tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4565845984512808077.post218256616341206116..comments2024-03-19T21:41:42.835+01:00Comments on Poemas del río Wang: Scatter to the windStudiolumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06377777909296284368noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4565845984512808077.post-29323968497057896302012-01-19T18:23:38.290+01:002012-01-19T18:23:38.290+01:00Apologies, you're right. Softer fruit, I think...Apologies, you're right. Softer fruit, I think. I see a fully laden hawthorn from my window, for which the local suburban birds (far less colorful) have absolutely no interest - yet.walterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02603255065547405744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4565845984512808077.post-77237696458171911592012-01-19T18:20:11.958+01:002012-01-19T18:20:11.958+01:00Believe or not, this kind of prehistory did come a...Believe or not, this kind of prehistory did come across my mind when mentioning your expertise. As I wanted to become a biologist until the last years of high school, I also regularly went to the pioneers’ olympiads, and I remember well this sort of quizʻs (I think they were centrally determined all over the empire, as most of the books we used for the preparations came from the Soviet Union). My favorite were animals’ footprints in the snow (the olympiad was regularly held in the zoo of Budapest).Studiolumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377777909296284368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4565845984512808077.post-25637183979546825822012-01-19T18:03:49.590+01:002012-01-19T18:03:49.590+01:00It's immodest but I think I may actually call ...It's immodest but I think I may actually call myself an expert in identifying trees by their winter branches, by the shape of the twigs and their junctions, of buds and striations of the bark, etc. It's strangely overlapping with the topic <a href="http://riowang.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-clear-was-world-how-it-opened-up.html" rel="nofollow">of my very first post here</a>. The Biology Olympiads for Moscow grade school students were held in the Palace of Pioneers. There, a contestant would have to choose a subset of quiz rooms, to earn points in each. My least fav quiz was id'ing formalin-soaked dead fish. The most favored one was the id of winter branches (the Olympiad was held in February and so we couldn't do any field botany with live green wild plants!). As a preteen kid I kept getting top prizes at this Olympiad, in part because I love my winter trees :)MOCKBAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05150628026789690963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4565845984512808077.post-25194213100764477432012-01-19T17:26:39.979+01:002012-01-19T17:26:39.979+01:00Unfortunately there are no leaves on the photos wh...Unfortunately there are no leaves on the photos which would help to unambiguously distinguish the two trees, and our rowan fruits never get <i>this</i> frost-bitten, while hawthorn yes (we have them both in the garden). But you are the expert in more than one way, so if you tell so, I cancel the comment.Studiolumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377777909296284368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4565845984512808077.post-55250969370489639382012-01-19T17:10:23.075+01:002012-01-19T17:10:23.075+01:00Sorry guys, that's rowan, fairly frost- and wi...Sorry guys, that's rowan, fairly frost- and wind-bitten and thus loosing many berries from their bunches, and discoloring some of the rest... but no hawthorn. And there is absolutely no confusion between the two species in Russian. <i>Crataegus momogyna</i> is Боярышник, generally not considered to be an edible berry in Russia, and completely devoid of the the poetic aura of the much-beloved rowan-tree.<br /><br />Bitter, falling-leaf accents of rowan in liquor make it, IMVHO, a "bottled fall season", if you allow me a poetic license from Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine. Of course my berry brandy isn't distilled; just infused with the berries.MOCKBAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05150628026789690963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4565845984512808077.post-73680201712978103472012-01-19T11:53:42.465+01:002012-01-19T11:53:42.465+01:00I was about to question the rowan, decided it woul...I was about to question the rowan, decided it would be churlish, then saw the asterisk! Exceptional photographs.walterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02603255065547405744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4565845984512808077.post-25531994375514460802012-01-19T06:24:00.802+01:002012-01-19T06:24:00.802+01:00How do you prepare the berry brandy: out of the be...How do you prepare the berry brandy: out of the berry or by pouring the brandy on the berry+honey?Studiolumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377777909296284368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4565845984512808077.post-9152337733346476322012-01-19T03:46:59.106+01:002012-01-19T03:46:59.106+01:00With the European jays and bullfinches, the name r...With the European jays and bullfinches, the name rowan-tree makes a perfect match. With our local blue jays, it would have been called mountain-ash. We leave some for the birds but couldn't resist using some for a berry brandy with a touch of honey. Cheers!MOCKBAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05150628026789690963noreply@blogger.com