Tag Archives: photography

I love Kudzu!

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nantahalakudzu3

Closeup of kudzu and a few other native plants

I love Kudzu, an invasive vine common in the southeastern United States (but due to global warming, it now can be found in the Middle Atlantic states and even the northeast as far north as Massachusetts).  It grows most prolifically in the South, however.  Kudzu has even been dubbed “the vine that ate the South” due to its unfortunate tendency to “grab” hold of other plants and trees, and eventually cover them so completely they can no longer obtain sunlight and die.  It has been known to take down telephone wires and destroy property.

Chinese or Japanese Arrowroot (kudzu’s actual name) was brought to the United States from China (where it is not invasive) as an ornamental plant and a method of stopping soil erosion in the late 1800s.  But because in the United States, it had no natural enemies or feeding animals to keep its growth in check, the vine quickly took over cultivated gardens like a vegetable cancer and could even destroy property.   Today it is considered a weed because of its invasive and destructive tendencies.

In spite of its terrible reputation, kudzu is beautiful.  It produces lovely purple flowers and has big green heart shaped leaves.  In the southern states, where it is ubiquitous, you can sometimes see entire fields or groves of trees along the sides of roads covered by it. Although the smothered trees are likely doomed, the resulting rounded, domed shapes can give the scenery an otherwordly, eerie, even sinister appearance.

All pictures were taken by me in the Nantahala National Forest, Nantahala, NC.

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Kudzu gone wild.

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Cathedral of kudzu

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An opening in the kudzu

A picture that says everything about these times.

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APTOPIX Minneapolis Police Death

Photo by Julio Cortez for AP

 

It’s hard to process what is unfolding in America right now, in the streets of every city, large and small and in between.   Seeing the images on TV feels as surreal as the footage  of the Twin Towers collapsing on the bright sunny morning of September 11, 2001.

For almost four years, America stayed silent in the face of impending fascism under a pathologically narcissistic reality TV star who will never rest until he is crowned King of America and can slap the word TRUMP (in golden letters, of course) all over our currency and maybe even our flag.

Even with brown babies being caged, families separated at the border, the Kurds abandoned, countless school shootings, our allies alienated, our planet’s natural resources plundered for profit, our healthcare threatened, racist dogwhistles sounded daily by Trump and his sycophants, and a criminal impeached president allowed to remain in office, Americans remained silent, voicing their concerns and rants on Twitter or on their blogs insread of congregating in the streets and demanding change the way people in other countries did.  Why were we such sheep? Was it laziness?  Fear?  Ignorance?  Apathy?  Exhaustion?  What was our problem anyway?

This week things finally changed.  Maybe it was due to cabin fever caused by the coronavirus pandemic that kept people cooped up in their homes for months on end, or maybe it was just the straw that finally broke the camel’s back, but starting with the brutal and inhumane murder of a black man, George Floyd, by a white police officer last week, the sleeping giant has finally woken up.  George Floyd will never know that his death set off a chain of events that coursed over the nation like a tsunami, and will culminate in either a People’s Revolution that could set America on a new, much fairer, more humane, and saner path; or the death of the Republic.   I’ll be honest:  I’m expecting the latter, but hoping for the former.

Last night, I came across a stunning photo taken by AP photographer Julio Cortez in either Minneapolis or St. Paul last week. This is the sort of iconic photo that will be shown decades from now when people talk about this time in history, especially if  American democracy survives.  It says everything about the times we are in.  It could be interpreted as a distress call, since the flag the protester is carrying is upside down, but I get more of a feeling of bravery and patriotism in the face of violent destruction and death.  But, more than anything, to me it shows hope.   The flag carrier here appears to be a young person.  Most of the protesters are Millennials.   If anyone is going to save America, it will be them.  It has to be them.   Even though they have been dismissed as entitled and given very little support by our society for most of their lives, they still love America and want to  revive it into a thriving democracy again, something it hasn’t really been since long before they were even born.

Our future is in their hands.

Drive along the Parkway.

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It was a gorgeous day so I took the car up the Blue Ridge Parkway again.  I never get tired of its views.   This activity is so relaxing to me.

The first picture (above) I took at Craggy Gardens, which has an elevation well over 5000 feet.  The trees here are stunted, short, and knobby looking, due to both the cold and the wind.  A little higher up, and deciduous trees disappear completely and are replaced by a spruce/fir forest, similar to what you might see in Canada.  This is the home of the Frasier fir, similar to the kinds of trees you find in a northern boreal forest, but native to the southern Appalachians.  The Frasiers were almost killed off some years ago by the wooly adelgid, a parasite that attacks balsams, hemlocks, and fir trees, but they have grown back.  You can still see the white “skeletons” of the dead trees here.  Contrasted against the deep green of the live trees, they give the scenery an eerie feel.

The next four pictures are from Mt. Mitchell (the highest peak east of the Mississippi, just a little higher than Mt. Washington in New Hampshire), in the Black Mountains, the range of the Blue Ridge having the highest peaks.  The sign shows the elevation I was at when I took the picture.

There’s a road that branches off from the Parkway and continues to climb until you get to the parking area, which isn’t far from the summit.   It’s interesting to observe the changes in both microclimate and the ecosystem as you go higher.  It was a hot day, in the low 80s, but at the top of Mt. Mitchell, it was a frosty 55!  It was also interesting to me that the last deciduous trees, just before you reach the all conifer forest (taiga) were not merely stubby and short, but were also only just starting to turn green.  At this high an elevation, it looked (and felt!) more like March or early April than the end of May!   They probably aren’t even fully green until the end of next month, and of course winter comes here early too.  The trees here are green probably for only about 3 or 4 months or so, maybe from June until September.  Brrr!   I wonder how high a mountain would have to be this far South for the trees to disappear completely and be replaced with tundra.  Of course, there aren’t any mountains that high here.  I remember back in the 1980s, when I climbed Mt. Washington in New Hampshire with some friends.  Mt. Washington is almost the same height as Mt. Mitchell, but the last few hundred feet or so was a stark, grayish tundra.

The last three pictures are from farther up the Parkway, near Grandfather Mountain and Linville Gorge.   As you can see from the tree types, this is not as high an elevation, though it’s still pretty high.

 

Mount Mitchell State Park: 

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Grandfather Mountain/Linville Gorge area: 

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I have to say, I think these are some of the best pictures I’ve taken of Blue Ridge Parkway scenery.

 

I love it here.

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I never get tired of the scenery here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. During lockdown, I keep myself busy with long car rides where I don’t get out of the car, and just feast my eyes on the scenery.  I took this just outside Chimney Rock, NC today. 
I have to return to work next week.  Boo.   I think it’s too early.

Drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, 4/14/20

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I wanted to kill some time, and the day was too pretty to stay cooped up indoors.  So I took the car out for a spin.

I took these photos from the highest part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, in Jackson County, near Sylva.   It still looked like winter up this high (around 5500 – 6,000 ft).  Most of the trees are still bare, though a few are starting to bud.  A little higher up, and deciduous trees give way completely to Fraser firs (a type of conifer native to the Southern Appalachians that grows on the highest slopes).

The microclimate at these heights has been compared to that of states much farther north, and even southern Canada.  It never gets very hot here, even in the summer, and it gets a lot more snowfall than we do in the valleys and lower elevations.  I don’t think anyone actually lives this high up, though.

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Quarantine drive.

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It’s easy to get bored during quarantine.  One thing that doesn’t put myself or anyone else at risk of becoming ill, but gets me out of the house is driving.  As long as I don’t get out of the car, and make the drive the destination in itself, all is good.

Driving along I-26 eastbound into upstate South Carolina during lockdown was strange to say the least.   Neon signs overhead nagging me to “STAY HOME” and hardly any cars out on the road, in spite of the glorious spring weather.   I rolled down my windows, took a deep breath, and let the wind whip my hair around.  I turned the hard rock station all the way up, and just coasted along the highway, taking in the view.  I had to be careful not to speed, something I tend to do whenever I listen to music while I’m driving, especially when there’s practically no one else on the road.

Since the purpose of the drive was relaxation (and boredom relief),  I only took these two pictures.  I liked the juxtaposition of the nearly flat savannaesque terrain near Campobello, South Carolina looking northwest toward the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina, only about five miles away.   Things were a lot greener and hotter in South Carolina than they are up in the mountains, that’s for sure.   One hour away from my house, and it feels like summer.

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Taking nature pictures soothes me.

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The world, in spite of climate change, burning rainforests, and widespread hatred and violence, is still a beautiful place, with so many beautiful and fascinating things in it.

I find taking pictures like these soothing to my soul.

The first photo is of an enormous praying mantis on the screen of my front porch (I believe this guy was close to four inches long!).  The second is of an oak tree in my neighborhood, that by the size of its massive trunk looks to be even older than I am, and perhaps even a hundred or more years old.   It sure looks healthy though, like it could live for another hundred, and it just might!

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Pool therapy.

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I really needed this today.  I’ve been soooo stressed lately due to family and financial issues, and haven’t had much opportunity to get to the pool or do much of anything recreational this summer.

I arrived at the local public pool early, while it was still almost empty, and just floated on my back in the deep end for a long time (just like an otter!)

The feeling of weightlessness combined with the hot sun beating down on my body seemed to take all my built up stress away.  I could have stayed like that all day, even maybe falling asleep, but soon the pool was crowded with kids and rain clouds began to roll in, so I spend the remainder of my time taking these pictures, which are intended to be artistic but probably aren’t really.

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The above photo:  looking down into 12 feet of water. The dark part on the right is the shadow cast by the side of the pool.  This is my favorite picture because of its slight creepiness.

The iridescence of flight.

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I came across these two stunning photographs of a Black Jacobin Hummingbird today (the photos were taken by photographer Christian Spencer).

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The iridescence is caused by sunlight shining through the wings, forming rainbow colored prisms.

The effect is simply magical.

Spooky trees.

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SPOOKYTREES

 

This was taken looking up at a wooded area that had been partially clearcut to make room for an apartment complex (I took the picture from the parking lot, looking up a steep hill toward the forest).   New plants and shrubs hadn’t had a chance to take root in front of the trees, so you found yourself looking deep into the forest.  Behind the pale trunks the dark green depths appeared almost black.  Adding to the creepiness was the fact a thunderstorm was about to start.

ETA:  I iked this enough I decided to make it the new blog cover photo.   It was time for a change.