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Thanks, Andrew, both for your original vivid report and for your reply to David, including the comments on the dangers of declaring a landscape utterly "useless" and "dead," and of ignoring the values of metaphor and even lyricism in writing about experiences within the so-called natural world(s). As for "dancing with beavers," I thought that a funny allusion (whether intended or not) to the film Dances with Wolves, but it also has its much earlier precedents, such in the unforgettable passage in the "Sounds" chapter of Walden, when Thoreau describes a sort of "checkers" game with a loon on a lake, an imagined sense of play that nonetheless ends with a recognition of the loon's final elusiveness, as mist surrounds and hides the bird and it slips away from the canoeist.
As it so happens, this afternoon just an hour ago I was watching a very brief Utube commentary by English poet Lavinia Greenlaw--who has extensively working in the borderlands between science and poetry--on the role of metaphor in science. Here's the link to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZM9Dr0zxK0
Did you know that a Calgary poet, Diane Guichon, recently published a whole collection of "canoeing" poems? (She's been working on an anthology of them by other people too.)
cheers, Brian
----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew Steeves
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 5:33 PM
Subject: [SPAM][NatureNS] Re: Tent Dwelling
David:
My understanding is that the erosion-resistant granite up there is covered in a thin layer of soil and stony granite till, peppered with boulders. Hardly idea as a place to make a living. The drainage is poor and that small lakes and bogs form in the shallow depressions. Is this healthy? Is this good?
You're right that my comment about the health of the place may be an incomplete picture, but it was not "gosh ain't this pretty" silliness either. It was a reaction to the range of things that seemed to be growing up there and the number of creatures that seemed to be living, hunting or passing through the barrens despite the limited resources the area affords them. I wasn't just waxing poetic; I was reporting evidence of activity and of a sort of vitality. Much was making a living up there, from wildflowers to insects, from lichen to trees, from songbirds to mammals. Many more things than rock were using this place with some seeming success. Far from 'useless' or 'dead'.
This can also happen in clearcuts, true. Nova Scotia's species have had a little longer to adapt to what the mile-high ice sheets left behind, and not so long to deal with the aftermath of lumbering. I don't recommend the return of either to the area anytime soon.
What makes a place healthy? What makes a place good? These are loaded terms and perhaps it was careless of me to introduce them. I suppose the coyote, the rabbit and the red maple would all answer that sustenance and safety are what they want in a place if they condescended to answer the question at all.
I'm grateful for your observations, and for your implied cautions. I'd add another caution of my own. Lyrical, metaphoric language, used precisely and intelligently, is often the best way to communicate those things which we observe. And while we all need to be on guard against romanticized tripe, too often naturalists err in mistaking lists for information, leaving their wonderment and joy out of it. This mistake suggests that, as a species, we can sometimes be more near-sighted than any beaver I've ever had the pleasure of doing the splash-and-go jig with.
Drop by the print shop and say hello some time, David.
Andrew
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks, Andrew, both for your original vivid report
and for your reply to David, including the comments on the dangers of declaring
a landscape utterly "useless" and "dead," and of ignoring the values of
metaphor and even lyricism in writing about experiences within the so-called
natural world(s). As for "dancing with beavers," I thought that a funny
allusion (whether intended or not) to the film <EM>Dances with
Wolves</EM>, but it also has its much earlier precedents, such in the
unforgettable passage in the "Sounds" chapter of <EM>Walden</EM>, when
Thoreau describes a sort of "checkers" game with a loon on a lake, an imagined
sense of play that nonetheless ends with a recognition of the loon's final
elusiveness, as mist surrounds and hides the bird and it slips away from the
canoeist.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> As it so happens, this
afternoon just an hour ago I was watching a very brief Utube
commentary by English poet Lavinia Greenlaw--who has extensively working in the
borderlands between science and poetry--on the role of metaphor in science.
Here's the link to it: <A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZM9Dr0zxK0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZM9Dr0zxK0</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Did you know that a Calgary
poet, Diane Guichon, recently published a whole collection of "canoeing" poems?
(She's been working on an anthology of them by other people too.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>cheers, Brian</FONT></DIV>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=andrew@gaspereau.com href="mailto:andrew@gaspereau.com">Andrew
Steeves</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
href="mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca">naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, June 04, 2008 5:33
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [SPAM][NatureNS] Re: Tent
Dwelling</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>David:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>My understanding is that the erosion-resistant granite up there is
covered in a thin layer of soil and stony granite