Inside/Out & About

Instead of the usual Derby Day festivities, I’m heading south east, to the Pine Mountain Settlement School where Tom Barnes is holding a workshop.  His new book How to Find and Photograph Kentucky Wildflowers was just published,

I want to witness fields of white trillium in bloom now, before it’s too late.  Not only do the flowers bloom only for a short time in spring, but the threat of strip mining operations scarring scenic vistas puts fear into my heart that someday soon, they may be gone for good, unless Kentucky moves to protect them. I’m hoping that the history, environment, and safety for area residents takes precedence in the minds of our Commonwealth’s leaders.

It’s an odd feeling to be moved by such beauty, and at the same time anxious that it will be ruined.  Just today on AOL.com, environmentalist, film maker and photographer Sebastian Copeland, who is preparing for a trip to the North Pole, said “Anyone who ventures out into the wilderness tends to become a warrior in its defense.”  To wedge ourselves out of our comfortable, everyday suburban environment and experience how awesome the natural world can be makes for some powerful and  visceral revelations.  I’m betting on it!  Maybe I’ll see you there, too?  To read more about what’s going on at Black Mountain and environs this weekend, CLICK HERE.

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Rare Wildflowers of Kentucky … Thomas G Barnes, Deborah White & Marc Evans.  The University Press of Kentucky.  190 pages.  $39.95.

Step aside, Indiana Jones.  Kentucky’s Tom Barnes is our rare treasure explorer, finding his way to untouched spots out in Kentucky’s wilderness, as well as power-line cuts, for images of some of the least-seen and most endangered flora in the Commonwealth.  For those of us who don’t have the energy or the time to wander so far afield, not to mention breaking ribs, Barnes and colleagues White and Evans have shared their experiences and photographs in this luxuriously illustrated volume.  The cover photo of Michaux’s saxifrage, with its delicate white petals, portrays a sense of fragility, and the introductory text explains the basics of why and how our native plants are becoming rarities. 

Barnes’ Web site has more photos and information: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Forestry/TBarnes/Barneshome1.htm