This tree experienced an unprecedented meteorological phenomenon.
[daily log: walking, 1.5km; peasouping, 1hr]
Category: My Photos
Caveat: Tree #871
This tree is attempting to grow on top of a pile of rocks – because I put it there. I’m not sure how it will like it.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Poem #1771 “Expressed preferences”
ㅁ So, sometimes out on waters still, at dawn, I'll see a boat. They park there when the sea is rough: they'd rather stay afloat.
– a quatrain in ballad meter.
Caveat: Tree #870
This tree has its own angle on things.
[daily log: walking, 1.5km]
Caveat: Tree #869
This tree is a dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) – as is its near twin beside it.
I am fond of these trees – they were abundant in my neighborhood in Goyang City, South Korea, where they’re planted all over as ornamentals. They are strange trees – they closely resemble the redwoods I grew up among in northern California (although smaller), but they like to lose all their needles in winter, like deciduous trees.
Here are some dawn redwoods in Ilsan, Korea, in the snow. I took this picture in January, 2017.
I ordered these seedlings as an experiment to see if a mail-order tree could survive the unusually long shipment time to this island. I think it might work out – they arrived in a damaged shipping tube, but were seemingly intact and healthy when I opened it up. If they survive, I might buy some other exotics to plant around my lot. I like trees – you might never have guessed that, right?
Incidentally, the company I bought these seedlings from (Jonsteen Company) was founded by a guy I went to high school with, and the company is headquartered in Humboldt County, where I grew up. Jon and I graduated in the same class. He was a very popular guy, and a musician, and an athlete – all things I wasn’t, in high school. But he was always kind to me. Once he let me drive his corvette.
[daily log: walking, 1.5km]
Caveat: Frame Shop Journal #9
I haven’t posted one of these in quite a while. Actually the frame shop hasn’t been that busy, but I have done a few in the past month.
Mostly I’ve been working on a “vendor inventory list” – transferring knowledge in an old, somewhat broken-down filing cabinet into an excel spreadsheet.
Here are some frames. Some of these frames are being handmade here on Prince of Wales Island. That’s kind of cool.
This was a repair.
I like this bird.
A teacher was retiring.
The next five are locally-made frames.
The mat cutting in this one was the most challenging I’ve done, so far.
There were also three large frames that I forgot to take pictures of, because they got picked up right as I finished them. They were large frames for very nice, professional paintings, for the hotel that the Shaan-Seet (local Haida Tribe’s corporation) run.
Caveat: Tree #868
This tree (on the left) saw a seiner (a net-deploying fishing boat) abduct all the fish from our front yard. Well… I guess we weren’t using them. So okay.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Tree #867
This tree was in the background of this picture I took of a little baby deer hanging out beside the road.
[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 6hr]
Caveat: Tree #866
This tree is a guest-tree from the past. I took this picture at Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah in late 2009. It was a snowy day.
[daily log: walking, 3km; retailing, 6hr]
Caveat: Tree #865
This tree saw me down in the boat, in heavy rain and wind, making sure the batteries were charged so the bilge pump was working – when there’s lots of rain, the boat fills up with water, which needs to be pumped out of the bottom of the boat.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Tree #864
This tree saw a little boat tie up at the dock.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km]
Caveat: Boat Afloat
Finally, much later than originally intended, we have managed to get the boat launched and tied up at the dock.
We need a fairly high tide to launch the boat – that has been one impediment, as most of the super high tides have been in the middle of the night, this past month. But this morning, at 4 AM, we had a +11 foot tide. 4 AM might sound like the middle of the night, but at this time of year, it’s already getting light – sunrise is around 4:30. It was drizzly, but the tide was high at 3:55 this morning when I took this picture.
So we successfully lowered the boat into the water and floated it around and tied it to the dock. We had some issues with starting the motors, but finally got them running too. Unfortunately, there’s an electrical problem with the downriggers, such that there will still be no fishing happening. We need to get and wire in new connectors for both the downriggers. My evaluation is that it’s just corrosion on the connectors that is causing the issues, but Arthur’s generalized and wide-angle pessimism seems to feel that there are other things to worry about.
Here is the boat down at the dock, as seen at 5:30 AM. We were running the big motor for a while to make sure the batteries are charged up properly – now that it’s out in the water, the bilge-pump needs to work.
Caveat: Tree #863
This tree is green despite gray skies.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Tree #862
This tree (the small alder on the left fairly far back) saw me plant a bunch of raspberry plantlets that I got from my boss Wayne who was weeding and thinning his raspberry patch. I was thinking that if they establish themselves here, on the berm of the flat area that’s over the septic field on lot 73 (left side of photo), I’ll have a nice raspberry patch in future years.
Meanwhile, in my greenhouse, my single healthiest plant right now is a pepper plant I bought at discount in town because it was looking decrepit. And now it’s flourishing and has a charming little 3/4″ green pepper growing on it.
[daily log: walking, 3km]
Caveat: Tree #861
This tree saw the sun.
[daily log: walking, 3km]
Caveat: Tree #860
This tree took a turn, long ago.
[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 7.5hr]
Caveat: Tree #858
This tree sticks up through the progressing deck of my treehouse.
[daily log: walking, 2km; banging and sawing, 3hr; borschting, 1hr]
Caveat: Tree #857
This tree built a life on the accomplishments of its ancestors.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km]
Caveat: Tree #856
This tree outlived some of its peers.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km]
Caveat: Tree #855
This tree is planning its escape.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Tree #854
This tree malingered by the streambed with others of its ilk.
[daily log: walking, 3km; banging and sawing, 3hr]
Caveat: Tree #853
This tree is high and mighty.
[daily log: walking, 3km; retailing, 6hr]
Caveat: Tree #852
This tree malingered in the late afternoon, just west of the treehouse.
[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 6hr]
Caveat: Tree #851
This tree saw that I have attached a sail to my treehouse. Nah – just kidding. It’s a temporary tarp roof, because it was sprinkling rain while I was working on it, but it was partly sunny today, too. I made good progress.
[daily log: walking, 3.5km; banging and sawing, 8hr]
Caveat: Tree #850
This tree saw the sun come out just before dinnertime.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km]
Caveat: Tree #849
This tree had a distinct view of the treehouse relative to other nearby trees.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km]
Caveat: Tree #848
This tree meditated on still waters.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Tree #847
This tree reflected on the day’s events.
[daily log: walking, 3km; banging and sawing, 3hr]
Caveat: Tree #846
This tree joined its generational cohort to attempt to repopulate the gravel of the driveway on lot 73.
[daily log: walking, 3km; retailing, 7hr]
Caveat: Tree #845
This tree took aim at the sky.
[daily log: walking, 3km; retailing, 6hr]
Caveat: Tree #843
This tree (well, group of trees) is merely a group of seeds in a baggie. I purchased some exotic tree “seed kits” to try to grow here. It’s too difficult and expensive to get saplings delivered, so I thought trying to grow a few interesting trees from seeds was the best, inexpensive option. The seed kits include the seeds, a little mini greenhouse thing, some specialized soil and such, and detailed instructions. I got 2 coast redwood trees and 2 eastern maple trees. The seeds in the picture are redwood trees. We’ll see if I can grow actual trees.
We had some cessation to the rain, so I worked outside on my treehouse while Art got reoriented to life-at-Rockpit.
[daily log: walking, 2km; banging and sawing, 6hr]
Caveat: Tree #842
This tree is now committed to summer’s eventual arrival.
Speaking of arrivals, Arthur arrived safe and sound at Klawock airport. He declares that he is “done with traveling” for a long time.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km]
Caveat: Tree #841
This tree saw the rainbow framing the inlet.
[daily log: walking, 3km; woodchopping and carrying, 1.5hr]