Environmental issues
The Angel Oak
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
There is a petition to halt construction on St. John’s Island, South Carolina that would encroach on an area of land boasting a tree fondly described on the Angel Oak website as a “colossal vegetable” estimated to be between 1,400 and 1,500 years old. (Left: The Angel Oak tree, photo courtesy of the website).
Charleston, SC is proud of its heritage and respected for its commitment to preserving history in the area, and on the petition link, even if you don’t sign (but please do), you will still be able to read pages of interesting comments and pleas from residents who have fond memories of climbing the immense branches as children, and whose children now do the same; how a nearby elementary school carries its’ name, and exclamations by tourists who have visited the area specifically to see the Angel Oak.
Picnics, weddings and reunions are held to this day in the Angel Oak Park free of charge, including an annual summer Arts event, “Evening under Angel Oak” featuring live music, drama and other activities. One year a choreographer involved in the festival stated that the entire ballet company of 19 dancers could hide behind the trunk of the tree.
Before signing the petition myself I was curious to know more. It occurred to me that this tree has lived through one serious chunk of history. I wondered what was happening on our planet when The Angel Oak was knee-high to an acorn? 1400 years ago it was the year 608 A.D. (Common Era). Almost everything we are familiar with; our collective modern identity has been shaped by many of the events and people who lived and died since the Angel Tree sapling established its first roots in the earth.
Angel Oak’s parent-tree was undoubtedly alive for centuries before and during the year 476 A.D. when the last of the Roman emperors died, bringing about The Fall of Rome.
Around the 7th Century A.D. an acorn falls from one of the magnificent Oaks on the southeastern shores of a land only known to the indigenous peoples; a land we now refer to as North America. The acorn sprouts along with many others…but this one will outlive the rest, seasoning hurricanes, wars, and countless generations of playful children climbing it’s branches. The acorn sprouts in conjunction with the collapse of Teotihuacan, one of the major cities in Mesoamerica with widespread influence in central Mexico. The Toltec civilization was unheard of, and would not flourish for another 500 years (1100-1521). Aztecs did not seize power until the 13th century.
When this tree was 300 years old during 901 A.D., the Vikings discovered Greenland. In 1066 “William the Conqueror” and the Norman troops conquered England, altering the English culture forever by bringing French rule and rivalry with France until the French Revolution from 1789 - 1799. Circa 1100 A.D. the famous Buddhist temple, Angkor Wat in Cambodia is constructed to house the Hindu faith. Around 1275 A.D. Marco Polo, the Venetian explorer and trader visits China via the Silk Road, returning to Europe with new foods and goods from the Orient which has a huge impact on European culture. The Black Death devastates Europe around 1348 A.D., while the 740 year old Angel Oak thrives. Columbus and other adventurers would not claim to discover America for another 144 years (C. 1592). Leonardo da Vinci, a man light-years ahead of his time in the fields of science and medicine through his Art studies. By the time he would paint the Mona Lisa and Michelangelo would paint the Sistine Chapel, the Angel Oak has lived for 900 years. The Tree continues growth beyond the life of Galileo, father of modern Astronomy, and through the life of Shakespeare, who established some of the most famous English literature in our era (c. 1564 - 1616).
Year 1776 - Angel Oak is 1,166 years old when the U.S. breaks free from British rule and establishes the first Independence Day. In 1895, by the time the Angel Oak had already survived for 1,287 winters Sigmund Freud would bring modern medicine and humanity into a new open-minded age by announcing his theories of dream psychoanalysis and studies of the human psyche. The First World War between 1914-1918 was followed by WWII, 1939 -45/51.
According to Wikipedia after the Category 5 Hurricane Hugo hit the coast of South Carolina in 1989, Governor Carroll Campbell is reported to say that the storm destroyed enough timber in South Carolina to frame a home for every family in the state of West Virginia. All those trees and forests obliterated, yet The Angel Oak survived. It has since healed injuries inflicted by Hurricane Hugo. (Resort hotels in Puerto Rico are battered as Hurricane Hugo sweeps across the island in September 1989. Photo PRUS - 1990 )
So I ask you: have we come only this far in our human evolution that we could be so disrespectful as to risk the health of this amazing tree that has such historic significance? Have politics and the almighty dollar become such a priority that citizens are powerless to sway the fate of a single tree? 
With all the media awareness now about how to “go Green”, are there not millions of people in the U.S.A. alone who care about the preservation of Earth’s resources in general?… and on a personal level empathize with those who live on St. John’s Island, whose sentiment toward the tree that symbolically links them to family - present and past? Aren’t there at least 20,000 people in the world who care about the sensitivity of every Coastal ecosystem? I think so. The petition is looking for only 20,000 signatures, and has over 600 as I post this. One petitioner quotes songwriter Joanie Mitchell: “Are we going to pave paradise and put up a parking lot?” Here is the petition link.
Click here for directions to St. John’s Island, SC via Windows Search maps, and Wikipedia also has information about the Angel Oak.
The changing state of The Oceans
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
Bull Sharks swim overhead in a 40 foot long tunnel in the main floor Mundo Maya exhibit at the Dallas World Aquarium.
Environmental issues are emotional issues. Groups like Greenpeace work aggressively to protect the future of our planet. It’s one way to get the point across, but if we’re talking about changing the habits of the masses, I believe a more gentle approach is in order. As one who was most assertively involved promoting care for the planet about 15 years ago, first-hand public reactions and feedback demonstrated that negativity toward the human species does not inspire or motivate most of us to take action; in fact it can be detrimental to the cause.
Not to be passive by any means, there are small things the average consumer can contribute at any level, practices which, by now most of us are aware of. Appreciation for nature is encouraged via zoos and public gardens, plus the excellent TV programs on the Discovery Channels for example, progressively spawning a keener awareness of ourselves in relation to the Earth and its creatures.
A care-full outlook about life in general automatically changes our attitude toward participating in daily gestures like recycling. We start incorporating regular habits of being mindful to reduce the amount of packaging we buy, plus reuse items or fix them instead of replacing them.
For information about the changing state of the oceans, here is a link to a petition gathering support to increase marine reserves.
North Carolina
Monday, October 1st, 2007
My husband Alain and I flew up to North Carolina for three days ( a little business trip and I tagged along—he threatened to take my camera with him and I was sure I could not manage without it!) We drove around the eastern countryside between Raleigh and Washington (NC) through old, old towns (it takes a looong time for wooden doors to shred, and a looong time for conditions to be just right for vines to sprout then twirl round and round, entwined and squished between panes of glass!) …old, old farms: tobacco, cotton, peanuts.. and an interesting gas station.
There is a lot of history in NC - fossil, human/settlers and Civil War history. We stayed at Kitty Hawk (first flight - Wright bros.) and walked the shores at various places along the narrow coast of the Outer Banks. We watched the sun rise and dolphins feed - too far away for good photos, even with the telephoto. As soon as the sun rose they swam away.
Along Cape Hatteras, groups of Grackles ate ripe grass seeds, bouncing up and down on the stems, their bodies too heavy for the tall grasses.
On Pony Island a large sand crab tried to buff up and look tough, but it was quite vulnerable there out in the open; all the other crabs scurried into holes but this one stayed, trying to hide in footprints, which offered no protection if we had been birds looking for a hearty meal.
Great fun to watch the behaviour for a while. It’s clearly outlined crab-shaped shadow following it everywhere, creating a few graphic photos that are perfect resource material for drawings and paintings but do not stand alone as good photography because it was moving so fast.
Just off the 2 1/2 hr. long ferry at Swan Quarter, and sunset with a short, wide rainbow after a storm that we managed to escape and watch from the better side.
NO OLF - we were curious about this sign in many people’s yards. The following website shows a video describing how the U.S. Navy has purchased over 30,000 acres of land near the eastern North Carolina coast, planning to move their pilot training program from Virginia.
Part of the huge contraversy is that over 75 families would be forced to leave their homes, many of them farming that land for generations. The human issues are enough, but the cause and effect on the wildlife and ecology would be drastic and unrepairable. Thousands of ducks and large flocks of snowgeese that feed in the area annually would no longer have sanctuary. The large birds would also be a danger to the jets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XDmC1LD1Kc
…and what Nikkistory is complete without a moon?
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