Showing posts with label natureza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natureza. Show all posts

Saturday, 28 September 2019

Sacred trees


http://www.greenshinto.com/wp/2019/09/29/sacred-trees-2/


Sacred trees



Trees become sacred through their distinctiveness, whether age, size, peculiarity or through being struck by lightning


Sacred tree on the island of Shiraishi
The following is taken from Brainpickings by Mary Popova…
“Aside from the appearance of a tree by day or night, is it not kin of the human family with its roots in the earth and its arms stretching toward the sky as if to seek and to know the great mystery?” the artist Art Young wondered in the 1920s in the brief preface to his stunning Rorschach silhouettes of trees at night. Artists, poets, and philosophers have long turned to trees as a clarifying and consolatory force for our human struggles, from William Blake’s most beautiful metaphor to Walt Whitman’s reverence for their wisdom to Martin Buber’s arboreal existentialism.


Still, I have encountered no lovelier celebration of trees than the one Mary Oliver (September 10, 1935–January 17, 2019) offers in her poem “When I Am Among the Trees,” originally published in 2006, later included in her farewell gift to the world, Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver (public library):
WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES
by Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

Tanabata decorations and a sacred tree

Tuesday, 19 March 2019

30 Times Nature Scared The Life Out Of Us

https://www.demilked.com/scary-nature/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=DemilkedFB&fbclid=IwAR0nXe3gyj7ND0mfc5OwqdteYlbmaLXEdZ8u7RTfSqYSV8Vg7bXFLFQzNDY

30 Times Nature Scared The Life Out Of Us

You have to agree that almost everything about nature is awesome – from the animals to the trees. But then there’s the ‘almost’ part – sometimes the same nature that gave us foxes and squirrels gives us giant bats and palm-sized spiders that might make you soil your pants.
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#1 What Do You Do When You See A Flying Fox In Your Backyard? (The Philippines)


Image source: sakundes
No that’s not Bruce Wayne, err, we mean, Batman taking a nap – it’s actually the fox bat, sometimes called the flying fox. It’s one of the largest bats in the world, with its wingspan reaching up to 5 ft (1.5 m). Fox bats are typically found on tropical islands and mainland Asia. And don’t worry about this giant bat eating you – they are frugivores, meaning they only eat fruit.

#2 Haven’t Cleaned Behind The Dresser In Months


Image source: philprice78
Fun fact about lizards: not all of them lay eggs, some of them, like Solomon island lizards, actually give birth to live younglings!

#3 Crazy Bird Tornado


Image source: wadeybb
While this looks like something straight out of a horror movie, it’s actually a thick flock of migrating birds called a murmuration. Flying in such a formation helps birds protect themselves from predators easier and use less energy while traveling.

#4 Birds Using A Dead Pike’s Mouth To Nest


Image source: agitated_ajax
Pike are known for their abilities to stay completely still for long periods of time when hunting – boy are those birds in for a surprise when this one finally decides to close its mouth!

#5 Toads Riding On A Python


Image source: MrMeMock
Just some toads taking the python express after a flood in Kununurra. Cowabunga, dudes!

#6 Believe It Or Not, This Is One Of The Least Dangerous Spiders We Have In Australia


Image source: PineappleDildo
The huntsman spider is a pretty common sight in Australian homes and gardens. They are pretty useful to have around as they love to eat cockroaches and other small bugs. But while we respect what this spider is doing, we’ll try to steer clear of its path, just in case.

#7 I Want To Ride My Bicycle


Just remember to bee careful and put on a helmet – falling off without one can really sting!

#8 Sawfish


Image source: crazyfeekus
If the name doesn’t already suggest it, the sawfish is easily recognized by its long, chainsaw-like snout, called a rostrum. These fishes use their rostrum to defend themselves during feeding time by slashing it in a side-to-side motion.

#9 My Town In Central Texas Has A Bird Problem


Image source: ImPrettyNewHere
Every autumn, thousands upon thousands of birds migrate to where it’s warmer. Keep that in mind next time you’re eating popcorn outside during that time!

#10 There Was A Friggin Gecko Hiding In My Son’s Toy Spider


Image source: quatraine
Geckos are so common all over the world, you can find them in all continents except for Antarctica. Looks like you can even find them inside children’s’ toys!

#11 The Fox And The Hound


Image source: Pidiotpong
Sadly, at some point, the fox must have fallen into the water and drowned. But this good boy came to honor it with a moment of silence.

#12 Lizard Shed His Entire Face In One Go


Oh no, looks like the lizard rushed off to the Halloween party and forgot its mask!

#13 Mother And Girlfriend Found This On The Beach Today. Any Idea What It Is?


Image source: Horrorwolfe
While this thing might look like some very expensive dessert you would order at an upscale restaurant, it’s actually Dofleinia armata – a very dangerous anemone whose stings are not something you’d want to experience.

#14 Death Shrouds From Hell – Spiders Cocooned These Trees To Save Themselves From A Flood


Image source: Russell Watkins
Back in 2010, a flood hit Pakistan and caused all of the little insects to look for higher ground – and they did. Russell Watkins, a multimedia editor with the U.K.’s Department for International Development (DFID), captured this rare sight of spiders nested atop trees in the village of Sindh – even the locals have never seen such a thing before.

#15 Snaggle-Toothed Snake Eel Found On The Beach In Puerto Vallarta, Mexico


Image source: Mtaylor0812_
This ‘cute’ creature is the Aplatophis zorro – the snaggle-toothed snake eel, typically found the eastern central Pacific Ocean. These eels can reach over 3ft4in (104 cm) in length and live about 5 to 10 m (16.4 to 32.8 ft) underwater.

#16 Frog With Eyes In Its Mouth As A Result Of Macromutation


Image source: Reptile Hunter
This rare mutation is the result of a parasitic infection by Ribeiroia ondatrae (trematode worm), that caused a change in a regulatory gene that’s responsible for the expression many structural genes. This infection can cause other mutations as well, such as missing and malformed limbs.

#17 This Spider Web That Looks Like A Spider-Man Mask


Image source: meistertigran
Many factors affect the strength of a web, with light and temperature being just a few of them – and they can lead to some rather unusual web formations, such as this ‘mask’.

#18 Lactarius Rubidius Growing Out Of Fox Skull


Image source: Ghost25
The Lactarius rubidius, known commonly as ‘candy cap’ is a mushroom found in western North America. They are not your typical edible mushrooms – these ones are considered to be ‘aromatic mushrooms’ and are mainly used for flavoring.

#19 In Case You Ever Wanted To Know What A Hedgehog Skeleton Looked Like


Image source: ZombieBorscht
Just look at this cute coat the hedgehogs wear. Be careful though – it’s pointy!

#20 This Fascinating Creature, A Deep-Sea Squid, Was Video Taped By Shell Out In The Perdido Area Of Alaminos Canyon, At 7800 Ft. Depth


Image source: Peter Etnoyer
This alien-like monstrosity was captured on video in the Gulf of Mexico back in 2007. It’s actually the bigfin squid, although not much is know about these species. This particular one was measured to be around 8 m (26 ft) long.

#21 Found A Beehive While Renovating An Old House


Image source: blokeman
While renovating a house, someone found a whole beehive inside one of the walls. Is that really a problem? One one hand, bee stings and mold are pretty bad, but on the other hand – free honey! So you be the judge here.

#22 Someone Bugged His Phone


Image source: MosDef52
This nightmare inducing thing usually happens during fumigation – the insects try to escape the poisonous chemicals and try to crawl inside the smallest crevices they can find. They usually die there, if that makes it better.

#23 Something Is Growing Inside A Bottle Of Natural Orange Juice I Abandoned Inside A Cabinet For Over A Year


Image source: adun-d
After someone posted this old juice bottle they found in a cabinet, people guessed that it might be a cylindrical yeast colony. If you’re interested, the guy actually opened it!

#24 You Can See The Back Of An Owl’s Eye Through Its Ear


Photographer Jim McCormac says that since owls lack external ear structures most mammals have, their ears are just simple openings in their skulls, covered by feathers.”But these owls’ unusually large earholes and eyes also offer a “behind the scenes” peek at their visual system, showcasing the evolutionary adaptations in sight and hearing that make the birds so successful at stealthy nighttime hunting,” says the photographer.

#25 Hydnora africana


This disturbing plant not only looks creepy but also reeks of feces. The smell helps the Hydnora africana attract dung beetles – its natural pollinators.

#26 Just Going To Run


Image source: TurboTitan92
Honestly, that’s just one more reason to never run again in your life, ever.

#27 Snake Was Electrocuted Then Bitten By Another Snake, Which Was Also Electrocuted


Image source: Hilltopchill
Just when you think your day can’t get any worse. Shocking!

#28 Grow Bigger Or Die


These grasshoppers look like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie! Or maybe it’s just a really tiny snake? We can only guess.

#29 The Assassin Bug – The Ferocious Bug That Sucks Prey Dry And Wears Their Corpses


Image source: orionmystery
This badass bug looks pretty ‘metal’, carrying the corpses of his victims on his back. He says he does it to camouflage himself from jumping spiders, but everyone knows he only does it to look cool.

#30 Weird Mold Growing Out Of Cat Food Can I Left In An Empty Room For 10 Days


Image source: sideshowbvo
This type of fungus is called Phycomyces and is relatively harmless. Maybe keep it for another week or two and you’ll get a cool free wig out of it?

Tuesday, 24 February 2015

Nature Anatomy: A Glorious Illustrated Love Letter to Curiosity and the Magic of Our World

brainpickings
http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/02/20/nature-anatomy-julia-rothman/?mc_cid=ec09e7202b&mc_eid=ce32ab8bee


Nature Anatomy: A Glorious Illustrated Love Letter to Curiosity and the Magic of Our World

by 
A loving celebration of sunsets and salamanders, ferns and feathers, mountains and mushrooms, and the whole enchanting aliveness in between.
“A writer is a professional observer,” Susan Sontag noted in her spectacular lecture on literature. So is any great storyteller — including the artist. After turning her professional-observer powers and their visual record to the city and the farm, illustrator extraordinaire Julia Rothman now directs them at what Virginia Woolf believed was the source of all the arts: nature.
In Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World (public library), she fuses the curious scrutiny of science with the loving gaze of art to explore everything from sunsets to salamanders, ferns to feathers, mountains to mushrooms, and the whole enchanting aliveness in between.
Rothman — who also dreamt up the most generous book in the world — embraces the natural world with the same generous attention to its monumental wonders, like volcanos and orcas, and its quietly bewitching details, like snowflakes and butterfly metamorphosis. With great elegance and simplicity, she makes visible and intelligible some of the most complex questions that have occupied humans, both little and big, since our species first laid eyes on the glorious “mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam” we call home.
What emerges is at once a treasure trove of trivia — who knew that the 1,000 known species of bats, the only mammals capable of flight, constitute 20% of all classified mammals? — profoundly untrivial in its larger message: We are part of this glorious world we share with creatures manyfold more magnificent than us, and to know it is not only to love it, not only to be fully agape with awe, but to hold its future with utmost tenderness of heart and firmness of moral responsibility.
Rothman, the daughter of a science teacher, writes in the introduction:
I grew up on City Island in the Bronx, in New York City, on a block that ends with a beach, as most of the streets on the island do. Collecting and categorizing shells, studying horseshoe crabs’ undersides, and swallowing saltwater were part of my childhood, even though we could see iconic skyscrapers glowing across the water. My sister and I spent summers and camp, hiking in the woods in upstate New York, and sleeping in tents outfitted with lots of bug spray to satisfy my over-protective mother.
I really loved nature as a kid… But as I got older, I became a city girl at heart.
Rothman spent her teenage years as a normal city adolescent — sneaking into nightclubs and being rebellious in all those other predictable teenage ways that every generation believes it is inventing. Now, she lives near Prospect Park. Reflecting on that seemingly small yet miraculous contact with urban wildlife — of which there is far more than most people realize, well beyond parks — Rothman considers the transformative power of her mini “nature walks” in the park and how they shaped this project:
I cherish being surrounded by greenery for just a small period of time each day. It keeps me sane to be able to smell some grass after being squashed like a sardine in a subway car. I really look around the park wanting to know more. What is that tree with the beautiful leaves called? When will those flowers I saw last year show up again? Are those really bats flitting above our heads? How funny to see so many dragonflies attached, making love!
My curiosity continues to grow, and that’s how the idea for this book took shape.
Rothman notes that the book — in which she enlisted the help of friend and nature-expert John Niekrasz — is no more a “nature book” than her walks in the park are true “nature walks,” for there is no way to contain all of the living world between the covers of a single book. And yet it’s her nature book — a visual record of those aspects of our world that most sang to her and tickled her curiosity.
And that, I think, is precisely the point — we miss most of what is going on around us anyway, but it’s the act of looking that creates our reality, which is invariably subjective. Looking at nature in this way reminds us both that we are finite beings limited in the reach of our seeing abilities and that we belong to a world of infinite complexity and beauty — an awareness at once immensely grounding and immensely elevating. It calls to mind the opening of thatunforgettable Mary Oliver poem:
I know, you never intended to be in this world.
But you’re in it all the same.
So why not get started immediately.
I mean, belonging to it.
There is so much to admire, to weep over.
Complement Nature Anatomy with some 500 years of rare and gorgeous natural history illustrations and the story of how bees gave Earth its colors, then revisit Rothman’s unbearably wonderful Farm Anatomy and Hello NY.
Illustrations courtesy of Julia Rothman; photographs my own