Feb 13th, 2017: Brunt Nature
 

Most people are content with viewing nature as it comes, but James Brunt can’t leave well enough alone.

http://cellar.org/2017/brunt1.jpg

http://cellar.org/2017/brunt2.jpg

I blew up that picture of the leaves around the tree base to see if he had stripped off the bark/cambium to divide the leaves.
Nope, they're twigs, no hit-man needed. Keep calm and carry on.

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I have conflicted thoughts about these.

On the one hand, I enjoy seeing things that look good and are inventive. I'd never seen the leaves around a tree thing before and that looks pretty cool. I like it. Even the rock formations, which are pretty common these days, take it up to another level and are very impressive.

On the other hand, it's graffiti.

Leave no trace.

Quite impermanent, though. And non-destructive.

He is only rearranging what is already there.

A puff of wind, a wave...and it never was.

Exactly. Which is also why I am conflicted.

I'm just as natural as those leaves and rocks. And so are my bootprints.

But what about my initials carved into the tree trunk? Or the unstacked hoodoo? I see your point about being conflicted, but I find these intrusions/edits/graffiti attractive in their design and acceptable by their impermanence. They're unlikely to leave a lasting mark. It wouldn't take much for no trace to be left.

I've read op-ed pieces in outdoor publications that attack the rock stacking specifically. Not only does it take away from the "nature" by reminding you that somebody was just there before you, but it also can harm eggs that were clinging to the rocks that you didn't notice. Also takes away hiding spots for little critters in the streams, so it can mess up the immediate stream ecosystem.

I've stacked rocks a couple times myself. It's fun. There's something hardwired in my DNA that makes me want to build stuff. I think most humans have that drive, and it's the main reason we are so harmful to the Earth. We see pristine nature and want to leave our mark. It's like knocking the beautiful snow off a fence railing. Or smacking down icicles we see. It's fun, but if we were drawn to their beauty, why do we feel the impulse to destroy that beauty?

Murderer.

Even worse, thrill killer.

:p:

Just how few rocks are this troubled little stream?:eyebrow: