Next week I’ll travel to New York to give a lecture at the American Museum of Natural History. I’m very honored to speak at such a fabulous center for the study and celebration of the natural world. Please consider attending if you live nearby. Or if you have friends and family in the area, I’d be very grateful if you could spread the word. The talk is at 6:30pm on Wednesday March 13th. Reservations are recommended.
In April I’ll be speaking at Trails and Trilliums, an event organized by the Friends of the South Cumberland. I’ll be giving a lecture and leading a couple of bird walks. The events are in the Monteagle Assembly, April 12-14th, with exact times to be announced on the event’s webpage. The event will also feature a native plant sale (with plants not dug from the wild!), an art show, guided walks and a reception. Please join us, if you can.
In closing, an early rue anemone, poking up despite the cold:
David George Haskell 
Good luck with your engagements. I wish you were coming to Baltimore, I’d love to hear your talk. Meanwhile, I posted something today that has 2 pictures I’d like you to see: http://flatland57.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/natures-silence/
One is a tree with dark blotches on the bark, and the other is a tree with what looks like a bulging area.
All the Best!
Thank you!
I love the photos and the Dillard quote. Teaching a Stone to Talk is a great little book (w/big ideas…)
Any idea about the bulge? or those spots? Glad you like the photos!
I believe the bulge is a “burl.” These swellings are of mysterious origin: some are caused by damage to the tree, some by earlier galls on the tree. They are not harmful (at least so I have been led to believe). Wood-turners love their complex inner patterns. The spots? Not sure. Looks like areas of thickened bark growth, but why the tree would do that I do not know…
Thanks again. I didn’t realize what a burl looked like on a tree. Those spots seem to have come from out of nowhere. None of the surrounding trees have them. I’ll keep track.
Really frustrated that we missed your talk. Sandy and I “discovered” you at the Explorers Club last spring, and were looking forward to listening to you speak again at AMNH. But it was the evening before we left for a week in Bermuda, and things were just a bit too hectic… How did it go?
While away, I steeped myself in The Forest Unseen each night. Coincidentally, your description of eft locomotion vs. whale locomotion was echoed in a lecture I attended there, about humpback migration past the island.
Hi Jim,
I’m sorry that the timing did not work out. (Thank you for spreading the word on FB!) I think the AMNH talk went well. They were great hosts and we had an excellent turnout.
I hope your trip was fun. Glad to hear that efts and whales converged on the page and on the island. Spinal flex is an echo of history.
With best wishes, David