foresterbob

Looking up at the trunk of a white oak (Quercus alba). Bark is light gray and furrowed, with patches of dark green moss. Large branches emerge in all directions. Sky is thin overcast.

For #ThickTrunkTuesday, a white oak with many years of woodsy experience. Location: Talbot County #Georgia.
#photography #trees #forestry #nature

Top view of the head and shoulders of a gray tabby cat in my lap. His right front leg is casually stretched across the arm of the chair.

Happy kitty Narvik, resting in my lap.
#cats #catsofbluesky

Similar to my reply to another comment, fire has been a part of the landscape as long as there have been forests. Wildlife can more easily cope with a small controlled burn than it can with a massive wildfire. Managed burns can be timed to minimize disruption to nesting birds, etc.

The forest ecosystems of the southern United States (and most of North America) co-evolved with fire. Forests without fire are a recent creation of mankind, and are not the natural order of things. Much research has been dedicated to this, far more than I can cover in 300 characters.

North Star Fire, Okanogan County Washington, August 2015. Between this fire and the adjacent Tunk Block Fire, about 500,000 acres burned in two weeks.

Same area, one day later, after the smoke column collapsed. Now there's some air quality for you!

The forests will burn sooner or later. Have you ever been around a major wildfire? I have. Air quality is orders of magnitude worse, for a much longer time, than with a controlled fire. Ecological damage, and property damage, is also far more severe. See alt text.

I suspect that for an outdoor cat, it serves two purposes. One, it helps them elude predators. Two, a permanent resting spot would build up populations of fleas and other uninvited guests. Moving around is probably better for the cat. Indoors, it's just kitty instincts.

A storm drain cover with a series of parallel slits to allow drainage. Labels say "East Jordan Iron Works" and "Made in USA."

Closer view, revealing the sides of the pit and a pool of water, which has a reflection of the iron cover.

A see-through iron cover. Zooming in reveals corrugated metal sides, and a pool of water at the bottom of the hole. Macon, GA.
#ManholeCoverMonday

A forest of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). A recent controlled fire has burned most of the ground vegetation. The trees' bark protects them from damage. In a few weeks, new vegetation will appear from root sprouts and from seeds.

This pine forest received a controlled burn recently. Burning resets the understory vegetation, allowing new growth that favors wildlife. It also makes the woods easier to walk through. Hamburg State Park, #Georgia.
#parks #forestry #trees #nature

A gray tabby cat lies across the blue seat of an office chair with his head turned to his right.

My kitty Narvik changes his favorite hangout places every week or two. Currently this office chair is his home base.
#cats #catsofbluesky

A blue mountain bike leans against a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) in a state park. The grove of trees has been meticulously maintained. Grass mowed, pine needles raked against the tree trunks. Late afternoon shadows are long. Sky is half blue, half clouds.

I had places to go yesterday. When I finished, I was near Hamburg State Park in central #Georgia. I went for a short bike ride to get some fresh air and exercise.
#bike #bicycling #parks #trees #photography

A gray shorthair tabby cat stands on a rock that is used as part of a natural stairway. He faces right, tail held high. Around the rock is grass that's partially covered with fallen leaves.

When Narvik goes outdoors, he often walks around the perimeter of the house to see if there have been any intruders. Here he poses on a stone step beside the house.
#cats #catsofbluesky

A cracked silver Toyota hubcap, with scattered debris, on a concrete parking lot. A yellow stripe covers the bottom of the image.

Here's another entry in the #round theme. I saw this outside my post office today, a hubcap that had been lost and run over.
#photography #abstract #abandoned

A Douglas-fir stump in Idaho. The tree had been injured in such a way that it leaned downhill. In order to grow upright, most of the outward growth was on the downhill side, leaving the pith far from the center of the tree.

Since #round is a theme, here is a lesson that things that appear round from the outside might not be round on the inside. This tree, growing on a steep hill, was damaged at an early age and spent its life compensating for the injury.
#forestry #trees #stump

It's always a bit odd to cross the Salmon River at Riggins. Even though the highway runs north and south, you change time zones. Pacific to the north, Mountain to the South. My kitty Narvik does not like that crooked highway between Riggins and New Meadows!

A gray shorthair tabby cat sits on a decorative mat that's on an old wooden table. The camera angle accentuates his head and whiskers. His pupils are larger than usual because the room was rather dark.

It's #Caturday, and Narvik wants me to post his picture before I do anything else. He is not supposed to be on any of the tables in the house, but I had to take a quick picture before escorting him to the floor.
#cats #catsofbluesky

It took me until 2024 to see the big groves. The northern California coast was always too far away when I traveled. I finally took a couple extra days when I was on my way from Portland to Reno, time very well spent!

A small white SUV with a bicycle on back is parked on a narrow road that leads through a grove of coast redwoods (Sequoia simpervirens). Only the lower portions of the trees are shown in the image, as the larger trees are 200 to 300 feet tall. Ferns frame the bottom of the picture.

On #ForestFriday, it's hard to go wrong with California redwoods. I included my car in this image for scale. The size of these trees is hard to comprehend, even for a guy who has spent most of his life wandering the woods.
#forestry #trees #nature

A gray shorthair tabby cat is lying on the floor of a porch that's covered with all-weather carpet. His head is up, facing right. His tail is curved above him. His scratching post is in the upper left corner of the picture. Diagonal shadows streak across the image.

Here is another view of Narvik enjoying a sunny afternoon on the porch.
#cats #catsofbluesky

Road sign for the town of Gravity, Iowa.

You know that things have gotten out of hand when gravity goes sideways!
#signs #Iowa

A gray shorthair tabby cat takes a stretch on the back porch. The surface is all weather carpet, blue/gray in color. Behind the cat is his scratching post and a water dish. The sun is shining brightly, casting shadows on the porch.

Narvik takes a big stretch in the sunshine.
#cats #catsofbluesky

Don't worry about that!

Back in those days, an aunt and uncle lived outside of St. Louis. Their house bordered a creek that had lots of loose fossils. I had more fun exploring the creek than I did hanging out with boring adults, lol.

I was just passing by when I took that picture, no time to look for fossils.

Where I grew up in Missouri, fossils were abundant in the limestone formations.

A mountain stream is confined by a narrow rock formation in steep terrain. The water is white from bubbles and foam. Shrubs (probably mountain laurel) hang over the upper edge.

For #WaterfallWednesday, a churning stream in the mountains of northern Georgia.

A gray shorthair tabby cat, looking contented, relaxes on my lap with his head pressed against my arm.

It's hard to use the keyboard when there's a cat on my arm. But somehow I manage to get by!
#cats #catsofbluesky

View of the lower portion of a yellow-poplar/tulip-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). The base of the tree was damaged many years ago, causing decay which spread through the center. The semicircle of remaining solid wood is enough to support the tree.

For #ThickTrunkTuesday, an aging tulip-poplar in Talbot County, Georgia. A tree can remain standing for decades, despite having much of its base eaten away by fungi.
#forestry #trees #nature #photography

A gray shorthair tabby cat sits upright on a checkered throw rug that sits on a wooden floor. He faces the camera, with front feet touching one another.

Narvik was watching me while I cleaned up the table in the next room.
#cats #catsofbluesky

Top view of a fly agaric mushroom, showing an orange surface with raised tan patches.

Side view of 3 fly agaric mushrooms of varying sizes. The button of a fourth mushroom is barely visible in the center of the image.

Here are two scanned photos from the mid 1990s. The top view is intriguing because the mushroom is almost perfectly round.
#photography #fungi #film

A gray car has slid from the pavement, coming to rest in a pit containing a round concrete structure with an iron cover in the middle. There had been heavy rain, which had drained away by the time this pic was taken.

It's not easy to come up with new material for #ManholeCoverMonday, but here's one! Last Saturday there was a heavy downpour. A car skidded off the road, and paid an unscheduled visit to this iron cover.

A gray shorthair tabby cat is stretched out on a wooden stairway, with his left front leg dangling in the air.

It's Monday! Try to relax the way Narvik does.
#cats #catsofbluesky

Tall loblolly pines (Pinus taeda) reach into a clear blue sky. Their lower branches have been naturally pruned, leaving compact crowns. These trees are 100 to 110 feet in height, and around 24 to 30 inches in diameter. A few deciduous trees are visible.

The pine trees behind my house, on a sunny winter day.
#photography #forestry #trees #nature