Random things I find on the internet. Could be art, could be politics, could be hot lesbians. Depends on my mood. Okay let's face it...it's mostly queer ladies and fandoms around here.
I am a botanist and also worked as a gardener for two years, and I can weigh in on this!
Yes, as is obvious, those trees are fucked, in multiple ways. This may be a bit of a long post, but I hope I will explain all the ways these trees are fucked in a clear manner, and even teach about some botany in the process.
First, pruning, and what that even means. Pruning is the practice of removing branches from plants (in this case trees), in order to train the tree into a specific shape, or limiting its growth to stop it going into power lines. It is done all the time, but there are specific times this should happen depending on the type of tree. This type of pruning, when you remove most of the canopy at a similar height, is called pollarding, and should only be done when the tree is dormant, in late winter or very early spring.
This is because, when you remove basically all of the tree's leaves, which are the things that allow them to get energy from the sun and produce oxygen, the tree's response will be to make new branches in order to make more canopy to get sunlight. If you pollard a tree while it's dormant in seasons with less light, then this growth happens using the trees stored resources when it would usually put out new growth, and it's fine. It looks ugly as sin, but it won't die. Look up pictures of pollarded birch trees to see how gross they look.
If you pollard a tree in summer, as these have been, then they need to use extra resources to make that new canopy at a time of year when they need to use their resources to not die of thirst and be building up stores so they can go dormant and then grow again next spring.
These trees are already under a lot of stress, as it's the hottest time of the year in LA, and inducing growth in them at this time splits their resources in ways that will kill these trees.
Another point is shade. Funnily enough, trees and plants can have too much sun and heat. They draw water up from the ground and to the rest of the trees, and at a time when there is very little moisture in the ground (LA has dry and wet seasons), these trees are going to get absolutely toasted without the shade that their leaves provide to themselves.
When the sun heats up leaves of a tree, water evaporates from the tree's leaves. This is actually wanted by the tree, because it is what actually pulls water up from the ground. It's called transpiration, you should look it up if you want to learn more, but the purpose of this post, you just need to know that a certain amount of evaporation from leaves is needed for trees to get water to live.
Given that almost all of these tree's leaves and canopy has just been removed before a heatwave, they have the dual problem of absolutely vitally needing shade without having any leaves, and no way of drawing water from the ground in order to cool themselves down. The thing about all that stuff about pollarding and growth at bad times of the year, is that all of the cell processes that actually allow for growth need water to complete. It's part of the basic equation that allows all living things to get energy from their food and do shit like grow and move.
Long story short, those trees definitely will die. Whoever 'pruned' those trees has killed them, and has ruined a whole street of organisms that could very well be older than the people who did the pruning, if they were younger contractors. One of the crimes done here isn't exactly a legal one, but I would say is a crime against nature. From what I can tell, they look like some kind of birch tree, which can live for around 80 years on average, but some can get up to 150 years. That's potentially 150 years of history, of growth, of pollution being cleaned from the atmosphere, of people walking by and sheltering under it. And they've just killed them. The carnage wreaked upon them is too much to recover from, and everyone who will walk down that street for the next 50 years has lost the benefits of those trees.
being a lesbian has shaped who I am and I wouldn’t be the same if I wasn’t a lesbian. that’s why I hate when straight people say being a lesbian doesn’t define me. I get what they’re trying to say and while there is more to me than being a lesbian it really is a huge part of who I am and has impacted me so much. my personality would be different, my interactions with women and people in general would be so different, everything about who I am would be changed.
Lesbians are so good at pointing out romantic chemistry between women on TV but in real life it takes 3 years of friendship and an entire peer reviewed scientific paper to convince us that a girl might like us back.
Spoiler alert, girls. Its because your entire lives you’ve been told being a lesbian is predatory, and you are all very nice people who don’t want to make girls you like uncomfortable, so before you even make a move you resign yourself to pining in silence
Upon further conversation with @taintedidealist, it’s not only the above (but that’s a portion of it), but it’s also because what we see in media that we identify as chemistry usually is “wrong”. Xena and Gabrielle were not a canon couple in the show; they were “best friends”. Emma Swan and Regina Mills weren’t a canon couple, but who among us didn’t think they were made for each other? We’re constantly told that what we think should be the case isn’t the case at all, which then leads us to doubt what we think we know.
As @taintedidealist put it to me: “we’re requiring in our lives the proof of a girl liking us that the hetero viewing audience demands.”
No wonder we’re incapable of knowing when a girl is interested in us, after having been raised on scraps of “representation”.
That, in conjunction with not wanting to feel like a creeper, makes me wonder how the hell any queer lady has a partner (and, simultaneously, relieved that I’m not alone in my singledom, but also angry because fuck the patriarchy and straight cis people who have made me feel badly about liking girls).
YES to all of this. I remember when I first came out I had AT LEAST 3 straight friends say “But you don’t like ME like THAT, right?” which just contributed to me not understanding how to navigate queer flirting and relationships. Because you know what that taught me? That flirting with straight women was horrible and terrible and I would be a predator if I did so. But who knew who was straight and who wasn’t? Hence, I just… didn’t. To anyone.Â
THEN being told that chemistry I saw on TV wasn’t real either? Talk about a mind fuck. Even WITH canon couples we still battle the “they don’t have chemistry, why can’t two women just be FRIENDS?” It’s maddening.Â
Add to that the fact that (especially us older wlw) never really dated in high school so we had to figure it all out later in life so we had accumulated a LOT of this baggage and bullshit. I still don’t know how to ask someone out or go on a date. It’s amazing I ever managed to find a girlfriend. And tbh, it’s been a while.Â
Lesbians are so good at pointing out romantic chemistry between women on TV but in real life it takes 3 years of friendship and an entire peer reviewed scientific paper to convince us that a girl might like us back.
Spoiler alert, girls. Its because your entire lives you’ve been told being a lesbian is predatory, and you are all very nice people who don’t want to make girls you like uncomfortable, so before you even make a move you resign yourself to pining in silence
Upon further conversation with @taintedidealist, it’s not only the above (but that’s a portion of it), but it’s also because what we see in media that we identify as chemistry usually is “wrong”. Xena and Gabrielle were not a canon couple in the show; they were “best friends”. Emma Swan and Regina Mills weren’t a canon couple, but who among us didn’t think they were made for each other? We’re constantly told that what we think should be the case isn’t the case at all, which then leads us to doubt what we think we know.
As @taintedidealist put it to me: “we’re requiring in our lives the proof of a girl liking us that the hetero viewing audience demands.”
No wonder we’re incapable of knowing when a girl is interested in us, after having been raised on scraps of “representation”.
That, in conjunction with not wanting to feel like a creeper, makes me wonder how the hell any queer lady has a partner (and, simultaneously, relieved that I’m not alone in my singledom, but also angry because fuck the patriarchy and straight cis people who have made me feel badly about liking girls).
gummygunk
snowghoul
titsay
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izzy806
kianamaiart
