Enjoy the show, and I’ll see you next week.

© jessicareeder for Uprooted, an eco/travel blog, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: California, ecotourism, ecotravel, environment, featured posts, Humboldt, nature, outdoors, photography, Siskiyou, travel, water

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The land out here is not entirely welcoming. As it should be: this area is nearly pristine, not a place you want to share. Those who live here suit themselves in spines, and rub elbows rarely.

Jon has been here for ten years, and has seen some things; he left word that we weren’t to go exploring the Salmon River willy-nilly. Some places are for us, some are private, and some are sacred. A few decades ago, a White man could die after sunbathing in the wrong spot; now, you might escape with a tongue-lashing, but it’s still not advisable to go tramping around in somebody else’s woods.

And so it is that I haven’t done much exploring here. But today was my last day in town, and rain was lowering, and I decided to take my chances in the Siskiyou Forest.

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Read the rest of Siskiyou National Forest & the Salmon River (650 words)

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Post tags: California, nature, outdoors, photography, salmon river, Siskiyou, touristry, video, water

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Signs of Spring, originally uploaded by Reenie-Just Reenie

“What in the world is phenology?” you may be asking. “It sounds very boring,” you might add.

Luckily, you’d be wrong: it’s pretty cool stuff. Phenology is the technique of recording natural phenomena—leaf coloring, bud burst, the first robin of spring, insect appearances and disappearances, anything that happens in the natural world—and cataloguing them to better understand and predict natural patterns.

It’s been going on since ancient times, and much of the oldest knowledge has been passed down in proverbs (think “April showers bring May flowers”). After falling out of style in the 20th century, phenology’s on the rise again: phenological data is now being used to calculate historical and current climate change.

In one famous case, harvest date records for Pinot grapes in Burgundy were used in an attempt to reconstruct spring-summer temperatures from the year 1370 onward. Now scientists are using Thoreau’s notes on first flowerings from 1851 to 1858 to study patterns of plant abundance and decline in New England. The conventional wisdom is that phenological data may be able to accurately record and predict things like, say, global warming.

Blogger & soapmaker Amanda Nolan has compiled a great list of phenological signs and proverbs, such as:

When you see your first dandelion, it’s time to plant potatoes.

When the moon is waning, trees are easier to fell.

When you see the underside of maple leaves, a storm is coming.

When wasps nest in exposed places, start to conserve water.

Cool, eh? But how does it apply to you, in your little apartment on the 3rd floor?

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Read the rest of Try This at Home: Phenology (376 words)

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Post tags: citizen science, climate change, education, featured posts, how-to, phenology

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Groundhog, originally uploaded by WelshTart

As it turns out, Groundhog Day and today’s Catholic holiday Candlemas were both preceded by the pagan holiday Imbolc, also referred to as St. Brigid’s Day. That’s right, today is an ancient holiday. I’m not much for sacred days, but the pagan ones are usually worth paying attention to: they generally mark significant events on the solar calendar.

And today, for those of us (read:me) who’ve been waiting for winter to roll past so we can get started on the growing season, is a day worth marking. Today is the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. We are halfway past the beginning of winter, and halfway to spring!

I can get into that a lot more than the whole groundhog-shadow thing. Although it appears that Punxsutawney Phil’s legend is much older than he could ever guess: the Celtic hag goddess Cailleach is said to gather her firewood for the next six weeks of winter on this day. She always makes sure it is bright and sunny, so that she’ll be able to gather enough wood. Therefore, if the weather is gloomy, she has overslept and won’t be able to prolong winter.

Here in Humboldt County it’s sunny & bright, so I guess we’re in for it. Everyone’s saying that rain is coming. Sounds to me like it’s almost time to head south, and try my luck in LA. Wonder what the Cailleach would think of that plan.

© jessicareeder for Uprooted, an eco/travel blog, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: brigid, groundhog day, Humboldt, imbolc, wood

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No two ways about it, good firewood is the most important thing you can have up here. When it gets down to 20 degrees each night and never fully thaws during the day, even a well-built house doesn’t keep you warm— and few things are more frustrating than spending three hours trying to nurse a smoky, smoldering fire with green wood.

And so, the procurement and preparation of good firewood becomes a major occupation in this life. And there’s no easy way to go about it: wanna fit a tree in your woodstove? You’ll have to work for it.

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Read the rest of Things I Learned: Firewood! (458 words)

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Post tags: California, fire, how-to, Humboldt, Siskiyou, wood

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That’s a photo that Face took of the cabin we’re staying in. As you can see, there’s not a lot out here. Just about nothing, actually. This cabin is up in the wilds of BFE, a fair piece off Route 96 on a mostly-deserted mountain. A small group of white people have settled up here on the bits of land that don’t belong to the Karuk, Yurok, or Hoopa; they lead quiet lives centered mostly around their crops and the weather.

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Read the rest of Greetings from Scenic Northern California! (261 words)

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Post tags: California, Humboldt, Siskiyou

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