The history of Lalbagh's trees - article in BLink

If you've walked at Lalbagh, you've seen, no, experienced those gorgeous trees. But if you're like me, I bet you wouldn't have realized that many of those trees are from across the world, and some are extremely rare. And many of them have a story behind them, and there's rich history in every corner of Lalbagh. I wrote about some of that history in this week's BLink.

Read the article here.

Day 25 - The Colours of the Callery Pear

Here in the US, I don't get to enjoy one of my favourite sights of spring - the honge mara (pongamia) bursting with new and tender fluttering leaves of the loveliest green imaginable.

So I find new favourites to gladden my heart.

Spring here is heralded by the arrival of the yellow wildflowers (you can see a pic in this post) and the first blooming trees - case in point, the Callery pear/Bradford pear. The pretty white flowers are a sight to see. (Not so pleasing to the nose though - they're really stinky.)

The nice thing about these trees that they are really pretty in the fall too. In California, fall colours aren't much to speak of, but thanks to these trees and some maples, we do get to see some flames of gold here and there.

Here are some pictures I took in the fall:

 

And here are the ones I took this spring.

The petals sometime cover the ground and look like powder snow. The wind sweeps them up into little piles on the sides of the pavement, and then it looks even more like snow.

Yes, I haven't taken any pics in the summer (with green leaves) or in the winter (bare branches) - next time, perhaps.

Day 24 - Calaveras Big Trees State Park

Continued from this vacation.

I'd seen the Californian coastal redwoods (Big Basin, Portola Valley) but I hadn't seen the giant sequoias (Which is another type of redwood). And Calaveras Big Trees State Park had two groves of giant sequoia. So off we went.

While the coastal redwoods are slim and tall, the giant sequoia are much wider, and shorter. Though this visit was full of some breathtaking sights, it was also filled with despair at the stupidity of human beings.

Take the Discovery Stump, for instance. In the 1850s, a hunter came across this huge, 1300-year-old-tree and because nobody in the cities believed him when he told them about it, he came back with workmen and cut the tree off in order to take a slice of it to display to them. And then they used the stump as a dance floor.

The Discovery Stump

Soaring into the skies - so mighty!

Just look at that rich, red, colour!

"The screaming mother" or some such  name. This is another tree that suffered from human greed. Humans removed its bark, in order to go and reassemble it at some exhibition, to show how tall and thick these trees are. This tree died.

A grove of young sequoia. Redwoods usually grow in groves and clusters.

The Pioneer Cabin Tree. I've been obsessed with this tree ever since I'd seen a picture in a book. Finally saw it. 4-5 months after this, this tree toppled over in a storm. I was just in time.

The top of the Pioneer Cabin Tree. This giant tree was surviving (until it fell down recently) thanks to that single photosynthesizing branch.

Portola Valley Redwood Park

I've talked about my previous experience with Redwoods before.

This time, we were careful to choose a shorter hike, especially because I had a hamstring injury last year, which affected me pretty badly. It has healed now, but I didn't want to take any risks. But the experience was as good, and the redwoods still hold me in thrall.

The redwoods, to me, feel like they are giants, benevolent ones, who stand tall and look at us puny creatures with a mixture of loftiness and compassion. I feel they are just standing there, leaning against each other, arms crossed, perhaps. Sometimes I even feel like I am intruding upon their privacy. I know, I am probably nuts, but then that's how they make me feel -- like they are real.

The roots of a fallen tree

Old Tree - 1200 years old, and 12 ft in diameter

Old Tree soaring into the clouds

Spring

Remember my fall pictures?

I took pictures of the same tree, this time, in spring. Here you go.

Feb 11

Feb 19

March 1

March 10

March 15

March 29

March 31

April 12

Fall

One morning, on my walk, I happened to walk under a tree and look up at it. Autumn (or Fall, as the Americans call it) was here, and the leaves of this tree had started changing colour. It looked striking in contrast with the bright blue sky, and I whipped out my phone and took a picture.

A few days after that, I walked under the same tree again, it occurred to me that I could document the change in colour of this same tree as the days pass.

So here are the results:

October 13

 November 3:

Add caption

 November 11:

November 16:

November 18:

December 1:

And here are pictures of the same tree in Spring

A hike through redwood forests.

Last Saturday, we decided to go on a hike to Big Basin Redwoods State Park, a drive about an hour and a half away from where we live. Since I'm pretty unfit right now, I looked up the trails online and decided that we should go on a moderate hike, and steer clear of the strenuous ones.

We drove through some lovely landscapes, most of them looking straight out of an inspirational poster, and reached the headquarters of Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

This is my dream home. Except that it is not exactly a house, but so what.

I don't know whether it was a mistake or whether it was a deliberate move by S--for whom hiking ranks among the top of his favourite activities--but we chose a strenuous hike. And a long one at that.

Anyway, off we went, and--before I start, I must get this out of my system--Redwoods are some of the most magnificent, majestic, grand, awe-inspiring and beautiful creatures that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I have fallen utterly and hopelessly in love with them.

The ones in Big Basin, which btw is the oldest state park in California, are between 1000 and 2500 years old.

So we started walking on the Skyline to the Sea Trail (which goes right up to the sea). We decided to walk up to Berry Creeks waterfalls, 4 miles into the woods, and then walk back. It was an exhilarating walk. A lot of ups and downs, yes, but to walk in foliage that is entirely new is a beautiful experience. And what redwoods forests do is that since they soar high above you and the branches are way up there in the sky, the trees don't seem like they are pressing into you. Only their gorgeous huge trunks are visible all around you, giving you the feeling of walking among large pillars. So the trail continued, and four miles and two hours later, we reached Berry Creek Falls, where we sat down and had our lunch of sandwiches, nuts, trail mix cookies, energy bars and water like any self respecting hiker.

After a while, it was time to decide whether we wanted to go back the same way, or take another trail, the Sunset Trail, that loops around and reaches Park Headquarters. I was the weak link in the chain, and so everybody asked me how I was feeling and whether the ball of my foot was hurting (where I have a chronic ache). It wasn't, and I was game to take the longer looping route back (I was loopy to make that decision, but that I realized only on hindsight).

So we set off again. We walked, seeing banana slugs, and looking out for poison oak though we didn't know what exactly to look out for.

And then after an hour of walking post lunch, my body started protesting. I swear, if I had stood still, I would have heard my muscles screaming. There would be a prolonged upward incline, and then a prolonged downward slope. The former was hard on my calves and the latter was hard on my toes. I walked nevertheless, gritting my teeth, especially at the sight of Puttachi and the others skipping along as if they were in the friendly neighbourhood park.

S found a thick stick for me to use like a hiking stick. So I pretended (in my head) that I was Gandalf (the greying) from LOTR and the stick was my staff, and that helped. Off we walked.

And then, finally, at 4 pm, 6 hours after we had set off on the hike, we came back to the park headquarters. We had walked 10 miles. On one hand I was glad it was over, on the other hand, I was sad that it was over.

I sat on a bench at the headquarters, and I couldn't get up from the bench after ten minutes--it was like every muscle was cramped. If even a small part of my mind had hoped that I would escape from this ordeal lightly, then, this erased that hope from my mind.

We had dinner at downtown Saratoga. Delicious quiche at Big Basin café. Before that, we walked around a little around the town (I hobbled). Such a pretty place, so many interesting shops to see. The highlight for me was walking past a fancy restaurant there, which had a real vine with grapes growing on the shopfront.

To cut a long story short, I couldn't walk normally for the next two and a half days. Puttachi didn't help my morale much. When we walked somewhere the next day with  my sister and brother-in-law, Puttachi told them--"You walk ahead. I'll walk with Amma while she waddles up." Well, I guess I should be grateful that she was willing to walk with me at all.

But I can't begin to explain how lovely the hike was. And how beautiful the forest. And I see that this is a total hike-friendly region. I'm all enthused to go on long hikes again. Moderate ones for a while hopefully, and meanwhile, I hope to make myself fitter, so that I'm not laid up for three days after every hike. I'm quite ashamed of myself, actually.

But I'm glad I lived to tell the tale.

In the company of trees.

Yesterday, I spent a beautiful morning in the calming company of trees, thanks to Neralu. We also visited our old haunt, The Park [Link and Link ] which I miss very much (and have no valid reason not to visit it more often.) All the "huge" play instruments and slides, next to which Puttachi used to look tiny but brave--all those slides look so ordinary and non-scary now. Funny. My height hasn't changed, but my perspective has.

Yesterday's connection with nature was perfectly completed with a visit to a friend's house, whose mother has a large vegetable garden. Puttachi helped her dig out carrots and pick some greens, and we came back home laden with fresh produce from the garden, which the lady generously gave us.

Though I've never been too much into gardening, I love the concept of growing one's own vegetables in the backyard. Some day, perhaps.

Day 2 - Trees

Recently, I was writing a longish bio for a publication.  While writing about myself, I said, "Shruthi likes books, food and..."  Unbidden, the next word that came to me was "Trees."   I paused for a bit, and then shrugged.  Why not?  So I added "Trees."

Some of you would have already noticed my obsession with trees lately, in the last couple of years.  But for me to equate trees with books and food is, you know, huge. 

But that is how it has been recently. Though I've always liked trees in a vague way (like everybody does, I guess)  it has only been in the last few years that I've actually "looked" at trees closely.  And the more I look, the more enamoured I am by them. 

The deep green, the smell of them, the sound of the wind through their leaves, their shade - trees are, to me, perhaps the most beautiful creatures on earth. 

They charge my emotional batteries.  They leave me with a sense of peace and contentment. 

And I never tire of watching them.

 

Blooms in Uttarakhand

Never seen neem flowers in this colour before!

Mango blossoms were particularly thick in these parts.



Palash

Palash again

Bottlebrush



Wild roses



Rhododendrons were everywhere!



Rhododendrons up close. 
Puttachi loved them.
She kept picking up fallen flowers
 and carrying them back to the room.
Rhododendron squash (Buransh squash)
is pretty refreshing :)

No idea what flowers these are.

Also see: Trees of Uttarakhand
                Birds of Uttarakhand

 

A few trees of Uttarakhand

My love for trees is common knowledge to regular readers of this blog.  Every spring sees me go nuts, and this time, I had an added advantage. I could swoon over the trees of Uttarakhand too!

 

Locally known as "Kusum" - these are leaves, not flowers. 
In Rajaji National Park

 



New leaves - Rajaji NP



Travelling in an open jeep is great for tree-watching!
Here's a langur leaping among the bare branches of a tree.



Rudraksha tree - the fruits



And when the fruit is broken open
- you see the famous Rudraksha seed.



These looked like Bharatnatyam dancers to me. - Rajaji NP

I lost my heart to Deodar forests.
 - Landour, Mussoorie.



Aren't Deodars gorgeous?



Speaking of bare trees - how beautiful is this!

These young spring leaves of the Indian horse chestnut
are among the most beautiful leaves I've seen. 
They were everywhere in the Landour forests.



These horse chestnut leaves
caught the sunlight so beautifully!
 This is shortly before sunset, Landour.



Horse chestnut leaves again -
framing the sunset that signalled the end of our vacation
- Landour.

Also see:  Birds of Uttarakhand
                 Flowers of Uttarakhand