuable and disturbing to know that grand oak trees can take three hundred years to grow, three hundred years to live, and three hundred years to die. Such knowledge, thoughtfully considered, changes the grain of the mind. - Robert Macfarlane, The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot Recently we drove to Couer d’Alene. North of town, I saw a strikingly handsome building set in a grove of old-growth trees. It was not a natural landscape, but when the building was constructed, the developer had left some ancient Douglas fir and ponderosa pine and created the impression of a long solidity in the landscape for his construction. It is rare for a builder to go to such trouble because it is simpler and more economical to clear a lot and build than to build around trees and other natural landscape elements. As we sat at the traffic light and I studied the property with its balance of trees, the stone and woodwork of the building, I wondered how the trees had experienced this construction and the loss of so many other trees in that particular stand. Two years ago, I witnessed a tree apparently doing something that I suspect I was not meant to see. Marilyn had just placed a planter full of new young plants on a deck rail, which was under the canopy of a very ancient willow. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement and turned just in time to see the willow purposely lift a frond and stroke the young plants. The action was like an arm lifting and then stroking the plants, and the movement occurred twice, lifting and returning, lifting and returning like a parent might stroke the head of a much-loved child. I have had the privilege of many odd and spiritual experiences – especially after I moved to New Mexico. Still, this particular moment in the pacific northwest haunts me as maybe the most significant spiritual moment of my life. I feel as though I saw a moment we are not privileged to see, and if we do see, it is under the influence of a mind-altering chemical like LSD, a moment when our ego is de-potentiated and no longer in control of our perceptions. I have had such experiences using LSD, but that was 50 years ago, and I doubt that I was having a flashback at this late date. Humanity suffers incredible hubris. We speak of looking to space to find intelligent life when we are actually looking for life like us. I suspect if we ever do find life like us, it will be terrifying – it will be a life driven by insularism and an attitude that cannot see us as an equal and will more than likely only see us in terms of our utility or see us in terms of something in the way, much like we see trees, wolves and everything else on this planet. We now scientifically know that trees and plants in forests have a massive communication network of mutually sustainable interactions. “In the 1960s, CIA interrogation expert Cleve Backster experimented with polygraph machines when he stumbled onto something novel. He noticed what appeared to be a change in electrical resistance with one of the plants, to which he connected the polygraph equipment whenever he removed a leaf or even “threatened” to harm the plant by intent alone. He likened this sudden electrical pulse to a “scream” emitted by the plant in response to endangerment. While Backster’s theory was considered a crackpot idea, many would follow similar, unusual observations about the behavior of plants, which seemingly represented a sort of “communication” they might be capable of.

For instance, a 1989 AP article discussed what one physicist, named Ed Wagner, believed were evidence he found of plant communication via what he called “W-waves”: Physicist Ed Wagner says he has found evidence that trees talk to each other in a language he calls W-waves. “If you chop into a tree, you can see that adjacent trees put out an electrical pulse,” said Wagner. “This indicates that they communicated directly.” Explaining the phenomenon, Wagner pointed to a blip on a strip chart recording of the electrical pulse. “It put out a tremendous cry of alarm,” he said. “The adjacent trees put out smaller ones…. People have known there was communication between trees for several years, but they’ve explained it by the chemicals trees produce,” Wagner said. “But I think the real communication is much quicker and more dramatic than that,” he said. “These trees know within a few seconds what is happening. This is an automatic response.” Wagner has measured the speed of W-waves at about 3 feet per second through the air. “They travel much too slowly for electrical waves,” he said. “They seem to be an altogether different entity. That’s what makes them so intriguing. They don’t seem to be electromagnetic waves at all.” Another physicist, William Corliss, also took an interest in Wagner’s discovery, noting that, “The voltage measured by electrodes implanted in trees goes up and down as one goes higher and higher up the trees… incidentally, electricity does seem to affect plant growth.” In more recent years, the idea of plants capable of forms of “communication” has been considered a bit more thoughtfully and is not outright shunned by the scientific community. One leading modern researcher and advocate for the varieties of ways plants communicate is Suzanne Simard, whose work with plants has helped set new precedents for how interactions between various species of flora occur. Simard’s research began to coalesce around what became a doctoral thesis two decades ago, in which she argued that a variety of communication methods were used by trees to achieve everything from expressing their needs to sharing nutrients “via a network of latticed fungi buried in the soil.” She further studied the varieties of ways that fungal filigrees were exploited by trees in ways that allowed them to send signals to other plants nearby about changes in the environment and even “helping” endangered plants by transferring and sharing nutrients with them. Speaking with “Yale Environment 360” last year, she talked about how, as she puts it, a forest “is a cooperative system,” saying: “To me, using the language of ‘communication’ made more sense because we were looking at not just resource transfers, but things like defense signaling and kin recognition signaling. We as human beings can relate to this better. If we can relate to it, then we’re going to care about it more. If we care about it more, then we’re going to do a better job of stewarding our landscapes.” Despite having communicative abilities, plants generally aren’t deemed to have any sort of intelligence. However, there are still some members of the scientific community that argue this is not necessarily the case. Author and researcher Michael Pollan, who studies the field of plant neurobiology, argues that plants are more perceptive than many would think: “They have analogous structures… They have ways of taking all the sensory data they gather in their everyday lives … integrate it, and then behave appropriately in response. And they do this without brains, which, in a way, is what’s incredible about it because we automatically assume you need a brain to process information.” Understanding how various life forms on earth communicate and cooperate with each other gives us a much broader sense of what “life on Earth” is truly about. It also challenges us to consider whether more complex interaction systems exist between organisms, including those that aren’t deemed intelligent or even responsive, by humans. In the case of plants, it seems unusual that these organisms, while deemed

to be very much alive, have long been relegated to being unresponsive and “vegetative,” in the most literal sense. Maybe it’s indeed time we start paying closer attention to our floral kindred and the subtleties of their interactions with each other and their environment.” Trees That Talk: The Bizarre World of Plant Communication Micah HanksJuly 2, 2017 As I come closer to the ending of my own span of years on this earth, I have become more acutely aware of the commonality I have with all life. Fear and suffering appear to be the same across all species, and I am beginning to wonder if love is also – not romantic love, but the deep logos love spiritual people have written about for millennia. I understand there are reasons we avoid seeing these connections and being aware of the “intelligence,” love, and fear of life around us. The Danish/Inuit Arctic explorer Kund Rassmussen once wrote, “The greatest peril of life lies in the fact that human food consists entirely of souls. All the creatures that we to kill and eat, all those that we have to strike down and destroy to make clothes for ourselves, have souls, souls that do not perish with the body and which must therefore be pacified lest they revenge themselves on us for taking away their bodies.” That is seen as a very primitive view, yet I wonder in our confusion of scientific methods for technological growth and exploitation if we are the primitives and the barbarians. I suspect our blindness to the intelligence of life here on earth, intelligence other than ourselves, is summed up in that statement. Maybe all intelligence really is is the knowledge that everything is connected and what we call intelligence is a form of narcissistic blindness. Perhaps the natural intelligence is in the willow, lifting a frond to stroke young plants that came under his/her/its protection and scope. Maybe the only innate intelligence is displayed in how we honor, respect, and care for everything. In addition to slowing me down in my interaction with the world, I find that this view brings me a sense of greater peace and a change in focus about what is and is not essential and how to express that “essentialness.” I also have greater clarity about what the ancients meant when they wrote of a fear of God. It is not a fear full of the pain of punishment – it is an awe that is hard to express and is likely to bring tears and an awareness of the pity of things and our oneness with everything.

[galiifreyrose]

2, 3, 4, 11

YEEEEE! :D <3

2. What is home to you? Home is a few things. Home is the people I love, being snuggled up in blankets in a cozy place that I can call my little corner of the world. My apartment is very much home but only in the sense that it's filled with a lot of love. Home is also in ponderosa pine trees, in big red towering rocks and the big skies of the high desert. I love to wax poetic about it and you know that hahaha

3. What's your favorite music genre? Lately I've been really into tropical house (thanks again <3) but in my bones, it's always going to be indie folk. Old Mumford and Sons, Lord Huron, Bear's Den... and if you stretch just a little, Vance Joy.

4. What magical creature would you be? I feel like griffins are pretty cool. Might have to go with that. But also dragons...

11. What's your favorite planet? SATURN I LOVE THE RINGS!!! That was always my absolutely fave as a kit. Honorable mention to Pluto that lil guy's got a HEART ON HIM and I love the New Horizons mission a lot

[mountain-jumper]

On starting wildfires

So I keep seeing a post about how starting a wildfire for a gender reveal is pretty dumb (which it is) so as someone who lives with wildfires every summer, I though I would share my two cents on fires.

1) yeah, a gender reveal bomb during peak fire season (especially after the same damn thing happened not too long ago) is dumb. Wildfires get started for all kinds of dumb reasons; Multnomah falls got torched after some kid was chucking fireworks into dry fuels. I've heard of fires stared by people parking their car in dry grass, people idling their car on dry grass, fires started by throwing away rags of linseed oil before they were dry, people burning an ex's love letters, people driving with brush caught in their undercarriage; no one intends to start a fire but that doesn't stop them once they get going.

2) yes, you can be held liable for the cost of containing a fire you start. No you are probably not going to pay it. When you hear about these astronomical fines after someone starts a wildfire, generally that's because fire management agencies want you to hear about it so hopefully you don't start the next one. Unless you are a power company or something similar, you are never going to actually pay the full cost. What it generally means is that the person responsible will have to pay a small portion of the fine (maybe a couple hundred dollars a month) for the rest of their lives. A painful reminder of that time you decided to do something stupid? Yes. Millions of dollars? No.

3) who caused a fire is a more complicated question than who caused the ignition. These destructive fires have a lot more to do with the conditions that have been created than the fact that they were started at all; the past century has seen massive fire suppression efforts and as a result fuel loads have built up to the point that suppressing further fires is incredibly difficult. There are some areas that I've been to that have more in common with a slash pile than a forest. Stories I've heard from a fairly recent, nasty fire include the fact that fire crews had to fight it road to road because there was too much downed wood to do anything else. As a result, any ignition source has the potential to spark a massive fire.

4) fires dictate forests and forests encourage fires. Fire ecology is a really interesting field and I would recommend anyone interested in fires to look into it. Suffice to say that every plant species (mainly talking about trees) has its own strategy for dealing with the fires it deals with. Ponderosa pines are adapted to frequent, low intensity fires, lodgepole pine forests are adapted to infrequent, high intensity fires. In turn, these forests encourage these fire regimes to a certain extent, such as lodgepole forests being prone to high severity fires that they can easily bounce back from. Heavy handed fire suppression efforts have thrown this out of wack causing high severity fires where forests are adapted to low severity fires and patches of juniper to be everywhere. This is why controlled burning and less draconian fire responses are being encouraged.

5) there are a lot more wildland fires than you think. In general, most people are only going to hear about large fires. These may happen a few times a season. I happen to listen to the radio frequencies that fires are called in on for my area and it isn't uncommon to hear a half dozen fires called in on a day following lightning.

6) home owners have a lot of influence on whether their house survives a fire. Now there are always factors that are out of your control, but if you live in the wildland urban interface fire preparedness needs to start a long time before smokes start popping up. For one, if a fire crew cannot safely defend an area, they will not defend that area. The presence of an open area at least nearby that a person could survive as the fire front passes is a make or break criteria for whether a fire crew will be anywhere near your house when a fire is threatening it. Beyond this you should maintain defensible space around your house, avoid flammable materials such as ceder shingles, avoid ember traps like attached wood decks, and buy into fire protection programs should they be available. Basically half of the features that make a regular appearance in cabin porn photos will do you zero favors in a fire. I would recommend doing your own research if you live in the wildland urban interface, and it's likely that your local forest service or dept. of forestry office can help you out.

7) this year I've been hearing a number of stories of homeowners remaining in the face of evacuation orders and successfully defending their home. I have mixed feelings about this, but one thing that I do know is that while success stories are picked up and interviewed, failure will just mean another tally mark in the "died after ignoring evacuation orders" column. Look up the definition of survivorship bias and engrave it on your heart.

8) wildland fire fighters are very different from structural firefighters. Structural fire fighters are renowned for their cooking, tend to accumulate qualifications like hoarders, usually act as emergency medical personal, and are frequently the subject of calenders. Wildland firefighters are known to eat basically whatever, are largely seasonal workers with minimal qualifications, act as an informal manual labor force in their downtime, and can be some of the grubbiest people you could ask for if they have been camping for a while.

9) convict crews are a thing. While prison labor itself is a full can of worms in its own right, I feel like it would be remiss not to point out the fact that the labor market can be fairly hostile to ex-cons and that an inmate fire crew position can act as a gateway to a private fire crew position if not a government one. While prison labor is far from a perfect institution, I feel that a crusade against a program which can provide a pathway to a fairly well paying job in the absence of any higher education does very little good without larger reforms aimed at allowing people who have served their time to re-enter the workforce.

10) wildfires aren't evil. If an area burns it will recover in time, particularly if the fire fits within the fire regime native to that area. While fire scars can be ugly, a forest that is suffering from a lack of fire is (imo) a far more depressing sight. After every high profile fire there are narratives that the area is destroyed; Yellowstone, Multnomah falls, ect. The forest is more than a bunch of trees that can get burnt and destroyed. Wildlands have cooexisted with fire since long before large scale fire suppression was possible and it is hubris to think that we can fully control them even if we wanted to.

Sorry for the long post, but fires are a big part of where I live and what I do. If there's a take home message here it's that you should follow the advice of your local fire management agencies and that fires and fire management are a lot more nuanced than you might think. Only you can prevent forest fires, but don't think that that means that fire isn't important to the landscape.

[sepdet]

So I said I was gonna post some more pics of my St George trip. Mostly we hung out at the condo, but I pried the 'rents outside for some fresh air a couple days.

Once to go to Snow Canyon, a park at the edge of town in the Navajo Sandstone (I think) which is all petrified sand dunes with lovely crossbedding. Some layers have oxidized red; others, which give the place their name, are white. You can see the beginning of the frozen white dunes at middle right. Unfortunately we got there late, and it was yet another 100º day, so we didn't hike over to them.

On the other side of the road you can see how this area has a little of everything: big black lava flows erupting in huge layers above the dunes and spilling over them. The last eruptions were as recent as 7000 years ago. I'm still impressed how new (black, unoxidized) they look compared to Hawaii. In Hawaii they start to turn ash-gray, then red, after a handful of years or decades at most. Here the red bits are the petrified sand dunes, which I think(?) date all the way back to the dry interior of Pangea.

More red petrified dunes at left. "Snow canyon" white dunes in the distance. And a very old collapsed lava tube in the foreground. (Dear gods, I really have been mainlining geology lately, haven't I?)

Cute (but larger than it looks) cinder cone on the road back to town— hard to believe this is right at the edge of a senior citizen and golf community? surrounded by half-covered old lava tubes. Possibly some sexy columnar basalt atop those cliffs in the distance.

And now for something completely different: Pine Valley Mountain, a huge uplifted caldera-like basin about an hour from St. George, where a big ol' intrusion of granite has pushed up the whole area high enough to make what looks like a bit of Colorado! With, like, Ponderosa Pine trees! And... WATER!

(Unfortunately, this was two days later, and the smoke from California and Oregon was starting to become more obvious... it's not usually this hazy.)

I can't tell you how many years it's been since I've been able to get out and put my toes into a proper running stream, in a perfectly normal forest. Something one took for granted in Pennsylvania.

And it may have been decades since I was a little munchkin running around in the woods of Pennsylvania, but I still freeze when I spot...

This was the most obvious hoofprint, but I had to search for it to find it. I noticed the needles on the forest floor were disturbed in a certain way, and hunted around until I found a patch of loam clear of needles that would show a print. Sure enough, deer. I'm pleased I haven't lost my childhood instincts learned from growing up in a rural area.

We saw several mule deer on the drive home, but they're hard to photograph from a moving vehicle.

St. George trip 2020 2 of 3

[reyysben]

I was tagged by @skywailer <333

What’s your favourite song(s) to sing/hum? this is constantly changing depending on what I’ve been listening to lately, which is also in constant flux, just because I listen to a lot of music; basically, if it’s possible for me to be listening to music in any given situation, I probably am asdfjksdf... I just really love music <33 though I’m also the kind of person who will become obsessed with one (1) song and then listen to it CONSTANTLY on repeat for who knows how long, usually until I feel personally attacked by another new song, and then the cycle repeats. I think I’m actually in between cycles at the moment... which is interesting. but anyway, the song in my head right now is Demons by Dry the River... something about that song really helps me feel calm/peaceful :’) (also oldies are always valid)  

What’s your favourite flower/tree/plant? flower: peonies; sunflowers; garden roses; all wildflowers <33 tree: the trees in the forests I grew up in (redwoods, ponderosa pines, douglas firs...); all trees whose leaves change color in the fall plant: cacti

Favourite colours? purple! but also pastel peach/coral, and raspberry, and mint green, and robin’s egg blue, and—

What do you always doodle? mostly just patterns/random shapes I think because I’m terrible at drawing ashdfjksf (which is forever a tragedy to me); sometimes trees and mountains or flowers... lots of stars and moons

How do you take your coffee/tea? coffee: usually a little sugar and non-dairy creamer, but I will drink it black in desperate times tea: usually black (I really love the taste of plain tea!). sometimes if I want to get extra fancy/cozy I’ll add almond milk, agave, and cinnamon, and for some reason I always put a ton of sugar in black tea at Chinese restaurants?? no idea why... that’s the only time I ever even think of putting sugar in my tea ashdfjsdf

Favourite candle scent? I’m very into ~cozy~ scents like vanilla, amber, cinnamon, sandalwood, lavender... but for warmer months I also love anything bright and citrusy! I think my all time favorite candle was a “lavender mint” one from anthropologie I was given as a gift many years ago and that they don’t seem to make anymore :’( and no other lavender mint scent I’ve ever found has smelled anything like that one </3

Sunrise or sunset? sunset, but I do also really love sunrise if I’m alive for it

What perfume do you wear? I don’t wear perfume often, but when I do it’s usually either daisy dream by marc jacobs (spring) or light blue by dolce & gabbana (my all time favorite scent, but for some reason I feel like I can only wear it in summer... I have a lot of associations like that with a lot of things asjkdhfj)

Fuzzy socks or house slippers? FUZZY SOCKS

What color are your eyes? green

What’s your favourite eye colour on others? brown, but I think all eye colors are beautiful!

Favourite season? Why? fall, because brightly colored crunchy leaves and sweaters and candles and apple cider and dark lipstick and boots... and Halloween

Cheek, neck, or nose kisses? ................neck

What does your happy place look like? the stacks of a bookstore/library; lying on warm grass with my eyes closed, my best friend close to me; a sunlit forest; in front of a campfire; somewhere quiet where I can hear water; somewhere quiet where I can see stars; sunrise in the desert; anywhere with horses

Favourite breed of dog? HUSKIES. but also german shepherds, and springer spaniels, and bernese mountain dogs, and border collies and chocolate labs and retrievers and the big curly ones... airedales!!! basically all big big dogs :3 but also small dogs and medium dogs. all dogs. no dogs left behind <333

Do you ever want to be married? if so, what colours would you pick for your wedding theme? I would love to be married someday... and... I have no idea O:3 ajksdhjklsdf. or rather, I have too many ideas :/ I love a lot of colors, how are you supposed to choose?! [panicking] mm... probably something more soft than bold and bright... is Harry Potter themed a color?

Cursive or print? print usually, but cursive sometimes

Favourite weather? omg... this is also really hard asdfjhjsdf I love a lot of different weather D: (as you can see I’m an incredibly decisive person O:) .....asdhfsdjkf) hmm... maybe... warm and beautiful, but not too hot? like a mild spring day, where you can smell new plants and flowers everywhere. BUT... I also really love a lot of extremes (I actually adore scorching hot sun, but I prefer desert/dry heat to humidity, which is of the devil; I love winter days where it’s bright and clear but FREEZING cold; I love thunderstorms... heavy rain if I can curl up with a book... [screams in indecision]) ...so I hope that clears that up :/

I will tag @echoesintheforce, @chewbacca, @brightrey, @luminous-stardusts, @unclejooce, & @candlewinds (sorry if any of you have done this already! and if not, no pressure, only if you want to! <33)

[midgaarb]

• Wild Forest Fire Cider Spice Blend •⁣ ⁣ {Swipe!}⁣ Available today in my shop release, at 12pm PST⁣ .⁣ .⁣ If you loved my Wild Forest Fire Cider, I am so excited to now offer her “ashes” ❤️⁣ ⁣ I created my Fire Cider while experiencing the devastating wildfires of the West this summer. Folks herbalists often use the pulp from FC 2-3 more times since it is still so full of medicinal properties & flavor. Come this Fall after the Fire Cider found her homes all around the world, I decided to take what was strained, dehydrate & powder it into a lovely spice blend!⁣ ⁣ On previous FC posts you can read the story of how she was birthed from the Wildfires we experienced. It was a very cathartic, full circle, healing experience to blend these ingredients from our Forest into “ashes” in light of the fires.⁣ ⁣ 🔥 This blend is spicy! Offered in 2oz tins that should last a while, as a little goes a long way. Just like FC, the uses are so versatile & yummy! Add just a few pinches to any dish while cooking ~ my favorites are soups, stir-fry, salads or use in a marinade or as a meat rub! For an extra boost, add into tea, Bloody Mary or cocktail. Or take in a shot glass with water to summon the fire within & get the blood moving on cold, dark days.⁣ ⁣ 🔥 Full of mouthwatering spicy ingredients that act as lung expectorants, sweet & nourishing flavors from raw local PNW honey, sour from ACV & bitter from wildcrafted tree offerings. A combination to aid healthy digestion with anti-viral & anti-microbial ingredients traditionally known to help support the immune system.⁣ ⁣ 🔥 The base was ritually crafted along the moon phases, including Wildcrafted Blue Spruce, Doug Fir tips & resin, Sage, Ponderosa Pine, Western Red Cedar & Goldenrod. Packed with Organic local farm-grown ingredients of:⁣ Ginger root, Horseradish root, Turmeric root, Jalapeños, Garlic, Onions, Oranges, Lemons, Cayenne, Peppercorn, Rosemary, Thyme, Hibiscus, Cinnamon, Cardamom & Cloves. Infused in Organic Apple Cider Vinegar & Local Raw PNW honey.⁣ ⁣ 🔥A portion of proceeds will be donated to a local organizations with efforts to protect our wildlife & forests ~ see Fire Cider highlight for all details! (at Oregon) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIoE4qhn3D_/?igshid=1k34uilwvmjuh

[rayne-the-neutrois-nerd]

Pretty asks

I was tagged by @smoldinopup to answer these questions. Thanks for tagging me sweetie!

What’s your favorite song(s) to sing/hum?

To be honest, I hum a lot of songs literally all of the time so the answer to this is pretty much “Whatever I happen to be listening to”

What’s your favorite flower/tree/plant (all 3 or whatever you have the answer to)?

My favorite flowers are roses. They’ve been my favorite since I was a little kid. I don’t even know why I like them so much, I just do. 

My favorite trees are ponderosa pines. They’re everywhere here and, once again, I liked them since I was a kid. We used to call them “puzzle bark” because the bark looks like puzzle pieces. We used to take the parts that fell off and used them as chalk when I lived in Yosemite.

Favorite colors?

Reeeeeeeeeeeedd. And black. But i prefer red and white over red and black. The white makes the red pop a bit more. I don’t have a favorite shade, though, all shades of red are my favorite.

What do you always doodle (if you ever do)?

I used to doodle a lot on my homework or classwork, but I don’t anymore because, well, I don’t have homework to do, and I don’t really draw anymore. I do remember drawing eyes a lot, and sometimes I’d draw little South Park characters. I think I doodled little Mysterions (Kenny’s superhero persona) the most.

How do you take your coffee/tea?

I like both of them pretty sweet, so sugar in both. I use less sugar in my tea tho. My coffee normally has 2 teaspoons of sugar and a decent amount of flavored creamer. My tea only has one teaspoon, or none at all, depending on the kind of tea.

Favorite candle scent?

Vanilllaa. I actually have one going right now. It makes my room smell like cookies! But i also like floral scents (like lavender), anything that smells like the ocean, sometimes fruits if they aren’t too strong, and surprisingly linen. I don’t know why but I got a candle that smelled like freshly dried towels and it was? So good? 

Sunrise or sunset?

Why not both? I mean, I like what comes after sunset more than sunrise but they’re both kinda equal in my opinion.

What perfume do you wear, if any?

I do not wear perfume, but I am gonna have to say I do kinda like the smell of vanilla. Again. It’s just, vanilla perfume reminds me of my aunt? Is that weird to say? Just, my aunt always wears vanilla perfume when she’s in a good mood and if I hug her and she smells like vanilla it makes me happy because I know she’s happy.

What’s your go to dance move when you’re alone?

If I’m listening to kpop, I’ll half-ass the dance to the song, but if it’s anything else I just sorta... move? I dunno.

Favorite quote?

There are way too many quotes to list here, honestly.

Favorite self-care thing(s)/routine(s)?

................what the fuck is self care.............?

Fuzzy socks or house slippers?

FUZZY SOCKS! I get fuzzy socks every year as a stocking stuffer and they are literally the best thing for winters in the mountains.

What color are your eyes?

Hazel, but I’ve honestly had people tell me they’re almost golden so haha I have pretty golden eyes.

What’s your favorite eye color on others?

I honestly don’t care about eye color too much? All the eye colors are pretty to me!

Favorite season? Why?

I like autumn because the trees get all colorful and the weather starts getting cooler, but not too cold. And if you’re lucky (because I’m a Californian and we have drought going on), it could rain. And I love the rain. I kinda named myself after it... sorta.

Cheek, neck, or nose kisses?

Cheek kisses because you can get those from anyone and they’re always super cute! (Yes, platonic cheek kisses are a thing and I love them)

What does your happy place look like?

...Currently it would be sitting outside on my porch with my cat in my lap. But someday, I want my happy place to be my room, with bookshelves on every wall, candles of different colors and scents on top of every surface (that won’t cause a fire). Maybe a dog or cat or both cuddled up on my bed next to me, blankets warm and pillows nice and fluffy. And of course, reading a good book while music plays softly.

Favorite breed of dog?

...I like maltipoos. They’re Maltese poodle mixes and they’re? So damn cute? And fluffy? And smol? I love?

Do you ever want to be married? If so, what colors would you pick for your wedding theme?

I, uh... literally have never thought about this.... I’m 18 and very single... I don’t wanna get married just yet pfft. If the time comes, then I’ll start thinking about this sort of thing.

Cursive or print?

My handwriting is kind of both? I’ve had classmate hand me back a paper he was supposed to help edit and say “I can’t read cursive.” Oh, the look on his face when I told him that was print pffft. But I can’t write in actual cursive, my print is just very curly.

Silk or lace?

Why not silk with a lace trim? I mean that’s typically only done with lingerie but hey, it still looks nice.

Favorite weather?

Slightly chilly, just enough where you don’t need a jacket, but a sweater is a must. Gray clouds float across the sky, blotting out the sun, causing things to become dark. The wind pick up and it begins to rain.

Okay now to tag others... Idk who’s been tagged already or if you even want to but @ringdingdongenthusiast @sapphicshawol @minhos-ace @kibuttcheeks @fleur-de-jinki @lnsplred @the-tinfoil-soul @kimjongkey (Sorry, i just sorta tagged everyone I knew, please note you don’t have to do this if you don’t wanna!)

[calcographer]

Tagged by the absolutely lovely @getkind-feedcuriousity-growhope, who has helped me learn a lot about myself! Thank you!

Here are the questions: 1. Name: Sadie 2. Nickname: Little Bear 3. Zodiac sign: Leo 4. Height: Wee 5″2′ 5. Orientation: real heckin gay 6. Nationality: Russian (Father) + Apache (Mother) 7. Favorite food: Mozzarella Sticks t b h 8. Favorite season: Summer 9. Favorite book: The Mistmantle Chronicles 10. Favorite flower: Frangipani 11. Favorite scent: Arizona Ponderosa Pine mmm 12. Favorite color: Sunny golden yellows 13. Favorite animal: Bear + Red deer  14. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate: Hot chocolate if I must decide. 15. Average hours of sleep: I work very hard to maintain a consistent 8 hours a night. It took years of discipline and sacrifice. 16. Cats or dogs: I love cats but I would die for any dog. 17. Number of blankets you sleep with: Just 1. 2 when winter comes around. 18. Dream trip: Rome! 19. Blog created: April 2015 20. Number of followers: 132 

I tag: @keys-to-joy-and-me (Perché ti voglio bene) and @you-or-your-memory (Sorry bud you have to do it I don’t make the laws.)

[hawgnsonstv]

2019 August 27 -This is HawgLife! 🐖🐖🐖 Happiness 🌞🌝🤗 is waking up to 2.125 inches of rain water 🌧💧🌩 in the rain gauge  when you just planted some #KentuckyBluegrass "Ginger" Forage variety grass seed. I also just planted Ruby Ribbons Switchgrass on the West side of my house🌾🌾🌾 Since October 2017 I have Felled 3 Massive Silver Maples🍁 1 huge Ponderosa Pine🌲and 1 Big Blue Spruce🌲 In the spring of 2018 I have planted 1.5" caliber trees around the perimeter of my property. Front yard: East to West: #SwampBurOak, Bur Oak, Driveway, #BurOak, 2 #ChinkapinOak, 2 #SwampWhiteOak Trees. To the North from East to West: Grafted female Ruby #AmericanPersimmon 🍊Driveway, #KiefferPear 🍐 #GrannySmithApple 🍏#WolfRiverApple 🍎 #LibertyApple 🍎To the North is a #MethleyPlum 🍑Tree. - On the West Side of my yard: 5 - 1.5" #NorthernRedOak Trees that the Big Whitetail Bucks in my area love best to use for overhead licking branches and will form a scrape line. The tall green grass around the perimeter of my yard is warm season grasses: #BigBlueStem 🌾#Indiangrass 🌾 Cave-in-Rock #Switchgrass 🌾 and my lawn: Kentucky Bluegrass, "Troy" Forage variety. - On the North Side of my house: Hughes Hybrids #Soybeans 🌱  there is also a grafted female Meader American Persimmon 🍊and grafted female Weber American Persimmon🍊 that only the American Persimmon rootstock lived and I will graft a female onto later. Next row a #RedfreeApple 🍎that I planted this spring 2019 to replace a Yellow Transparent Apple that died and Pink Lady Apple. Next row is a #ChestnutCrabapple 🍒 and #WhitneyCrabapple 🍒 tree also. On the West side of my house there is some succulent Giant Dutch White🍀#Clover #LadinoClover 🍀and Red clover☘ and from North is a #EnterpriseApple 🍎and I planted a #Dolgo Crabapple🍒 this Spring 2019. Also I planted 9 more - 1.5" caliber #OakTrees 🌳along the East side of my property from South to North are: 2 Swamp Bur Oaks🌳2 Chinkapin Oaks🌳 3 Swamp White Oaks🌳 2 Bur Oaks🌳 I recreated The Sanctuary on this ULTIMATE DEER Travel Corridor!!! 🦌🦌🦌 . . . . . #Deer 🦌#AbsolutelyFenCrazy 🤪 #TRENTcams 📸 #HawgTV 🐖 #HawgLife 🐷 #AllGloryGoesToGod 😇 https://www.instagram.com/p/B1rM6Dtl2uk/?igshid=18av4o5ryp3d1

[mubal4]

Sometimes @ 70% Is Good Too!

 The last couple of weeks I’ve shared a few thoughts and stories about having to show up without being at 100%.  As I’ve stated, I believe most times, we are not at 100% but we still put our best effort our there; our best effort at that time, where we are, with what we have, at that stage in our journey.  This past Saturday, up in Flagstaff, AZ I experienced this first hand, at the Flagstaff Extreme Big Pine 54K put on by Aravaipa Running. Once again, the staff and volunteers from Aravaipa didn’t disappoint.  A huge thank you to them for putting on another top-notch event in an epic location. Running on the trails for Fort Tuthill County Park, under the pines, in the shadow of Mt. Humphries provided a great break from the heat of Phoenix and somewhat of a green canopy from back east. Great job to all the participants in all the races (6K, 13K, 27K, & 54K) and thanks so much to all those spectators that came out to cheer us all on.  Greatly appreciate all the aid station folks and big shout out to the group from Squirrel’s Nut Butter for keeping us all moving through the race at the midpoint aid station.  You guys where great and yes, you read that right, Flagstaff, AZ’s own Squirrel’s Nut Butter, if you don’t know what it is, click on the link; it does wonders for that uncomfortable chaffing 😊😊. Of course, no race wrap up would be complete without a special to thanks to my ever-awesome crew of Robin, Alaina, and Isabella.  You guys continue to keep me going and provide the push when I desperately need it; love you guys.  

 As for the race, it was a real good day.  Like I said, I was at about 70%, maybe 75% toeing the line. With being sick for about a week, that dug into my training and with travel, some linger effects of my cold still present, the race being at 7,000’ elevation; there were a number of things that got into my head prior to the start.  I knew that I wasn’t going to be near 100% but I knew I was doing the race; having traveled for it and looking to make a weekend out of it, I figured I would do my damndest to make the best out of it.  The course was an 8.4-mile loop done counterclockwise four times with rolling hills, some short climbs and descents; nothing real crazy and overall a nice run through the ponderosa pines of Flagstaff.  It was gorgeous day for running with temps in the high 40’s at start topping out around 75* as the high.  There was some points where we were exposed to the sun and in the late afternoon it got a bit warm but nothing too severe; although I did get some nice color on the back of my neck and very like the ever growing bald spot on the back of my head 😊!!  With what I outlined above and not knowing how I would feel throughout, I took the first loop super chill and just felt myself and the course out.  Having run the loop a few weeks prior I was a bit familiar with the course so that helped in gauging when I can push and when I can ease back.  The first loop was mostly holding back the reigns.  I didn’t want to go out too hard and make the mistake like I usually do. I knew I was going to finish the race, no matter how long it took or had bad it may suck so I figured might as well just enjoy it!  I hit the mid-point aid station, around mile 4 and was feeling good.  Caught up with a group and hung with them having some good conversations until I zoned out and caught a toe.  Fortunately, my cat-like reflexes and amazing athletic ability (joking there 😊) allowed me to gracefully (or at least I thought) roll to the side of the trail, in some high grass, right through the fall and continued running with the group picking up the conversation where we left off. Again, that is how I feel it went those running with me I am sure will have a different story to tell 😊.  There was no harm and I continued through finishing up the first loop in a good time and saw Robin and the girls at the start/finish.  It was great to see their faces but knew that I wouldn’t see them again until after the 3rd loop so I had about two loops and about 3 hours to go (or I would hope) until we would reconnect.  The second loop went pretty well too, a bit slower than the first but still felt good and was moving well…………until, those small little demons in my head started creeping up.  At this point, about 12-13 miles in my knees and hips started to make me aware they were there!!!  My knees, that is usually normal but my hip soreness, that was unique, and the odd thing is that about 2 months ago I started doing these new hip stretches to open them up more.  Did that hurt me or help me?  Who knows but it made things a bit uncomfortable and then the questions came? “Told you, you didn’t prepare enough, you weren’t’ ready, you should be at 100%.”  All the stuff that I had wrote about and put out there that we don’t need to be at 100% to still be at our best in that moment went right out the window!! I was trying to find an excuse for me to stop and not continue after that 2nd loop.  All of this was happening internal; externally I was still moving, still running, and still making progress.  I finished up the 2nd loop, my head was a mess, but my body was still good and, Robin and the girls were not there and were not going to be back for another 90 minutes.  This could have been the best thing for me because, I wasn’t going to just sit on my ass for that time and watch all these runners come in, feeling sorry for myself. So, I told my thoughts to go f$#% themselves and started my 3rd loop.  This loop, seemed to take much, much longer than the last 2 plus I was beginning to feel nauseous, not something I experience during races.  I was getting enough water in me and kept eating at each aid station, and I was keeping up on my salt tablets, so it was odd that my stomach was turning a bit; nothing crazy but definitely something I haven’t been used to.  There was much more hiking on this loop but still kept moving forward.  About a mile past the halfway aid station there is a little climb and figured I can use that to assess where I was at, figuring the next loop and a half was going to be long.  However, when I got to the top, I felt good and was able to run the rest of the way to close out the 3rd loop and, see my family.  I don’t know if I pushed it too hard, the altitude was getting to me, or if the heat was having an impact but when I got to the start/finish I felt like I was going to hurl.  This is nothing I have ever felt before.  I took a look at the aid station table to grab some nutrition to shove into my head and everything that I typically eat, pickles, potatoes, ginger, watermelon; each of those things that are staples for me during a race, I had to spit out. Nothing tasted or looked good and nothing sat well with me……except Coke & Mountain Dew.  Yep – Coke and Mt. Dew taste best during mile 26 of an ultra; not sure why but it is amazing.  As Robin and the girls walked out with me to start the final the lap everything from them was positive, awesome, and encouraging.  The only thing I could utter was, “the last thing I want to do right now is run this last loop.”  They understood and said see you when you finish up.  At this point, I had an idea of where I was on time and, honestly thought the last loop was going to be slow going so I just switched my watch from chrono to timer so when I looked at it, I couldn’t see where I was at.  This was my last ultra for several months, so I told myself to take it all in on this last lap; enjoy it and look up once in a while to soak it all in. Time didn’t matter, gratitude set in, and I took off, running too, feeling pretty good. About a mile in there is a bit of a climb so it gave me that chance to hike and, look up at the pines, see the mountain around me, and breath in deep.  I knew the finish was inevitable, no matter how long it may take me but, Robin and the girls were good, my body was feeling alright, my stomach felt better (Coke!! Mt. Dew!!); life was good.  At the top of the climb the trail levels out and it gave me the chance to stretch the legs out a bit.  Now, you would think I know what I am doing but at this point in the race, you are tired, sore, and for me, I was “soaking in the moment right?”  Well, in my moment of spiritual awakening a root jumped up and grabbed me foot (actually, I didn’t pick my feet up high enough and caught another toe 😊) ….this time I was nothing near graceful. It was a yard sale with my hat and sunglasses flying off and my handheld water bottle sprayed water all over me, which actually felt good.  What didn’t feel good, I landed on a rock with my right hip; fortunately, however, I didn’t know that until I woke up Sunday morning and made the connection.  Also, fortunate that there was no one around to see the mess so I collected myself, started walking a bit, and laughed out loud at myself.  Crazy how your mindset changes from wanting to stop to just enjoying the moment we are in. A few moments later I was at the mid-point aid station and shared my gratitude with the volunteers there and as I left, I was a bit curious on where my time was.  It seemed as though that half loop went by a bit quicker than last, or at least I thought so.  I check my chrono an saw that I had an outside shot of finishing under where I thought I could have………at 100%!!  Even though, I still said I was going to keep enjoying the moment because I didn’t know, and still don’t, when the next time I would be in this type of moment. So, I ran, hiked, stopped for a moment or two and just let the miles tick off.  Then I heard the music from the start/finish, heard the cheers of the crowds at the finish line and then looked at my watch…..I was about a quarter of a mile from the finish and 4 minutes under, what I would consider, a real good day at full strength.  I ran, and ran hard up this hill, under the tent and past the finish line.  I was incredibly surprised and………nauseous again!!! Robin and the girls tried to come over and share the moment, but I needed a minute; a few minutes actually. At no point in any other race had I felt this sick to my stomach……..twice.  Did I push myself beyond a limit? Did I eat something that didn’t sit with me? It was strange but again, got some Coke (this should be a commercial, I am going to reach out for a sponsorship 😊) and that settled things down.  After a few minutes, I sat reflecting with the girls (Isabella brought me a popsicle, the ones we use to have as kids on the stick 😊).  I had been searching for one of those races where all the things fall into place and you have that “epic day.” Well, this day was not that day, where all fell into place.  On the contrary, many things fell out of place (literally and figuratively 😊) but, with that said, and even though I toed the line at less than 100%, to me, it was still an epic day.  

 Each day that we are fortunate to have is going to be an adventure.  There will be days we feel great and days we feel like shit.  There will be times we don’t want to toe the line, and we don’t. There are others where we do and maybe it was a mistake.  Whatever the circumstance, we are constantly learning from the choices we make, good, bad, and indifferent.  There are days we feel like 100% and it doesn’t go according to plan.  There are days we are at 60% but something bubbles to the surface and even though we feel like crap, we are not all there mentally, and we don’t want to move forward, we do, begrudgingly and realize how great that decision is.  It is rare to be at 100% so why not just say what the hell and do it anyway?

 “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain

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See the Grand Canyon with out Dying

As a baby, we visited the Grand Canyon so typically I obtained tired of it. However irrespective of how stressed I obtained, irrespective of how a lot I needed to see one thing new relatively than the identical previous views, I by no means forgot the very first thing I discovered about it: Steer clear of the sting. Yearly, individuals fall into the Canyon and die. The information is filled with individuals assembly a deadly finish there these days. However lots of the information tales do not inform you how you can keep protected, or what the extra frequent risks are. So immediately we will discuss how you can view the Canyon's spectacular two billion years of Earth historical past with out getting injured or killed. We'll begin with my most necessary childhood lesson: 1. Hold a respectful distance from the Rim The paths and boundaries are the place they're for a purpose. You may't see what's beneath you: near the sting, it might be strong rock - or it might be a fractured, eroded overhang simply ready for an excuse to point out you the way the Canyon obtained carved as huge because it did. Even when the rock is completely strong, your footing may not be. Limestone and sandstone are sometimes extra slippery than you would possibly count on, and unfastened stones, dry grime, stray pinecones, and numerous different detritus are simply ready to slip out from underneath your foot. And positive, there could also be one other slender ledge proper beneath the one you have climbed all the way down to - however our bodies bounce, so do not depend on it saving you from a fall. Be conscious of wind as nicely. Gusts can catch you unawares and muck up your stability. So it is best to remain nicely again; six toes or extra from an unfenced or unwalled portion is normally good, however use your finest judgment and keep additional again if the realm seems unstable. Do not climb the partitions or fences, and benefit from the views from security. 2. Do not get lost It appears actually civilized and busy on the South Rim, the place a complete vacationer trade and about 5 trillion individuals focus, however the Grand Canyon is in the course of nowhere. Wilderness abounds. And it is simpler than you would possibly assume to get misplaced. So keep on the marked trails, have a map, and know how you can learn it. It is also not a good suggestion to wander alone, particularly if you happen to're mountain climbing down into the Canyon itself. If you cannot carry a buddy, be certain that somebody is aware of the place you are going and the way lengthy you count on to be gone, and how you can contact the park rangers if you happen to do not present up near the anticipated time. Carry a telephone and an additional battery pack or few. Even when you do not get service, it is best to nonetheless have the ability to dial 911 in an emergency. In the event you're off on one of many extra remoted and fewer nicely marked trails, make a remark of landmarks. Do not forget to look behind you! Issues look relatively totally different coming again. A simple approach to keep in mind your landmarks is to take pictures at junctions and different necessary directional markers, as a result of then you do not have to rely utterly on reminiscence. And having a visible file of even the prosaic bits of your epic hike might be enjoyable to look again at later. 3. Hearken to authorities The park rangers and the parents who work on the Grand Canyon have seen all of it and know the Canyon's quirks and moods, together with the ridiculous methods individuals have damage themselves an others. So take heed to them! In the event that they inform you one thing you are doing is harmful, cease doing it. In the event that they inform you an space's off-limits, consider them. Park rangers can provide you with a warning to risks that you simply by no means would have considered, so speak to them. They're going to be completely satisfied to inform you about path and climate situations, and allow you to know if something unexpected has cropped up that will affect your security. 4. It is a dry warmth - it could actually kill you fast Arizona's well-known for its dry warmth, and I can inform you from expertise, it does not really feel as sizzling as humid air does. Drawback is, when you might not really feel sizzling, your physique is aware of what the temperature is. And you may go from feeling nice to being in misery in a short time. Plus, whereas it could be breezy and funky on the Rim, it might be hotter than Devil's sauna just under. Add within the elevation (which at over 7,000 toes, few of us are ready to deal with), and a fast and straightforward hike can turn out to be a rescue. Much more individuals get themselves into severe bother mountain climbing within the warmth than by tempting destiny on the edge. So: carry loads of water, and reap the benefits of the free water obtainable within the park by bringing refillable water bottles. Drink a number of it. Put on unfastened, moisture-wicking materials, sunblock, and a very good floppy hat. Get out of the solar when there's shade obtainable, and take loads of relaxation breaks. And know the indicators of warmth exhaustion and heatstroke, in addition to the primary help wanted to deal with them. 5. Talking of temperature, you truly can freeze to loss of life in Arizona We speak lots concerning the warmth, however the Grand Canyon is within the excessive desert nation. We do not get lots of precipitation there, however we get seasons, and winters might be bitter chilly and moist. In the event you go to in late fall, winter, or early spring, put together for opposed climate situations. Examine the forecast earlier than you go and when you're there. Costume in heat layers. Be careful for ice and snow on roads, trails, and walkways, particularly across the Rim. Carry traction units to your footwear and chains to your automotive. Be sure you have an emergency package for each your car and mountain climbing pack. And if you happen to're not comfy driving in winter climate situations, give the journey a miss if there is a storm. There's lots of remoted roadway resulting in and from the Canyon: it is probably not nicely plowed, and it could be a really very long time earlier than assist arrives if one thing goes flawed. 6. You may drown in Arizona, too Flash flooding is a big problem in Arizona. Floods can occur at any time, however they're particularly a danger in the course of the summer season monsoons. You would be amazed on the quantity of water sudden afternoon clouds will dump within the house of lower than an hour. And all that water does not simply soak into the bottom: it runs off in washes, and wreaks numerous havoc. It does not matter if the skies above you're clear: any storm within the watershed may cause flash floods to roar down the aspect canyons and washes. So test the forecast for all the space, and be additional cautious of something that appears like a dry stream mattress. Examine with park rangers for flash flood hazards alongside your mountain climbing and journey routes. When mountain climbing or driving, look ahead to indicators of flash flooding, and DO NOT ENTER flooded areas. I am unable to emphasize that sufficient: the water might be a lot deeper and be flowing a lot sooner than it seems. Look forward to it to empty, or anticipate assist to get throughout flooded areas. For extra data on surviving flash flooding, see this put up. 7. Talking of monsoons, be careful for that lightning! Arizona's summer season monsoons include some spectacular lightning, even when there is no rain. When the thunderheads pile up, concentrate. In the event you hear thunder or see lightning flash, get indoors or right into a car if you happen to can. Positively keep off the Rim and away from open areas, the place you can be a tempting goal for any strikes on the lookout for a simple path to the bottom. Completely don't shelter underneath helpful tall timber! In the event you look carefully on the towering ponderosa pines, you will see grooves carved into lots of their trunks from earlier lightning strikes. Lightning loves a very good tall tree! Do what my sixth grade instructor did if you happen to're caught out in a lightning storm, and huddle miserably underneath a brief bush as an alternative. You may be grateful you probably did while you see a bolt thwack the tree you had been pondering of hanging out all good and dry underneath. 8. You aren't a Disney Princess; these should not Disney animals You already know what hurts much more individuals every year than all of the gallivanting dangerously on the Rim? Squirrels. They're cute, they usually beg, however they're wild and they are often bitey. So can a lot of the different wildlife there, a few of which is toxic, a few of which carries illnesses like rabies, and a few of which might snap you want a twig or rip complete limbs off. Do not feed the lovable animals. No, not even when they beg. Feeding animals is definitely prohibited, for each your security and theirs. Hold a respectful distance from the wee little issues like squirrels, lizards, and birds (and if you happen to do not assume lizards are harmful, me and my childhood pals may fill a complete night time telling you concerning the accidents we sustained taking part in with them in our rural again yards. There's blood concerned). And relating to the massive animals like deer, elk, mountain lions, bears, and plenty of others, keep fairly far-off! Even deer can get violent and damage or kill you with a well-placed kick. I in all probability need not clarify the limb-ripping talents of the massive predators, however simply in case: they've large enamel. They will shred you want cheese. Respect all of them from afar. These are the fundamentals, and they need to get you began on having a protected and pleasurable go to. Go see among the most spectacular rock layers on the planet, and continue to exist! Additional Studying: Nationwide Park Service: Staying protected at Grand Canyon Nationwide Park begins with YOU Oh Ranger: Grand Canyon Nationwide Park: Staying Protected Canyon Excursions: Security First: Maintaining Your Youngsters Protected on the Grand Canyon My Grand Canyon Park: 6 Hazards to Keep away from within the Grand Canyon My Grand Canyon Park: How Many Folks Fall within the Grand Canyon? Frommer's: Well being & Security in Grand Canyon Nationwide Park Read the full article