In the Pines

About a week ago Aki* and I couldn't resist the spring-like weather and decided to take a walk along the Ugui-gawa which flows down from the mountains that form the southern boundary of the Otaki watershed. This area--like too damned much of Otaki--is national forest and therefore off limits to the general public. I should clarify: the road into the Ugui-gawa area is gated and therefore cars are not allowed in--technically not off limits I suppose, but definately not geared towards recreation. Anyway, people aren't lining up to come to see the Ugui-gawa. That's a shame. The Ugui-gawa has some of the most amazing water I've ever seen. Turqoise, I suppose, is the best color to describe it, but seems inadequate. Pictures, unfortunely, also fail to capture the variegated color palette of the river in its interplays with the sun. On this day white snow capped many of the river rocks, adding further contrast. In the woods lining the river tufts of green grass stood glee...

Just a quick note to give a link to a blog post at "Resilience Science" about a Worldwatch Magazine article by Thomas Homer-Dixon discussing the work of C.S. "Buzz" Holling, an ecologist who has worked with complex systems theory to formulate concepts such as the adaptive cycle and panarchy . Holling's work has been influential in the development of resilience thinking, which is an approach I used in my own research and have mentioned in previous posts. Link to the "Resilience Science" post Link to the Resilience Alliance homepage (you can also find this link in the sidebar)