{"id":1144,"date":"2019-04-12T17:56:59","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T17:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/?p=1144"},"modified":"2019-04-12T17:56:59","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T17:56:59","slug":"lullaby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/uncategorized\/lullaby\/","title":{"rendered":"Lullaby"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\nrose silently from the fray of flowers, casting my upwards towards the thicket\nof vapor-strung Virginia pines (Pinus\nvirginiana<\/em>, Mill.). Thin, scaly plates of cinnamon colored bark crisscrossed\nthe towering trunks of these pines. Evergreen needles clung to slender\nbranches, shaking loose the lingering stillness of winter in preparation for\nnew warmth. A few weeks from now, these conifers will produce a scourge of cylindrical\nyellow flowers with curved prickles protruding from the top. As the spring winds\nsweep in from the west, coarse powdery pollen will erupt from the protrusions\nand fill the sky in a yellow haze, much to the dismay of many sensitive day\nhikers. Hopefully they\u2019ll bring enough tissues to notice the small ovoid cones that\nsoon follow. Maybe they will taste the air rich with sap wrapping everything up\nin a bucolic bliss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana) – 4\/11\/19<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few paces forward, I\nfound myself face to face with an eastern white pine (Pinus strobus<\/em>, L.). A perfect opportunity to finally be able to distinguish\nthe two prominent conifers in this region. Around the base of the tree was a bed\nof amber needles about 3-5 inches in length, about 1.5 inches longer than those\nof the Virginia pines. Each bundle of needles, known as a fascicle, on the\nwhite pine had five slender flexible needles, as opposed to the two divergent\nneedles observed on Virginia pines. The bark of white pine is significantly scalier\nand more rounded than its compatriot, composed of long ridges and black furrows.\nPausing to this detail, I recognized that I would never again confuse the two.\nTheir bark is so remarkably different as well as the patterns of their needles.\nYes, they are both pines, but their intricacies and variety are vastly\ndifferent. I guess we could say the same thing about humans. While we are all Homo sapiens<\/em>, we distinguish ourselves\nbased on cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds that compose our identity. Only\nby peering behind the obvious can we begin to recognize and appreciate our own\nvariety within these natural spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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White pine (Pinus strobus<\/em>) – 4\/11\/19 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As if appreciative of my\nrecognition, both the White and Virginia pines sang to me as I climbed towards\nMoore\u2019s Knob. Gusts of crisp spring air sent groans down their trunks like they\nhad just been hit by foul balls at a baseball game. I observed no changes in\ntheir abundance as I scrambled over quartzite shelves, dodged low-hanging mountain\nlaurel branches, or wound my way around muddy ruts in the trail. Tufted titmice\n(Baeolophus\nbicolor<\/em>) and Carolina wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus<\/em>) emitting\nsoft calls from somewhere in the canopy of evergreen needles. The long, lonesome\ndrum of the pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus\npileatus<\/em>) made the forest hold its breath and rejoice in the silence that\nfollowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Approaching Moore’s Knob – 4\/11\/19<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Moore\u2019s Knob commanded this silence better than any space I have ever wandered through. As the pines withdrew, the dynamic quartzite shelf rose up over all nearby mountain peaks. From atop the observation tower, I could see for what felt forever. The glistening peak of Hanging Rock shone out like a lighthouse on the shore, beckoning all to come forward to reach safe ground. Off to my right, Pilot Mountain swelled in the twilight and towered remarkably over the minuscule cityscape of Winston-Salem far below. All was revealed in its majesty and glory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hanging Rock from Moore’s Knob – 4\/11\/19<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Something is truly\nmagical about the setting sun. As the heat of the day dissipates into cool\nnight air, lingering concerns and anxieties appear to do the same. It is as if\nthe earth is bathing itself in a radiant glow, scrubbing away the blemishes of\ntoday for the smoothness of tomorrow. I am in a lullaby, sung to sleep by\nSpring herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pilot Mountain (left) from Moore’s Knob – 4\/11\/19<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Fall asleep and forget all your troubles. Dream of laughter and old friends and lovers”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I rose silently from the fray of flowers, casting my upwards towards the thicket of vapor-strung Virginia pines (Pinus virginiana, Mill.). Thin, scaly plates of cinnamon colored bark crisscrossed the towering trunks of these pines. Evergreen needles clung to slender branches, shaking loose the lingering stillness of winter in preparation for new warmth. A few … Continue reading “Lullaby”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1144"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1152,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144\/revisions\/1152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}