Today I'm going to post a few of the photos that prompted this topic and just hint at the "argument." I'll be making the argument over the next few days or weeks. Basically, it's this: I've paid a lot of attention to the names that have been given to plants and animals, and a surprising number have been given both positive and negative names, depending upon the relationship certain humans have with the species in question. Example: Bindweed is also known as Orchard Morning Glory. Potato Bug is also Jerusalem Cricket and Nina de la Terra. Madia is also Tarweed. As a naturalist, I find just about anything alive and many things that are not alive to be incredibly beautiful, but I'm not sure why. It may be an innate trait that E. O. Wilson calls Biophilia. Or, maybe I'm just nuts. I think quite often beauty is associated with affection and ugly with fear, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Over the next few days I'll explore issues relating to the aesthetic response, and I certainly invite feedback. This will also be somewhat of a preview of a class I'll be offering this fall through the Main Street Artists Gallery. It's called "Nature Journaling: A Means to Improve Your Art, Writing, and Life."
Today I'm going to post a few of the photos that prompted this topic and just hint at the "argument." I'll be making the argument over the next few days or weeks. Basically, it's this: I've paid a lot of attention to the names that have been given to plants and animals, and a surprising number have been given both positive and negative names, depending upon the relationship certain humans have with the species in question. Example: Bindweed is also known as Orchard Morning Glory. Potato Bug is also Jerusalem Cricket and Nina de la Terra. Madia is also Tarweed. As a naturalist, I find just about anything alive and many things that are not alive to be incredibly beautiful, but I'm not sure why. It may be an innate trait that E. O. Wilson calls Biophilia. Or, maybe I'm just nuts. I think quite often beauty is associated with affection and ugly with fear, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Over the next few days I'll explore issues relating to the aesthetic response, and I certainly invite feedback. This will also be somewhat of a preview of a class I'll be offering this fall through the Main Street Artists Gallery. It's called "Nature Journaling: A Means to Improve Your Art, Writing, and Life."
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