Art in Nature

Yesterday afternoon I desperately needed to get out of the house. I thought it would be fun to explore some new territory so I googled a few possibilities and then drove out to Meyers Park in south Lansing. Located on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake--right at the first knuckle of the giant finger--it is home to a marina and camping area and offers superb lake-side views for picnicers and one of the loveliest swimming areas I know of.

The water was clear, calm, and surprisingly warm. It had been a hot day so I rolled up my pants legs and waded slowly into the shallows. Little schools of tiny fish darted about--so well camouflaged as to be almost invisible above the brown pebbly bottom. I looked around and was overwhelmed by the idyllic scene surrounding me...

As is frequently my habit I looked down toward my feet as they scuffled over the algae-covered rocks below me. I noticed a beautiful piece of succulent lake flora floating by...

...and marveled at all the tiny white mussel shells that peppered the ground surrounding the stones. When I noticed a particularly interesting piece of water-carved shale I brought it to the surface and started rubbing away some of the algae. After only a little effort the slimy booger-green skin gave way to a lusciously dark red-brown surface. I put it back in the water and the stone gleamed. Almost black against its surroundings it looked like a work of art.

I suddenly remembered an incredible documentary I'd seen a few years ago about artist Andy Goldsworthy entitled Rivers and Tides. Goldsworthy uses nature herself as his medium as he wanders the countryside looking for ways to manipulate colored leaves, stones, native vegetation, and even ice into beautiful natural sculptures that remain intact anywhere from a few seconds to a few weeks. Indeed, the temporary nature of his creations is often key to their unique appeal. Here's a link to a short excerpt from the film that poignantly illustrates the beauty and fragility of his work.

Inspired by the memory of the film I decided to try my hand at a little nature art myself. To be sure my constructions are like children's scribbles when compared with Goldsworthy's work, but I had a tremendous amount of fun putting them together and definitely enjoyed having an excuse to wade around in Cayuga's luxuriant waters for a little over an hour.

Here are some of the results...

I'm calling this last one "self portrait with camera" even though I didn't notice my reflection in the water until I got home and looked over the photos (oops!)...

Herbs of the Ancients

Yesterday evening Rob and I visited Cornell's Botanical Garden. The visitor's center had already closed and except for the occasional jogger we were basically the only two people there. I spent some time doing my usual photography experiments--this time tending to be most fascinated by the broad-leaved tropical plants adorning the walkway to the visitor's center...

One of the main attractions of the garden is its vast collection of herbs. Within a well-kept enclosure the plants are arranged according to use or significance in human history: bee herbs, culinary herbs, dye herbs, economic herbs, fragrant herbs, herbs in literature, medicinal herbs, herbs of native Americans, ornamental herbs, sacred herbs, tea herbs, savory seed herbs, salad and potherbs, edible flowers, and--my favorite--Herbs of the Ancients.

There were far too many in the latter category for me to share them all, but here are three that caught my particular attention...

Dittany of Crete*

"Ancient Greeks believed eating the leaves of this wooly oregano helped to expel arrow tips."

*I've since looked into this one a bit further and it looks like this plant was probably mislabeled. I believe this is actually a variety of nightshade--a highly toxic herb that has had a variety of sinister, medicinal, and even cosmetic uses throughout history. The variety of nightshade called "Belladonna" was used for a time by women to dilate their pupils--a feature once considered attractive.

When I looked up Dittany of Crete, here's a picture of what actually came up...sorry for the misinformation...

Greater Periwinkle

"Prescribed by Dioscorides to treat flux, it was also used against snakes, wild beasts, poison, envy, and terror."

Pink-Flowered Garden Sage

"In Italian Folklore, each leaf was believed to hide a toad."

No toads here--at least not that I could find--though when you get a good look at the rough and warty texture of the leaves it's easy to see how such a tale might have come about.

Plan B

"Betwixt the Lake Ontario and Erie, there is a vast prodigious Cadence of Water which falls down after a surprising and astonishing manner, insomuch that the Universe does not afford its Parallel. 'Tis true, Italy and Suedeland boast of some such Things; but we may well say they are but sorry Patterns, when compared to this of which we now speak...

"...At the foot of the horrible Precipice we meet with the River Niagara, which is not above half a quarter of a League broad, but is wonderfully deep in some places...

"...It is so rapid above this Descent, that it violently hurries down the Wild Beasts while endeavoring to pass it, to feed on the other side; they not being able to withstand the force of its Current, which inevitably casts them down headlong above Six hundred foot."

--Father Louis Hennepin, 1678

If Father Hennepin, in his wondrous account of Niagara Falls, meant that animals swept over its crest fall over 600 feet into the waters below, I'm sorry to say that's a bit of a tall tale. However, a certain amount of poetic license may be more than justified in this case if one is expected get the full feeling of this place. Somehow it doesn't seem enough just to say that 100,000 cubic feet of water fall 176 feet every second off the combined lengths of Horseshoe and American Falls...though that statistic by itself is almost unfathomable.

To really communicate what it feels like to stand so near such a force of nature you've got to throw in some plummeting wildlife and add a few extra hundred feet of height, because the thought of anyone underestimating such a spectacle...

...seems almost sinful.

Of course, the falls has in fact experienced its share of plummeting wildlife...if you count humans in the tally that is. This daring lady, Anna Edson Taylor, was the first to go over intentionally...

...and in July of 1960 this 7 year old kid, Roger Woodward, went over the edge in nothing but his swimming suit after a boat he was in capsized above the Horseshoe. He SURVIVED and was rescued by the crew of one of the Maid of the Mist barges that perpetually float tourists up into the powerful spray of the Falls.

So, by this point I'll bet you're wondering how I ended up at Niagara Falls in the first place. Well, after our failed attempt to attend Bill Nye's lecture I spontaneously suggested to Rob that we could visit Niagara Falls instead. To my surprise he was game, and in less than an hour we were on the road.

How's THAT for a plan B!

I was a little worried that the place would be so obnoxiously touristy as to spoil the beauty of the falls, and there was plenty of that to be sure.

With the American side clogged with glitzy hotels edged right up against the parkland and the Canadian side lit up with Vegas-style casinos, it appeared that any intent to uphold park designer Frederick Olmstead's original vision of the place (see poster at right) currently exists almost exclusively on park placards inside the movie theater. Maybe if they keep advertising the sentiment it will eventually come true.

I was reminded of Edward Abbey's dislike of National Parks (see a previous post about him HERE)--his feelings that they just meant perpetual development in and therefore destruction of the very lands they sought to "preserve". He felt that great natural monuments should remain completely undeveloped and available only to those who could muster gumption enough to venture bravely and carefully into their wild interiors. I'm not quite so militant in my views about preservation--I think it's wonderful that many people are able to more easily access some of our nation's most beautiful natural areas through the park system--but I couldn't help but wince just a little at Niagara's overwhelmingly touristy ambiance.

Still, I should come down off my high horse 'cause I couldn't quite resist taking advantage of the park's offerings either.

The Maid of the Mist for example...Rob and I were both in agreement that we couldn't leave without trying on one of those awesome blue ponchos and venturing out underneath the thundering cascade. Here's where I'm going to mostly stop talking for a while and let you sit back to enjoy some pics...

I'm thinking, "Man I'm hot...no really...It's roasting in here!"

And we're off!

Oooo...Ahhh...

...Wait a sec...where's all that wind coming from...AHHHHH!!!

...did we just get transported to Antarctica?

Oh man...my lens is all wet.

Oooo look... a rainbow! I sure hope these pictures turn out...

So much for staying dry. Guess I should have tied my hood on...

Looking back toward American Falls, Rainbow Bridge, and the towering observation deck...

Oh man...here we go again!

This guy's havin' a grand old time! Wait...is that water coming on deck...

Home again, home again...

So, the sign says all this foam floating away from the falls is natural...a swirling meringue of decaying plant tannins and calcium carbonate...

Yum?

Wait...did you just say you want to do that again? Maybe next year, ok...

And here is what our voyage into the mist would have looked like to the hundreds of spectators clustered around the rim of the falls...

***Note to future travelers to Niagara Falls: Yes, the Maid of the Mist is worth the $13.50...there's a good reason it's been in operation since 1846!

And if you're still looking to get wet again when you're done (and on this particular day we weren't) go ahead and don another stylin' poncho and take a walk through the Cave of the Winds...looks like it's a BLAST...literally...

After having a picnic dinner along the river's edge Rob and I walked over to Goat Island to get a closer...well, at least a drier look at Bridal Veil and Horseshoe Falls. The clear light of the setting sun shone through Bridal Veil and illuminated a carpet of grassy green plants beneath its rushing cascade...

...and as we neared the Crest of Horseshoe, a tower of mist rose like smoke from the gorge.

As the sun set behind a skyline of expensive hotels and high-rise casinos, the light set the scene afire...

...and in the fading glow of evening we posed for a couple of obligatory romantic photos to commemorate our impulsive adventure. And NO...we did not buy t-shirts!

What a sunset, eh?