Ganoderma applanatum "Artist's Conk"

Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Polyporales
Family:	Ganodermataceae
Genus:	Ganoderma
Species:	G. applanatum

Bloodroot in Bloom

Trout Lilies

Collection of shelf fungus, sea shells, pine cones, fossils and hardened cherry sap.

Reindeer Moss Lichens, White Pine cone, Cedar bark and Ferns
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Presumpscot River Preserve

Today we hiked the Presumpscot River Preserve, an easy jaunt in the vicinity of Falmouth/North Deering neighborhoods, just north of Portland, Maine. The trail-head is well marked with a sign and runs through a 60 acre preserve starting from Summit Street.  There is a metal gate in place to prevent vehicles beyond the mountain bikes from entering.   Summit Street doesn't offer parking, but the nearest side street to the trail head is a quiet residential neighborhood just footsteps away.  There were perhaps 10 or so other people enjoying the trail today.

This trail offers an easy mile-or-so hike to the Presumpscot river, with one area at the river that's uphill for perhaps 20 yards. There are several more trails branching off once you're down to the river, but we didn't venture more than that first mile and then back again, since I had been to the dentist this morning, so I was feeling a little uncomfortable.   It was around 65 degrees, a little hazy but sunny, and far less windy than it's been on the Portland peninsula.

It's a mixed woods, with primarily a few small Eastern Hemlock, White Pine, White Birch, Beech, and Oak.  Several small streams, and other runs, low-lying marshy areas are all along either side of the trail, but mainly to the right, or river-side of the trail.

It is obviously an area that experiences a lot of drainage and was quite moist despite the recent dry, clear weather.   Solomon's Seal is up, we saw a few dozen to the side of the trail, about 6” high with 5 or so leaves. This is typical timing for them in the region. A thriver, they extend all the way from Sasketchewan south to Florida, Montana to New Mexico. They come up in May and bloom from late May through June.

We saw one patch, about a square meter, with around a half dozen Sessile Bellwort in bloom. This very common early bloomer from the lily family, Uvularia Sessifolia, get to be about 6”high, and have a range across nearly all of wooded North America.

Yellow Trout Lilies are a favorite of mine, not for their graceful drooping flowers, but for the speckled patterns on their waxy, wide leaves. There were quite a few of these....

"Troutlily Gaggle"

Exceptional specimens of  Erythronium americanum Ker-Gawl.

The Trout Lilies we saw were all 6" in height.   Common Violets were in the lawns in the residential area, but we only saw purple,  no canadian, white or yellow varieties.  One chipmunk was spotted.

Strangely, there were no song birds. Not a lot of undergrowth to attract them, and with a hundred bird-feeders in the residential area flanking the trail, it's likely they've got it pretty good...Nik did think he saw a Turkey 

We were pleased to see Horsetails with their graphic looking stems.

They were new, also about 6" tall, stems perhaps 1/2 inch diameter, tops. I had, in fact, never seen horsetails before, but knowing that these are prehistoric fern-like plants with unique and interesting characteristics and taxonomy, I was pleased to run up on them.  I would love to re-visit them to get a good look as they grow and as the season wears on. Today I was very interested to learn that their rhizomatic root system outweighs the tops by a 100 to 1. 

Everything seemed at the same height, about 6".  Probably everything shot up at once about 1 week ago.  

Along the trail today, we saw that a number of trees were downed, or otherwise done-for,  most likely broken off in wind storms,and hanging in precarious positions. We have had a rough, long winter here in Southern Maine, with temps below F. 0 for a good week, and one of the worst blizzards ever, so it's not surprising to see this amount of downed wood.  Wind provides a cleansing of weaker branches, a natural pruning, if you will.  These trails are maintained by volunteers, and I'm sure they are always happy to have helping hands or donations. If you live in Maine, or a frequent visitor, and value access to the outdoors and experiences in natural setting, support Maine Trails, a very good cause, methinks.

Warmer Springs Mean Less Snow Cover, Disruptions for Plants and Animals, and More Allergies, Scientists Say | Union of Concerned Scientists

Warmer Springs Mean Less Snow Cover, Disruptions for Plants and Animals, and More Allergies, Scientists Say | Union of Concerned Scientists

The Ecology of Snow http://www.grida.no/publications/geo-ice-snow

Maine is famous for Tourmaline, and it is the official Maine State Mineral.

Tourmaline is a group of similar mineral species varying in composition and color. 

Two species of the tourmaline group are widespread in the igneous rocks of southwestern Maine. 

 

Schorl is a black iron-rich variety, and by far the more common of the two.

Elbaite is a lithium-bearing tourmaline that forms beautiful crystals in pink, green, blue, or combinations of these colors.









Attribution: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com

The Unjust, Conscience and Happiness...

It's been said that ignorance is bliss, because when the unjust remain ignorant of the nature of their acts, they can be happy.  But the deliberate unjust seek temporary and selfish satisfaction sowing seeds of strife with others and abide with the knowledge of the harm that they do.  We have conscience and laws to answer to.  Where either is lacking, injustice thrives.  Some are of the mind that appearances and self satisfaction are enough to be happy in life.   Others believe that freedom to act within our personal rights is a greater good than justice for all.  When we are shown to be self serving, we may be just if it does no harm to anyone, but where these interests compete, the greater good must be determined and must prevail for society to function.  Individual interests do not a happy society make. 
The more injustice a society has injected into it, the unhappier it becomes for all.  I  believe the unjust man is not ultimately happy.  The actions of the unjust create suffering for the just and the unjust alike.  Suffering injustice leads the unjust to become so.   The unjust do not trust others or situations enough to be just or believe that being just is going to bring happiness.  I believe that the unjust experience happiness in a selfish and temporary way.  The unjust seek personal ends, but have a kind of contempt and distrust for their fellow man.  Their actions may provide temporary gains to themselves, but would not make for the most happy circumstances necessary to constitute a happy life. Their actions take away from happiness in society. 

Socrates asked if the just compete with the just, and Glaucon determined that they do not.  So the just can abide with the just, and increase harmony, or happiness for a society.   He also then postulated that the unjust will compete with the unjust or the just, the same.   This part of Socrates reasoning resonates with me as key to understanding how competing interests create strife.  I think it's important to consider that "The Republic" is utopian theory, or a view toward a perfect society.

I think that the views of Socrates are not flawed, but are inconclusive.  Socrates does not offer perfect reasoning, but reasoning can never be perfect because nature is not consistent.  Instead, he provides a framework with several ways of viewing what can be considered best practices.  He is correct in that to be just and to have the knowledge that one is just is beneficial to many in the most circumstances, and creates the most good relations in society, which in turn leads to the most possible "net" happiness.   Even if our "gross" actions are thought unjust by some, we can gain personal satisfaction and happiness knowing we did our best to do the right thing.  However, this personal satisfaction must not be the goal of the just, as that gives no thought to the benefit to society, or what is for the good of the whole.  What others perceive is relative to their position on the matters at hand.  Thus we are presented with the Allegory of the Cave.

The Allegory of the Cave holds much relevance to society today.  Particularly American society, where we are now each exposed to so much of the same things through the media. Our reality is subverted in this way, but few pause to consider the implications.  We must remain alert to things that would chain us to concepts, ideas, conclusions about ourselves, each other, and about the world.  When thinking becomes outdated and no longer useful, or worse, harmful to our fate, it's because we fail to consider the nature of things from a different perspective.  We do things how they've always been done.  We stick with ideas that we are taught by our parents and grandparents.  We vote the same way our neighbors vote.  We believe things because of popular sources, not because of the substance.   When crisis comes, do we have the capacity to solve problems, or might our “little world” shatter because we cannot think outside the box?