Travelled up north to the cabin in northern Quebec again this year - dodging thunderstorms on the way up.
Anyway, I thought I'd share this odd art form that my family appears to specialize in - namely, drawing or writing on Bracket Fungus. There are dozens of these things in the cabin, nearly every year we add one. There used to be a lot more, but a roof leak caused a bunch of them to rot.
Way it works is that this type of fungus, very common up north, has one side that is very sensitive to pressure and the slightest touch causes it to go black - when it is fresh. Then, when it dries out, it becomes hard as wood and the writing or drawing is preserved. The fungus itself lasts as long as it is kept dry.
Here's a writing fungus, with an account of a canoe trip I took with my dad and brother when I was 10:
(https://i.imgur.com/Qdhrqvr.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/h6M2Pt1.jpg)
My first artwork I know about, when I was nine:
(https://i.imgur.com/7BCKQSW.jpg)
And this year:
(https://i.imgur.com/uboyfi8.jpg)
There were enormous Dock Spiders everywhere this year - it was a real banner year for them.
I know I've shown the cabin before, but here are some views:
(https://i.imgur.com/JNC39jD.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/i3rsKK4.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/UBShlND.jpg)
The boys roasting hot dogs:
(https://i.imgur.com/CFXxINl.jpg)
Wait....wait...wait...you have two sons? Holy shit I thought it was just Carl. Well nice to know about you Adrian :P
Oh and that is pretty weird tradition. Pity so many of them were destroyed.
Also I am impressed with how your art has improved from 1977 until now :P
Rather impressed with your penmanship at that age. :o
Less impressed with the hint at spiders .... :ph34r:
Sadly, 9 year-old Malthus drew better than I. :sleep:
Carl doesn't look very outdoors-y. :hmm:
Quote from: Valmy on August 26, 2019, 08:38:44 AM
Wait....wait...wait...you have two sons? Holy shit I thought it was just Carl. Well nice to know about you Adrian :P
Oh and that is pretty weird tradition. Pity so many of them were destroyed.
Also I am impressed with how your art has improved from 1977 until now :P
Nope - one son, one nephew. ;)
We borrow him for such trips, because they are very close - moreso than I was with my brothers - they get along very well and keep each other entertained. This trip they were all into the camping thing and set up a tent far from the cabin, meaning we parents get the cabin to ourselves ... it's a wonderful thing. :D
Ah ok. Yeah David seems to prefer his cousin over his brother, she has less time to drive him crazy.
How far did this fungi art go back? How many ended up being destroyed by the roof leak?
Quote from: Syt on August 26, 2019, 08:51:19 AM
Rather impressed with your penmanship at that age. :o
Less impressed with the hint at spiders .... :ph34r:
They were everywhere this year. The first thing we saw when we landed was a dock spider the size of my wife's hand, hiding under a bollard on the dock. We found another, smaller one trapped in the sink, one on the lintel of the outhouse, evicted a few from our living room ...
They are basically harmless, but alarmingly large.
Quote from: Valmy on August 26, 2019, 09:09:46 AM
Ah ok. Yeah David seems to prefer his cousin over his brother, she has less time to drive him crazy.
How far did this fungi art go back? How many ended up being destroyed by the roof leak?
There used to be some from the 1950s. Sadly, these older ones were all destroyed. Plus, an account of each canoe trip, from the late seventies through the mid-eighties or so; only a couple of those survived.
Also, every year for many years I did a "year" fungus, only a few survive.
Example: 1979 - Blueberry Year
(https://i.imgur.com/oqvQBhQ.jpg)
Well it looks like you are making a photographic record of each one now in case such a travesty occurs again :)
Quote from: Syt on August 26, 2019, 08:57:22 AM
Carl doesn't look very outdoors-y. :hmm:
He's actually more into this woodsy stuff than I am. I got old and lazy, and like being comfortable too much to really relish wilderness travel like he does. :lol:
Quote from: Valmy on August 26, 2019, 09:16:48 AM
Well it looks like you are making a photographic record of each one now in case such a travesty occurs again :)
Fun fact: when I was a kid, I assumed every family had an archive of fungus writing. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize almost no one does this. :lol:
Super cool. :)
Quote from: Malthus on August 26, 2019, 09:10:58 AM
Quote from: Syt on August 26, 2019, 08:51:19 AM
Rather impressed with your penmanship at that age. :o
Less impressed with the hint at spiders .... :ph34r:
They were everywhere this year. The first thing we saw when we landed was a dock spider the size of my wife's hand, hiding under a bollard on the dock. We found another, smaller one trapped in the sink, one on the lintel of the outhouse, evicted a few from our living room ...
They are basically harmless, but alarmingly large.
Just this morning I saw and "evicted" the third Giant House Spider I have ever encountered. It was decidedly smaller than the last one about two years ago (and even that was probably smaller than a dock spider), but still freaked me the hell out.
I am NOT visiting the Canadian wilderness.
Quote from: Tamas on August 28, 2019, 05:06:49 AM
Just this morning I saw and "evicted" the third Giant House Spider I have ever encountered. It was decidedly smaller than the last one about two years ago (and even that was probably smaller than a dock spider), but still freaked me the hell out.
I am NOT visiting the Canadian wilderness.
Dock spiders are fascinating creatures - they can run across water on the surface tension and they even dive under it, swimming to catch prey underwater; they carry an air bubble with them to breathe underwater.
However, they are alarmingly large, and they like coming indoors in log cabins - hiding in the cracks between logs is their natural habitat. Worst part is that they love hanging around in the outhouse, because it has logs and a steady supply of bugs to eat. As a kid, taking a shit in the outhouse was a bit of an ordeal, as it tended to be full of gigantic spiders.
I remember one time I was sitting on the can when I noticed a big spider right over my head. Suddenly, its skin split open and it started to crawl out of it - that's how they grow larger; they shed their skins, like crabs. Anyway, the thing noticed me staring at it, and it shook its skin like a rattle at me - or at least, that's what it seemed. Maybe it was just part of the shedding sequence. I was worried it would drop onto my head, so I quickly concluded my bathroom trip!
Another time I was taking the cover off the boat when I found a large female dock spider carrying a huge egg sack hiding under the cover - by nearly putting my hand on her. My disturbing it evidently caused the sack to burst open, releasing a swarm of baby spiders. I quickly jumped out of the boat! :lol:
Most alarmingly, once I went up and a branch had broken a window, letting a swarm of mosquitoes into the cabin. I made a makeshift mosquito net out of a blanket to go over our heads and my wife and I slept under that - in the morning, we woke to the sight of a gigantic dock spider upside down over our faces on the inside of this blanket - crawling out without disturbing it was tricky.
Quote from: Tamas on August 28, 2019, 05:06:49 AM
Just this morning I saw and "evicted" the third Giant House Spider I have ever encountered. It was decidedly smaller than the last one about two years ago (and even that was probably smaller than a dock spider), but still freaked me the hell out.
I am NOT visiting the Canadian wilderness.
Yup. I have encountered one spider that I think was a dock spider, and it was way too fucking big to be anywhere near me. I will also not be going anywhere near the Canadian wilderness.
Normally, it's the mosquitoes that deter people ... ;)
mosquitoes are annoying, but I can deal with them. Deer flies? fuck those bastards and their little gnat minions.
Quote from: HVC on August 28, 2019, 02:40:00 PM
mosquitoes are annoying, but I can deal with them. Deer flies? fuck those bastards and their little gnat minions.
Yeah, Deer flies are immune to repellents, and their bites are nasty.
There is an excellent way to deal with Deer flies: wear a hat, and stick a sticky pad on the back of your hat.
Deer flies are genetically programmed to land on the back of your head. They land on the pad and get stuck, and die.
This actually works! I've used them.
http://www.leevalley.com/us/garden/page.aspx?c=&cat=2,51555,10293&p=10293
Hmm, I might try that, but depending on what group of friends I go with this might turn into a new game of sticking random stuff to the back of each others heads.
also, isn't it dangerous to carry around a buffet in giant spider territory? :D
Quote from: HVC on August 28, 2019, 03:01:01 PM
Hmm, I might try that, but depending on what group of friends I go with this might turn into a new game of sticking random stuff to the back of each others heads.
also, isn't it dangerous to carry around a buffet in giant spider territory? :D
Remember, in giant spider territory, you don't have to be able to outrun the spider - just your slowest friend. ;)
Make sure their shoelaces are firmly tied together.
Quote from: Malthus on August 28, 2019, 02:30:45 PM
Normally, it's the mosquitoes that deter people ... ;)
Nah, the mosquitoes I have down here with me in the Louisiana swamp already.
Quote from: ulmont on August 28, 2019, 04:39:08 PM
Quote from: Malthus on August 28, 2019, 02:30:45 PM
Normally, it's the mosquitoes that deter people ... ;)
Nah, the mosquitoes I have down here with me in the Louisiana swamp already.
You don't have big spiders in Louisiana swamps?
Where's the fun of being chased through Louisiana swamps by toothless rednecks, if you aren't also menaced by big spiders?! :P
Quote from: Malthus on August 29, 2019, 08:49:56 AM
You don't have big spiders in Louisiana swamps?
Where's the fun of being chased through Louisiana swamps by toothless rednecks, if you aren't also menaced by big spiders?! :P
We have Orb Weavers, which are pretty damned big, but also warn you with their huge webs. I think the Dolomedes that we have here are smaller than yours.
However, we do have alligators if you need more fun in being chased through the swamps.