Q & A Session One

Apparently, I get remarks directed towards to me now and then about this silly adventure of mine.  Some of them are questions, some of them are... I suppose we can go with comments.  Let's start with some of the bigger questions:

Q: Why are you so crazy about Mexico?

A: The purpose of this blog is to show people what they have in their own backyard.  Most people are unaware of what lies just around the corner.  Most people do not really think about the land on which they rest, its plants and animals, history, and culture.  When they do, concepts and perceptions get compartmentalized and stereotyped.  For example, if someone says "Detroit", most people think "urban wasteland, crumbling American industry, corruption".  If they are from the area, "Black people" gets added on.  For some metro residents, the mere idea of crossing into the city limits invites terror and a heavy foot on the gas pedal to correct their imagined mistake.  Now take that sort of hyperbole and misconception and inflate it and you can begin to take a look at how most people view Mexico.  If someone says "Mexico", what tends to come to mind for you?  Beach resorts, ancient pyramid ruins, poverty, tacos, drug cartels, dirty city streets, sombreros... the list could go on, but you get the idea.  Now, those things do exist, but so do many more incredible things.

Mexico, like the United States and Canada, is an incredibly diverse and storied nation.  They have tropical beaches down there, but they also have deserts with some of the most amazing plant life in existence.  There are snow-capped mountains and huge volcanoes.  There are forests of pines and firs where parrots nest between the needles and cones over sometimes snowy grounds that are roamed by jaguars and ocelots.  Likewise, there are lush jungles full of palms and flowering trees that shelter browsing White-tailed deer and even beavers.  There are countless villages and towns that could easily be confused for quaint European hamlets just as soon as there are packed cities which cling to mountain sides and in which one can sniff passing scents of taquerias.  Then there are big box stores and multi-level shopping malls with huge parking lots and cell phone advertisements everywhere.  I have seen people in their twenties making tortillas the old fashioned way for their restaurants, while nearby an old native woman one would expect to be selling beaded crafts and barely able to speak Spanish is instead on a smart phone speaking English.  I have seen heavily armed police patrolling streets who look intimidating and serve as reminders of the violence that can sometimes shake the country... until they smile back at you.

Mexico is very misunderstood.  I enjoy debunking misconceptions, and I also enjoy good food and palms and pines growing beside each other.  The answer to your question is that I am as crazy about Mexico as I am about the two countries north.

Q: Why do you spend so much time talking about trees and showing pictures of them?

A: When I was growing up, I traveled a lot.  I spent time in southern Ontario, northern Ontario, and southern Florida.  The first two places, while seemingly close together, are quite different culturally and botanically.  The last one might as well be on a different planet, as it is one of the most unique ecosystems on Earth, and the furthest removed from everything typical to it, as far as geography goes.  I was also one of those kids that did not sleep in the car all the time, or spend the waking hours playing a hand held video game that I would wrestle with my brother over.  Most of the time, I was looking outside.  When I went to some attraction somewhere, and the gift shop inevitably reared its tantalizing head, the first thing I looked for was a book explaining where I was, not a toy (even though I did end up asking for both).  When I was 8 years old, I already had Latin names of tree species memorized.  Needless to say, once I started figuring out that trees were different in different places, and having the advantage of being introduced to both Royal palm hammocks and Black spruce bogs on a regular basis, I started paying attention the to trees wherever I would go.

I would develop sensitivity for the landscape.  Part of me would die whenever I would have to leave behind the pines and granite outcrops of the Canadian Shield, and part of me would burn with an inner vitality the moment I would see my first saw palmettos growing beneath the endless pine stands of the Carolinas en route to the land of everything palm that was Fort Lauderdale.  Trees would always stand out the most, even while I would notice the differences in the soil or the smells in the air in every different place I would go.  Trees are a very visible part of what uniqueness there is to every square mile of our planet, and they have played important symbolic roles in nearly every culture there is.  Take the Bible, for instance.  A tree is present at the fall of humanity, and a tree is also used as an instrument for the redemption of humanity.  I could probably go on and wax poetically, but I think you get the idea.  What I can do, at least, is show you two of my favorite trees, complete in their natural setting.

 Courtesy of Bob and Diana McElroy.  Check them out at their website!

The taller trees in this image are Eastern White pine (Pinus Strobus).  They are my favorite tree (another question answered) and in my opinion, one of the most impressive trees in the entire world.  The tallest specimens reach over 200 feet from top to bottom, and have trunks that can be nearly twenty feet across at shoulder height.  They can reach proportions found in trees that have much easier conditions to deal with.  They can grow in almost any kind of soil in their range.  A subspecies can even be found in Mexico.  They are incredibly graceful, beautiful looking trees that are the state and provincial symbols of Michigan, Ontario, and Maine.  They grow on the lawns of both Rideau Hall and the White House.  They welcome me to the north again when I pass over the Severn River and enter the Canadian Shield and its boreal forest.  They stand as sentinels giving a farewell as I pass into the western lands and see the last cultivated specimens somewhere near York, Nebraska.

This is a natural oasis of California Fan palms (Washingtonia Filifera), the only native palm in the western United States, and the most widely planted palm in the world.  This oasis is named Mara, and is easy to get to, standing just outside of the visitor center at Joshua Tree National Park.  They can burn to a crisp and completely recover in less than a year.  They can tolerate everything from 130 degree heat to sagging under a blanket of snow.  They are unique in that they grow in the two hottest deserts of the world (Mojave and Sonoran), yet also are as dependent on and associated with water as much as any mangrove or baldcypress.    I easily could have spent days staring up at these things, probably because while I like palms, I like seeing them as they were meant to be seen in their own ecosystem even more.

What more can I say?  I will always notice trees (or grass and cacti, depending on the environment) first wherever I go.

Feel free to e-mail me, or leave comments here, with any questions.  I will probably devote Thursdays and Fridays to responses.