Gnomeware

They told me go straight to the next signpost where everything would become clear… and now…

Gnome Place like Home

Gnome? Where?

The Lost Author

Gnome comment.

Credit to: Carnutian Forest, Eluveitie.

Clouds… Romancing Mountains

They tickle the trees.

They massage the mountains.

They make their own music.

View in full-screen mode–many times–until you hear the music of the clouds.

Mountains Are Mysterious

They take lives without mercy.

The closer you get to them the more diversified, dangerous and threatening the topography, forests, cliffs, ravines and rivulets become.

Mountains make clouds do things.

Under the forest cloak, the mysteries become all-consuming.

Then how do the mountains turn into something marvellous?

This is landscape.

And this is what Christopher Janus explores in Tangier Gardens.

Try the story @ https://amzn.to/3HLrtyv

In Between?

Are you in between? That’s your affair–not mine.

Pumpkin, Butterscotch and Caramel Sno-Cone

The first snow fell and autumn color had not finished–in between fall and winter.

And my friend CJ has always been in between–in between cultures. See for yourself: Tangier Gardens at https://amzn.to/3HLrtyv

“The Landscape Architect” Series–update

CJ was in Morocco during Tangier Gardens and Curious Tales, the first two books in The Landscape Architect Series, which now have been published.

The next two books have CJ in Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Switzerland and Egypt…BUT

…springtime in these Swiss mountains and lakes has been so enchanting that I have had to go outside and walk and walk and walk. My novels suffer. Yenbo Palms and Crystal Vision will be published before the end of this year.

Please sign up on my email list for pre-release details and discounts. Thank you.

Mountain Stream

The flow.

Mountain stream above the tree line, clear and white–straight flow to the pineal.

The stream takes advantage of the eyes and ears as paths to the pineal.

Words and talking get in the way–the stream continues; but the pineal flow stops.

~~~~~~

In Tangier Gardens, CJ discovered this flow.

He didn’t know what to call his experiences, paranormal, gnostic portals, or the answers to existential unknowns–but he knew the inputs were from nature, its landscapes and plants.

Want to learn more about these experiences in nature, in the landscape? Please join my email list.

Treeline in the mirror

Which photo has the treeline?

1. No treeline, the mountain is not high enough.
2. Treeline, the line above which trees no longer grow.

So, what is a tree line?

Well, Wikipedia can tell you; but the mountains I am looking at are in Switzerland so I’ll refer to the Department of Geography at the University of Zurich for the definition of a treeline.

A mountain treeline certainly is not a line in the common sense. The treeline is defined as the high elevation, climate driven limit of tree growth.

The treeline is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowpack, or associated lack of available moisture).

It is easy to get into the weeds discussing the geographical, botanical and topographical details of a treeline. Just look at the images above for a general idea and the graphic below for a summary.

Mountain treeline explained

But where does the mirror fit in?

A treeline is natural. It tells about interactions between ecotypes. And that makes me think. Is the treeline a vector or raster. Is it a thin line, a narrow path one pixel wide or is it a broad and wide line with varying gradients, blurs and opacities?

I think the latter. And looking in the mirror at treelines, I wonder…are human cultures like environmental ecotypes? Are they definable on their edges by lines? Raster or vector? Is diversity our strength…or our weakness…or is the effort to define cultural differences a non-sequitur?

***

In my book, Tangier Gardens, CJ faced incredible cultural challenges.

The Tangier gardens saved that young man from the relentless, brutal challenges issued by the northwest Africa landscape. It’s an intriguing story about culture, design and humans. 

Give it a go.