September 2025 Trees that Shaped the Seas, Art and Nature

 Fall at the pond

 

Friday September 7 I gave a Tree Mob "Trees that Shaped the Seas" among the oaks and pines at the Arboretum this afternoon, talking about the different species of trees that were used in wooden ships in colonial times. White oak was commonly used for hulls, as it is denser and stronger than most other locally available woods. The USS Constitution used even denser southern live oak for the frames of the hull and white oak for the planking. Eastern white pine was used for masts as it grew tall and straight. The tropical wood lignum vitae, the densest of all woods (so dense that it sinks in water), was used for block and tackle (pulley systems). A typical colonial navy warship (a "third-rater") required 2000 trees for its construction. 

The talk was videotaped; here's the link. The audio is a little fuzzy at the beginning, but then gets clearer as the talk goes along.

I didn't think that the Arb had any live oak, as it is a southern tree, but Michael Dosmann, the Keeper of the Living Collections at the Arb, told me that they recently planted a few. The next day, I went to check on them; here's one that was planted in 2017. Not big yet, but they grow into impressive trees, with long branches spreading out horizontally from the trunk (see this link). When I ran into Ned Friedman, the Director of the Arb, a few days later, he told me that some of the live oaks they planted have already died, but they're hoping to have at least one survive.

Sunday September 9 Walking around my neighborhood, I spotted this herb version of a little lending library, complete with scissors to snip the herbs - very cute! The sign says "LITTLE FREE HERBARY Take What You Need".

Friday September 12 As I mentioned in previous Nature Notes, a pair of swans nested at Ward's Pond this spring. They've managed to raise 4 cygnets to near adult size and a week or so ago, one of the adults and 3 of the cygnets appeared at Jamaica Pond. Then a couple of days later the other adult joined them. When I went to Ward's Pond to check on the last cygnet, it was still there, happily paddling around with the wood ducks and mallards. Then a couple of days later, it appeared with the rest of the family at Jamaica Pond. I wondered if it had flown or walked over (it's not very far). But it did neither: according to a friend who saw the story in the Boston Globe, a park ranger picked it up an carried it over! I would have liked to have seen that.

Saturday September 13 I've come to the Berkshires to see the outdoor sculpture exhibit at the Clark Institute of Art in Williamstown. 

 

In the NY Times review of the exhibit, the sculptor of this piece, Laura Ellen Bacon, said that as she was weaving the strands of willow one day, a bear came along and watched her weaving. She continued to work on it for a bit, and after she walked away, the bear came up to sniff and lick it. I guess that's a bear's version of a thumbs up review!  The Clark put up this sign nearby.

I liked this serpent, covered in a mosaic of colored glass, by Javier Senosiain, too.

 

They had an exhibit on Berenice Abbott's photographs, mostly portraits, too. She also did scientific photography, contributing images of wave patterns in water and strobe photography of moving objects to the MIT based Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) high school physics textbook. She took the  bouncing ball strobe photo on the cover of the 1971 edition, the one I used in Grade 13 physics.

Towards dusk, I drove Mass Audubon's Pleasant Valley sanctuary in Lenox, where a new All Persons Trail has recently been completed, the 19th of 25 planned across their sanctuaries.

 I was hoping to see beavers at their pond, but didn't see any as I left a bit before dusk as I wasn't keen to be in the woods alone as it was getting dark. 

Sunday September 14 Early this morning I returned to Pleasant Valley to look for beavers again, but still no luck. I did see this evidence of overachieving beavers, though.

The staff at the nature center said that they see the beavers more often in the evening than in the morning. The whiteboard at the building entrance noted that someone had seen a "large black bear" on the road that runs through the sanctuary yesterday, so I'm glad I didn't hang around any later than I did yesterday looking for beavers.

Inside one of the buildings, they've hung several Charley Harper silkscreens of birds - here's the hooded merganser. I love his simple, geometrical style that captures the essence of the bird.

 

I went on to the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge. To my surprise, they had a sculpture exhibit, Lost Birds, by Todd McGrain, of birds that have become extinct, including the passenger pigeon.

 Here's what Todd McGrain's website says about them:

"At one time, passenger pigeons accounted for an estimated 20 to 40 percent of all land birds of North America. They flew in vast flocks numbering in the millions, sometimes eclipsing the sun for hours. As America’s human population grew and the demand for wild meat increased, hunters slaughtered the birds with great efficiency. "

The last wild one was shot in 1900; the last one in captivity, Martha, died in 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Friday September 19. I went up to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem to see their exhibit of American Art from the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art. Love this Winslow Homer, Fox Hunt.

 While I was there, I also had a look at their exhibit of art related to Herman Melville's Moby Dick, including several whale-themed book covers. This leather cover, designed and made by Susan and Chaim Ebanks, with the eye of the white whale and the lines in its hide around the eye, was my favorite.

 

And after the museum, I drove up to Crane Beach, about half an hour north of Salem. There were a number of people sitting on lawn chairs, blankets etc. near the parking lot, but not far away it was nearly deserted. I love that Richard Crane (of Crane toilets) and his wife bought the property in 1910 and the same year amended their wills to leave the 4 mile long beach as well as their adjacent country estate to the Trustees of Reservations, a Massachusetts conservation organization.

 

Tuesday September 23 I went to an open session at the Mass Audubon art studio this evening and made a great horned owl gel print using a plastic sheet that had already been laser cut to make a stencil. Had a lot of fun playing around with various stencils, leaves etc. and different colors of ink. 

Wednesday September 24 This week's message "Honk for Science" at our sign protest over Interstate 95 got a lot of honks. We draped the letters in transparent garbage bags to protect them from the drizzly rain. You can hear a sample of the honking in the video below.

 

Monday September 29 Update on the swans: about a week after I saw all four cygnets at Jamaica Pond, one of them disappeared and I thought perhaps it had died. But a friend told me that the other three cygnets bullied and harassed it so a park ranger moved it to another pond. I went to look for it at Ward's Pond and Leveritt Pond, but it's not at either of those ponds. Maybe one of the Franklin Park ponds.

I'll leave you with this photo of the beauty berries on one of my bushes in the back yard.