Comments on: apr 20 http://mydogoscar.com/birdspot/2008/04/20/apr-20/ the sketchblog of Catherine Hamilton Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:22:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.3 By: Mark Lynch http://mydogoscar.com/birdspot/2008/04/20/apr-20/#comment-467 Mark Lynch Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:38:36 +0000 http://mydogoscar.com/birdspot/2008/04/20/apr-20/#comment-467 JUST interviewed JONATHAN ROSEN author of THE LIFE OF THE SKIES: BIRDING AT THE END OF NATURE, which really has to be the most literate and meaning-laden book about birding I have ever read. He birds Central Park a lot and has a lot to say about making sense of his experiences there. The mantra of the book, from a poem by Robert Frost about the Ovenbird, is: "what to make of a diminished thing?" Rosen is one of the few birders I know that you can talk with one minute about Walt Whitman and the next minute discuss the symbolism of the hoopoe in the epic by Sufi mystic Farid ud-Din Attar. Central Park seems to be some epicenter for birding experiences, but of what specifically I don't quite know. Mark L, living on the periphery and lovin' it JUST interviewed JONATHAN ROSEN author of THE LIFE OF THE SKIES: BIRDING AT THE END OF NATURE, which really has to be the most literate and meaning-laden book about birding I have ever read. He birds Central Park a lot and has a lot to say about making sense of his experiences there. The mantra of the book, from a poem by Robert Frost about the Ovenbird, is:
“what to make of a diminished thing?” Rosen is one of the few birders I know that you can talk with one minute about Walt Whitman and the next minute discuss the symbolism of the hoopoe in the epic by Sufi mystic Farid ud-Din Attar. Central Park seems to be some epicenter for birding experiences, but of what specifically I don’t quite know.

Mark L, living on the periphery and lovin’ it

]]> By: Mom http://mydogoscar.com/birdspot/2008/04/20/apr-20/#comment-466 Mom Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:38:00 +0000 http://mydogoscar.com/birdspot/2008/04/20/apr-20/#comment-466 I THINK it makes sense - would be interested in what you did with our back yard in that context . . . I THINK it makes sense - would be interested in what you did with our back yard in that context . . .

]]> By: Catherine http://mydogoscar.com/birdspot/2008/04/20/apr-20/#comment-465 Catherine Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:47:53 +0000 http://mydogoscar.com/birdspot/2008/04/20/apr-20/#comment-465 It's not, really, in reality... the idea behind these drawings is to romanticize and homogenize them a bit, so that even though they are from all over the country and are from diverse types of "natural" spaces (nature preserves, urban and rural parks, abandoned lots or fields, backyards, etc.), they are not necessarily recognizable as to place. The drawings are as much about how people think about nature as they are about the places I have visited. Which is to say, that all of these environments are heavily man-managed, and that our ideas of what wilderness is are pretty skewed. Hopefully, that makes some sense, and is not too art-speakish. It’s not, really, in reality… the idea behind these drawings is to romanticize and homogenize them a bit, so that even though they are from all over the country and are from diverse types of “natural” spaces (nature preserves, urban and rural parks, abandoned lots or fields, backyards, etc.), they are not necessarily recognizable as to place. The drawings are as much about how people think about nature as they are about the places I have visited. Which is to say, that all of these environments are heavily man-managed, and that our ideas of what wilderness is are pretty skewed.

Hopefully, that makes some sense, and is not too art-speakish.

]]> By: Mom http://mydogoscar.com/birdspot/2008/04/20/apr-20/#comment-463 Mom Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:03:20 +0000 http://mydogoscar.com/birdspot/2008/04/20/apr-20/#comment-463 Central Park seems to resemble Eaton Canyon in that, if you find the right places, you can't see any evidence that you're in an urban area. Central Park seems to resemble Eaton Canyon in that, if you find the right places, you can’t see any evidence that you’re in an urban area.

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