Falling Leaves

[altivo]

The leaves have started falling in earnest here. We still haven't had a real frost, so the fall colors are scattered at best, mostly along ridgetops, but still quite nice. Sugar maples are the usual bright oranges and reds, hickories have turned golden as they always do, and the Virginia creepers and sumac are the usual crimson shades. Poison ivy too. Though we've eliminated four large growths on some trees, I see at least two others that really should be terminated.

We have a bad spot in the house roof. Fortunately it's on the edge of a deep overhang, not over the house itself, but we have to do something about it now. Odds are we won't get started on a real repair until next summer, because it will probably involve replacing plywood in the roof cover itself. Ugh. I hate roofing, but we can't afford to hire it out.

I'm already feeling the winter contraction coming on, where I just want to sit indoors reading or writing. I really can't do that, at least not yet.

Found some little trap doors in the library software that let me clean up problems I haven't been able to touch in the past. A couple of my colleagues at other libraries could undoubtedly use these too, but I'm not sure how much to leak out. There are dangerous capabilities that shouldn't be made public, and the system admin might block us all out if it's generally known we can do these things.

Oh, and Peter Collingwood died last week. I don't imagine anyone who reads this actually knows who he was, but as a weaver, he was one of my heroes. He was a doctor in the British army in World War 2, and because he got bored sitting around in an emergency tent or a field ambulance waiting for something to happen, he took up weaving. By the time the war was over, he was more interested in weaving than in medicine, and became a professional weaver and teacher. Collingwood wrote several weighty and invaluable books on weaving methods and tools, and by all accounts was a gentleman and very generous to beginners and fans who sought him out. When his books went out of print, he released them on the web in PDF form so that anyone could have a copy. He had been in ill health recently, I hear, but it was still unexpected when he suddenly passed away in his weaving studio last Thursday, aged 86. Weavers and fiber artists will miss him.

Comments

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

The colors are wonderful. I still don't enjoy raking leaves though.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yep, I noticed you were willing to destroy a whole tree in order to avoid it. ;p

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

Yeah. That plan worked well.

[baphnedia.livejournal.com]

I forgets if I ever made that book recommendation... (unrelated)

A Matter of Time - Don Kirchner - and this time, I won't forget. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Four with that title, none with that author. Publisher name?

[baphnedia.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure on the publisher off-hand... when I have the book in my hands/paws/talons next I'll check. As for this books' website, amatteroftime.org.

[baphnedia.livejournal.com]

Publisher Name: High Ground Publications ^^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll look into it.

Climate change

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Anyone who does not believe that climate change is a reality should have spent bonfire night of 2005 with. I was outside wearing nothing but a T-shirt, and feeling quite warm. For the last few years here, the leaves have not even started to change colour until late October. As I type now, they are just on the turn. This is simply just not normal.

Having said that, when they DO fall they make a nice display. IT sets me in the mind for getting ready for Winter.

BTW. Is poison ivy REALLY poisonous? Or does it just inflict nettle like stings?

Re: Climate change

[altivo.livejournal.com]

We've been having generally warmer autumns here for quite a long time, actually. I think we first noticed it back in the 1980s when we were cutting roses in the garden for Thanksgiving dinner (third or fourth week of November.) The problem is, most people have such selective memories that they just don't see it. Heavy snow on the ground by Thanksgiving was typical when I was a kid. Now we rarely see significant amounts of snow until January.

The shift is certainly noticeable. Some of the cause may be due to natural cycles, but a build-up of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere has other impacts in any case and must not continue.

Re: Climate change

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

I just want SOME kind of difference between the seasons back again. We've got this non descript mono-climate until January, when it all of a sudden freezes for a month or two. I have noticed that Winter, although it comes later, seems to end later as well. The whole thing is just a bit wierd.

Whether this is caused by man's activity or not, I am not sure either. But we're sure as hell not helping it.

Poison Ivy

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Poison ivy (Rhus sp.) is also called "poison oak" in some areas. It produces an oily, waxy substance that is a skin irritant. Degrees of sensitivity vary, but contact with it generally produces blisters, swelling, and painful itching. Because the irritant is oily, it doesn't wash off with plain water, and can be spread by contact with clothing, animal hair, or fingers. The reaction takes several hours to develop in most people, so the damage is usually done before the symptoms are noticed.

Severe cases can be as nasty as burns from fire, and require medical support. Some people seem to have resistance or immunity, though it is not consistent and they are often surprised to one day discover they are no longer immune.

I have no idea what it would do if ingested by humans, but it probably wouldn't be nice. Animals don't seem to eat it either, except for birds who will eat (and spread) the berries and seeds.

Re: Poison Ivy

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Ick. That is one thing I am glad we don't have here.

Re: Poison Ivy

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It's quite a handsome plant, actually. Shiny green leaves of varying form that grow in triplets, white berries, and woody stems. The growth habit varies from region to region, but here it tends to climb large oak trees, putting most of its biomass up in the canopy where it poses little hazard. The stems on the trunk are still an irritant though and should not be touched.

The trouble with having all this poison ivy growing fifty feet in the air is that it sheds berries in the fall. The berries themselves are irritants if you handle them, but the real problem is that they sprout of course and the juvenile plants are a hazard to bare ankles the next summer and difficult to eradicate.

Re: Poison Ivy

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

I had a co-worker that ended up going to the hospital after getting a severe poisin ivy rash on both forearms from carrying firewood with thick ropes of the stuff clinging to the bark. 10 years later he still has scars on his arms.

On the other hand, my son is one of those few lucky people who seems to have a natural immunity to it. I've seen him handle it with his bare hands without so much as a welt.

This is just a rumor I haven't verified, but I've heard that even inhaling the smoke from burning poison ivy is hazardous. It won't cause skin irritation but it can make breathing a real chore for a few days. Does anyone know if there's any truth to it?

Re: Poison Ivy

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, the smoke from burning the stuff is also an irritant and should be avoided.

Your son should be discouraged from handling it without precautions. I used to be able to ignore it, but it will raise blisters on my skin now. I still don't have as severe a reaction as some, but it's not pleasant. Blonds seem to be more sensitive as a rule.

Re: Poison Ivy

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

When he was younger, he enjoyed making grapevine wreaths and frequently helped himself to the wild muskodine and kudzu vines in a nearby lot. One day he brought home a wreath that had a couple of poison ivy leaves attached and was a bit offended that I refused to touch it, lol! That was the day we went out and had a quick botanical lesson.

Handling it really isn't an issue these days. I'm thinking there really isn't much available to him in the county jail. (Loooooong story)

Re: Poison Ivy

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Long or short, sounds like a southern story to me.

Re: Poison Ivy

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

LOL! It's not quite as 'Dukes of Hazzard' as it sounds. He's a guest of the City of Atlanta Fulton County Jail and charges range from theft of several luxury vehicles, felony shoplifting, and even theft of internet services. Eleven felony charges so far.

Re: Poison Ivy

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Jeez, I'm surprised you even own up that he's a relation.

That's really what I meant by "southern". Up here, people would pretend not even to know him, let alone admit there was any family connection.

Re: Poison Ivy

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

I'm not exactly proud of the things he's done, but he's still my kid. When we adopted him, I promised myself not to give the "You're no longer a member of this family" speech my dad gave me 20 years ago. So even though it breaks my heart to see him self-destruct this way I still own up to the fact that he's mine.

If I hadn't been so distracted at work I probably would've figured out what you really meant by "southern".

Re: Poison Ivy

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, "adopted" makes a little more sense. I couldn't imagine that sort of behavior coming from your genes.

Re: Poison Ivy

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... I'm not sure if anyone's ever complimented my genes before.

Thank you! ;)

Re: Poison Ivy

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Not that I know you that well, but you are obviously industrious as well as artistically talented. You wouldn't have the TIME to do things like stealing automobiles. ;p

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry one of your heroes passed on he sounded like a good bloke, what with putting his books on the web in pdf form. Although how did he manage to weave in in a field tent o.O

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I believe he started with tapestry weaving, where you "paint" a picture using colored yarns. You mostly manipulate the yarns with your fingers, so no heavy loom mechanism is required. Tapestry can be worked on small frames a foot square or less.