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Echidna are monotremes, or egg laying mammals. There are four species of echidna but in Tasmania we only have short nosed echidna, and a Tasmanian subspecies which is endemic to the island. Monotremes are pretty rare, the only other species being platypus 🙂
#tasmania #lutruwita #australia #animals #nature #photography #naturephotography
Yesterday I went to Cradle Mountain (where I saw a baby wombat) and noticed a plant on the Dove Lake track that I didn't know. Turns out it is a Green Mountainlily, a plant endemic to Tasmania that has only one close relative species which grows on New Caledonia.
It is an ancient species, dating back 120 million years and is easy to miss as it doesn't look anything special.
#tasmania #lutruwita #bloomscrolling #nature #flowers #EndemicFlora
Lilies and reflections on the Meander River.
#tasmania #lutruwita #river #reflections #naturephotography #bloomscrolling #flowers
Deosil is anticlockwise
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how the Sun travels through the sky, and specifically about which way it goes. In fact I wrote my Honours thesis about it, which I will put up here in the not too distant future. But I digress. The direction of the Sun’s movement is usually described as clockwise. But why is clockwise clockwise? Which is to say, why is the direction we call clockwise turning the way it is? No one will be surprised to know that clocks go that way because they are mimicking the direction of the Sun. This is based on a person facing the direction of the sunrise and seeing the Sun gradually move to their right over the course of the day; east, then southeast, then south, then southwest, then west. This direction is also referred to in English as deosil, a word …
Deosil is anticlockwise
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how the Sun travels through the sky, and specifically about which way it goes. In fact I wrote my Honours thesis about it, which I will put up here in the not too distant future. But I digress. The direction of the Sun’s movement is usually described as clockwise. But why is clockwise clockwise? Which is to say, why is the direction we call clockwise turning the way it is? No one will be surprised to know that clocks go that way because they are mimicking the direction of the Sun. This is based on a person facing the direction of the sunrise and seeing the Sun gradually move to their right over the course of the day; east, then southeast, then south, then southwest, then west. This direction is also referred to in English as deosil, a word with Gaelic roots. It is from from Old Irish, dess meaning right and sel meaning to turn.
However this situation does not obtain the planet over. Indeed where I live the Sun absolutely does not do this. My Sun rises in the east and then moves northeast, then north, then northwest, then west. I remember trying to explain this to a bunch of northern hemisphere Pagans at a Glastonbury solstice vigil one time, and they fully thought I was mad. They were unable to separate the concept of deosil from that of clockwise for the same reason I was unable to reconcile what I saw when I looked at the sky with the representation of that sky on an astrological chart, i.e. it just didn’t look that way to me. It took me a very long time to learn any astrology because of this. My breakthrough came when I eventually found some astrological software that had a feature to display the chart wheel as it appears in the southern hemisphere. It was a revelation. Suddenly the framework I had been taught to work with accurately reflected the reality of my sky, where deosil is anticlockwise.
So me and the bloke made a thing to help us austral dwellers see an astrological chart that shows our actual sky, with things moving in the direction they move for us. Here is a still from our real time, live updating chart for Hobart (42°52’48.0″S 147°19’01.2″E), Tasmania, Australia. You will have to go to the blog to see the actual live one.
Read the rest of this piece at;
https://ooze.net/deosil-is-anticlockwise/
P.S. If anyone knows how to italicise text in a toot please let me know.
To all in the Northern Hemisphere, solstice greetings. Even on the shortest day, may the light shine on you 🙂
Here's a tree I met for the first time yesterday. It's called a Tulip Tree, though those in America might know it as a Hickory Poplar.
#solstice #trees #light #tasmania #lutruwita #bloomscrolling
Ok, here's my silent Sunday contribution, even though it's Monday here. My wife called this a skeleton leaf which I quite liked
Cooking from the book
What do you cook when the Tasmanian coordinator of the national network, Community Gardens Australia (CGA), stays over?
https://communitygarden.org.au/2023/12/cooking-from-the-book/
#Cooking #Tasmania #FlavoursOfLaunceston
#communitygardens #communitygardensaustralia
An echidna came right up to me as I sat on the back steps recently.
#nature #wildlife #echidna #monotreme #tasmania #VintageLens
20 years ago the world went quiet. Father is suspended between the living world and …
Post-climate apocalypse in #HuonValley & #Hobart. Mostly believable (ex-PM was a caricature, and questionable lack of planning for expedition) with survivors being both humane & loving, but also merciless when called for. Unnerving to see local area in this light.
Reading time 7 days, 47 pages/day
#BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #BookWyrm #CliFi #SciFi #Tasmania
STOP SEISMIC BLASTING IN AUSTRALIA
We have until August 11 to stop a massive seismic blasting proposal between #Victoria and #Tasmania that will impact #BlueWhale habitat and the #ZeehanMarinePark.
A joint venture between seismic survey companies #TGS and #SLB-Schlumberger is trying to get regulatory approval for seismic blasting over 55,000 sq km of our #oceans. Now is our chance to provide public comment that these plans should be refused to protect our oceans and marine life.
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Lucky enough to see a pair of native Tasmanian millipedes feasting on this beautiful fungi.
I don't know the species of millipede, but they're definitely from the Amastigogonus family. Likewise, I don't know the fungi as I'm not a mushy specialist, but I'd guess some sort of bolete?
This was on a walk at Hollybank Forest near Launceston, Tasmania.
#tasmania #lutruwita #mushrooms #fungi #insect #millipedes #forest #photography
