The “Woodpecker” film recently shown at East Tennessee State University captured well the joyous excitement in the whole country when traces of a bird deemed extinct (Ivory-billed woodpecker) sug-gested its possible survival in a forest in Arkansas.
Through broadly based efforts in 2010, proclaimed as the “Year of Biodiversity” by the United Nations, biological researchers have been able to discover many “new” species and rediscover some thought lost long ago.
Among the latter were six frogs in a remnant forest patch in Haiti, a country which has lost to cutting almost all (99 percent) of its original forest.
One hundred years ago, Theodore Roosevelt expressed hope in the fact that scientists were beginning to study, and “enlightened men and women here and there” to take action toward preserving wild animals and plants.
Several reports in a January issue of Science this year described inspiring and encouraging work, ongoing in several countries, toward this end.
One of the world’s most endangered primates is making a stand -- in two families and four loners totaling only 22 members in all -- on Hainan in southern China.
The island having been covered in tropical forest in earlier times, most of that was lost to beach resorts and rubber plantations since the 1960s, and villagers hunted the gibbons for use of their body parts in traditional medicine.
This extremely shy, arboreal ape had retreated to ever higher altitudes as the lowland forests disappeared.
Yet, its main food trees were mostly in the latter, forcing it to roam very far for forage, thus risking human encounters.
In the early 1990s, the Chinese authorities, “realizing that something precious was about to be lost” established the forest reserve where it survives.
Local people were trained to collect seeds from fallen fruits of forage trees, of which 80,000 were since planted.
Four pairs of rangers monitor the animals. With three females being pregnant now, the protection measures apparently effective and enough food accessible, the researchers state a cautious hope in this primate’s survival prospect.
At a university-based aviary and research facility in Western Ontario, Canadian and U.S. researchers make warblers and other migratory birds “go the distance.”
With the aid of a wind tunnel in which atmospheric features such as temperature, humidity and barometric pressure can be controlled, they are measuring the birds’ energy consumption and other physiological functions during long times aloft.
With better understanding of their essential fuel needs, the scientists hope, conservation efforts for migratory birds can be more effective.
A Cornell University scientist studied the “parliamentary-debate” behavior when honey bees are faced with an existential problem, needing to find another home when a new queen has been raised in the hive.
The decision to swarm, it turns out, is thoroughly fact-based, scout bees’ information on potential homes being much “discussed” over days, plans revised and agreement then reached, communally and cooperatively, triggering a cohesive exodus and relocation.
From “Honey Bee Democracy,” one might say, our own parliamentarians have a lot to learn.
As I child I grew up in a very small farming community. There were party-line phones, fresh milk from the local dairy and “old-fashioned” church picnics. If you had something that wasn’t being used, you passed it on to the next family. Very little went to waste, and many things were reused until they fell apart.
The older women in the community taught me the skills I have today. Many times they would share wonderful stories of survival – living through the great depression, how their “Ma” grew up in a cabin down the holler, or what they did to make sure their Grandkids went to college.
That was back when Grandmas were Green. As odd as it may sound, many of our recent ancestors were the forerunners of the green movement you see today.
How did they do it? What made them so “green,” anyway? Living thrifty, that’s how! If you planned on surviving, as many of them did, you had to change the way you viewed life. Everything had a use. The morning breakfast was salvaged for snacks and lunchboxes, and much of what you had eaten came from the backyard garden. New items were never purchased unless you couldn’t make it yourself, or find someone who had one to borrow.
Now follow me to modern times. We are learning that if we are to help the Earth and the living beings upon it, we have to make some serious changes. It is important for us to use less and conserve more. Along with this, we are facing economic issues that are preventing many families from acquiring the basic needs for survival.
To me this is the best time to bring natural and thrifty together. They are truly in the same vein, and I feel the two make very good partners.
For example, here are some thrifty tips from my childhood that still pertain to modern times.
Collecting water from your bath/brushing teeth/washing dishes to water indoor and outdoor plants.
Reusing containers (buckets, glass jars, etc.)
Conserving energy by using less electricity.
If you are thinking of moving to a greener lifestyle, begin your search with those who live a thrifty lifestyle. Many times you will find those folks are your best source of information, and can often get you started on the path being naturally thrifty! (Kim Upton is a freelance writer and artist livin’ on a small plot of land in Kentucky. She is currently working on grants to open a resource center for kids, so they can learn about the old ways of farming. When not working, you can find Kim sitting on her back porch talking to the hummingbirds and drinking ice tea. You are always invited over if you are ever in the area. More information can be found at Green Being Farm.)
Appalachian mountain and backcountry lingo, colloquialisms, are used and remembered less and less as modern English speech and writing spreads, most particularly through pervasive mass media of all kinds and also through inter-settling from other areas of Americana, particularly cities, on developments of abandoned farmlands and wilderness areas, as original speakers die off -- their mannerisms saved on archive recordings and in the performances of independent storytellers like Dr. Gary Carden and some of those who regularly frequent Jonesborough Tennessee's International Storytelling Center.
Graphic above: Guineas, seldom raised now but once plentiful produce from small farms throughout Appalachia and elsewhere for their prized, "gourmet" meat and raucous warning of ... anything changing at all. They raise their chicks communally in terms of brooding, warmth and protection and are, arguably, the wildest of "domestic" birds ever experienced, heard or seen.
"a few beans short of a poke" -- not right in the head, crazy, demented, imbecilic
"a few bolts short of a working engine" -- brain-dysfunctional
"I was better. Then I got over it." -- wry country response to health inquiry
"if s/he ain't good enough for her own kin, s/he ain't good enough for me" -- humorous reference to too commmon rural inter-generational, inner-familial, bi-gender sexual dysfunction, i.e. criminal incest and child rape
"knows no truth" --someone who can't discern or relate anything real, authentic and honest, e.g. "Don't ask Kenny or Melanie. They know no truth."
mountain oysters -- animal testicles
"off his (or her) feed"-- not feeling well
"pond scum"-- regrettably reprehensible criminal element in a community
"sorry" -- bad, low quality, e.g. "Jason was a sorry excuse for a plumber."
"sucks turnip turds" -- no good, bad, low quality
"varmit" -- vermin, pesky miscreant
Video below: Miniature horse stallions and gelding
Sign of the times: "A sheriff in Limestone County, near Capshaw Alabama ended up transporting a goat and a dog in his cop car. The goat had climbed on top of a woman's Mercedes when she stopped on the highway for a pit stop. It wouldn't come down and she called police. That's when Sheriff Mike Blakely arrived. He managed to get the goat off the car and into his own cruiser. A dog, that was also on the highway with the goat, followed his four-legged pal into the cruiser." -- Coffee News, 7/27/09
Tongue-twister, or Happy Buddha meditation: Say "cub pup cups" three times real fast without looking (Hint: like practicing scales on a musical instrument, you may have to work up to it slowly)
Overheard in Appalachia: "He's facing over 200 years of federal time."
"He'll be an old man before he gets out." "You sure hit yer head on the nail with that one, pal."
"How long do people usually live there?" "No longer than absolutely necessary, I hear tell."
"Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right, But They Do Make it Even"
-- bumper sticker, Ray Arrowood
THE INVITATION Graphic: Black and White #1, watercolor by Vera A. Jones
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing
It doesn't interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love
for your dreams,
for the adventure of being alive
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain
I want to know if you can sit with the pain: mine or your own,
without having
to hide it
or fix it
I want to know if you can be with joy: mine or your own
If you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the
tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
Or to remember the limitations of being human
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself
If you can bear the accusations of betrayal
And not betray your own soul
I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy
I want to know if you can see beauty
even when it is not pretty every day
And, if you can source your own life from its presence
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
and still be on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the moon "Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you
have,
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done for the children
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came here,
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me
and not shrink back
It doesn't interest me where or with whom or what you have studied
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all falls away
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments
-- c. Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Dreams of Desire 1995
A Country Rag Country Talk
Graphic: The craftsmanship of Alfred R. Michels: fiddles, dulcimer, guitar, cello hanging to dry in Solitude Violin Shop, Creston, NC
graphic: Cross Roads, acrylic on canvas layered, stitched, stretched, slit, stuffed, and sized with rabbit skin glue, 
graphic: Mountain dancing
graphic: Traditional folk art, paper cutouts
THE INVITATION
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