Z is for zero

I have finally come to the end of the A to Z challenge. So I'll conclude with a strange concept, which produces wonderful imagery. It is the concept of zero.

Zero might be seen as negative or it might be seen as positive. It might be seen as nothing or everything. Zero might be seen as a number, or maybe it is not a number. Zero is amazing. I am fascinated by numbers, despite the fact that I was probably the world's worst math student when I was in school half a million years ago (no, I can't count that high).

Zero can be seen as the black hole that gobbles everything up. It absorbs everything and lets nothing go free. This is true when you multiply any number by zero. No matter the size of the number, once you multiply it  by zero, it becomes zero. Whether your number is 856 trillion or two, multiply it by zero and the answer is always zero. You could say that it makes everything equal, everything the same.

You may say that equality and identity are not the same thing. And you would be right. In Madeleine L'Engle's book, A Wrinkle in Time, the main character, Meg, is trying to rescue her little brother, Charles Wallace, who is trapped on a planet, Camazotz, where everyone is alike. The world is controlled by a powerful computer, IT, that truly does not understand human nature. It tells Meg, "Everyone is happy here. They are all alike and they are all equal." Meg says that, no, equality is not identity. We can be different and we can be equal, at the same time. Meg struggled with being different in school, and she came to realize that her differentness was her strength.

Camazotz is completely under a dark cloud. It has given in. Its fight is over.

The Earth is fighting the cloud. Are we winning? I don't know. Neither, I suspect, did Madeleine L'Engle.

Zero takes away identity and creates uniformity when any number is multiplied by it. But that doesn't have to be. Instead of multiplying, try adding. Add zero to any number and the answer is the original number. In addition, zero acts as a mirror. You look in the mirror of zero (which is round like many mirrors), and you see yourself. A dancing 2 or a marching 10 or a big train 234,987,561 can see itself, being itself in the mirror of zero. 

Here are some more interesting facts about zero.

•  In the BC/AD system of numbering years, there was no year 0.
• When you start counting things, you don't start with zero, you start with one. If you started with zero, you'd always have the wrong number. 
• Fibinacci numbers, on the other hand, start with zero and they build from there. You start adding: 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, 3+5=8, 5+8=13, 8+13=21, and onward.
• Pine cones, apparently, do mathematics. They are good at Fibinacci numbers. The pine cones grow in spirals. Apparently, that is a great demonstration of Fibonacci numbers.
• Zero is neither positive nor negative. It is just zero.
• What would happen if you multiplied zero by itself, or tried to take its square root?

Ooops, I just strained my brain! 

Do you have a favorite number? If so, what and why?

Y is for yellow

Yellow. Such a cheerful color. Now that it is springtime, I thought that I would share images of yellowness with you. Yellow is a clear sunny day. It's the yolk of an egg. It's a crocus. It's lemonade. It's a daffodil. It's forsythia, blossoming early in spring.

Yellow is a dandelion, considered a weed. That's one way of looking at the dandelion. To me, it looks like little reflections of sunlight all over the ground.

The yellowness of lemon and lemon juice, so yummy in a cup of tea.

Yellow is a primary color. Its complimentary color is purple. If you mix yellow and purple paint, you'll get a chromatic neutral. It will be a vibrant gray. If you were to mix white and black, you would also get gray but it would be less vibrant than the chromatic neutral that you get from mixing two complimentary colors (yellow and purple, red and green, and blue and orange). 

If you mix yellow with another primary color, you'll create a secondary color. Yellow mixed with red makes orange. Yellow mixed blue makes green.

Here are some more images of the yellowness of spring.

X is for xylem

Yay! Here in western New York, gardening season is starting! People are out mowing their lawns and the daffodils are blooming.

This is exciting stuff. I remember starting these blogging challenges on April 1st, wondering when I would be able to go outside and clear out the old gardens and prune the rose bushes. And, then, a few days later, it started to snow! Would winter ever end?

Winter has ended. I'll happily welcome it back in late November. Or, preferably, mid-December. After Thanksgiving and before Christmas. This past Christmas was sadly snow-free. Santa Claus still managed to deliver his gifts to all of the children, despite the lack of snow.

OK, I am delightfully off topic. This post isn't about snow (an evil four-letter word at this time of year) but about plants and gardening. It's a little bit of garden botany.

My X word is xylem. Xylem is vascular tissue in any plant that has a stem, whether it is a flower or a tree. Xylem conducts water and minerals through the plants. Xylem vessels are tubular in shape and they act as a pipeline, from the roots through the stem and into the leaves. When you water your plant or give it plant food, that's how the water and the plant food get from the roots to all parts of the plant. Phloem is the other necessary vascular tissue in the plant. Plants get their nutrients via photosynthesis. They transform light energy, usually from the sun, into nutrients (sucrose) to feed the plant. Phloem vessels are also tubular is shape and they act as a pipeline, from the leaves down to the roots. Both xylem and phloem act to keep the plant nourished and hydrated. 

Anything that interferes with the plant's vascular system (the xylem and the phloem) is very likely to kill the plant. The emerald ash borer, which I described in my trees post, is an example of something that kills by interfering with the ash tree's vascular system. The emerald ash borer is an invasive species in North America. It has no known enemies, unlike in Asia, where its chief enemy is a parasitic wasp.

The emerald ash borer, in its larval state, burrows underneath the bark of the ash tree. It feeds on matter beneath the bark. It eats the phloem, cambium, and sapwood. These insects interfere with the ability of the tree to get water and nutrients and, as a result, the tree dies. The presence of the emerald ash borer is an ecological disaster for North America.

If you have ash trees, contact a reliable tree service and have your trees protected. If your ash trees are already infested, get the tree service to remove the diseased trees. It is OK to mourn a dead tree. It's even more OK to remember a dead tree by planting a new tree, preferably of a different species, in your yard.

Enjoy the sunshine and your gardens and the beautiful colors of the spring flowers.

W is for walking

Walking is both good cardiovascular exercise and transportation. It's a way to get from point A to point B. But, beyond that, it's a way to see the world, close up and vivid. In a car, you see things as you whiz past them. When you walk, however, you are within touching distance of your world. You can stop and explore, pick flowers, taste fruit from the tree, dip your feet in the water, and much more. Sure, there are risks to walking. Drivers can't always be counted on to pay attention to slower-moving traffic (pedestrians and bicycles). You could feel sore and develop blisters after a long walk. Nevertheless, it is worth it to experience the world in this way.

I have been fortunate enough to have walked in a number of different places. Some of my walks have just been for the sake of walking, while others were deliberate walks with a group for a cause.

Below are some of the pictures that I took along the path.

I walk in all seasons. As long as the weather is not oppressively cold or windy or too icy, I will walk in the winter. The world is white and fresh, and monochromatic.

Winter looks best in black and white. It is all about the shadows in winter, not about the color.

This is a painting that I made for a walk against drone warfare that Voices for Creative Nonviolence held in 2014. The walk was from Chicago to Battle Creek, Michigan.

In 2014, I went to Bend, Oregon, to visit my friends Betsy and Ann. 

Central Oregon is where a number of western television shows, such as "Have Gun Will Travel," were filmed.

It is truly the wild west, with painted canyons and large rock formations and tall mountains. The ecosystem is high desert. The most common plants are sage brush and juniper trees.Above is our friend Phillip Randall, who is very knowledgeable about the canyons and rock formations and other interesting features of central Oregon.

The lichen grows on the rocks, giving it a wild assortment of colors.

Here I am in a very small cave.

This is Smith Rock. It attracts rock climbers from all over the world. It is good for rock climbers of any experience level, as there are rocks that are suitable for beginners and other rocks that are suitable only for very skilled climbers.

Betsy and Anne and their cat.

This is Oregon's rocky coast. We went to visit the coast and we spent the night at the Historic Anchor Inn in Lincoln City. It is a hotel that's very much like a bed and breakfast. You get a free homemade breakfast. It is quite delicious. The ocean is a few blocks away.

Relay for Life is another type of walk. People walk around Veterans Park in a large circle. They are raising money to support the work being done by the American Cancer Society to eliminate cancer from the earth. Above are luminaria that are lit at night. They honor survivors and help us remember the loved one who died of cancer.

The walk against drone warfare from Chicago to Battle Creek, Michigan started in June of 2014 in downtown Chicago.

Senji Kanaeda, a Buddhist monk from Washington State, participated in much of the walk. He brought to us a very calm and peaceful demeanor and a beautiful baritone voice. He especially enjoyed singing spirituals in that wonderful deep and warm voice.

Our walk began on a beautiful sunny day in downtown Chicago. We walked through many neighborhoods in Chicago, as we headed east to Indiana.

Some walkers joined us for the day.

Our second day was dreary and wet. We left Chicago and walked through industrial areas of Indiana. We walked through a wasteland that had been used up and discarded. It was a part of the rustbelt where hope truly seemed to have fled.

This is one of our walkers. Her name was Jessica at the time. She has since changed it to Kestral Peace. She is an environmental activist from Kalamazoo, Michigan. She brought enthusiasm and energy to the walk.

Relaxing at a park outside of Gary, Indiana.

Maya, from England, and Ceylon, from Memphis, Tennessee, bring zaniness and fun to the walk.

In April of 2015, I participated in part of the Walk for a Nuclear Free Future. The part of the walk that I joined started in Buffalo and ended in Sunset Bay on Lake Erie.

It was a cold day when I joined the group near City Hall in downtown Buffalo. Buffalo's City Hall was built in an art deco style and is quite an impressive building. Tours are offered daily. The view from the observation deck is quite spectacular.

We travel on foot through city and suburb and countryside. We share our message of hope for a nuclear free future with all who see us and our banners.

A week after I started walking, we reach Lake Erie. On our last day, we are part of the annual water walk that is sponsored by the Seneca Nation of Indians. The Cattaraugus Creek is polluted, and the suspected source of the pollution is the nuclear facility called the West Valley Demonstration Project.

The sun sets on the adventure but not on hope for a better, healthier future.

Sometimes, I walk closer to home. This is the marsh at Buckhorn Island State Park, a restored wetland area and a wildlife sanctuary.

In August, I join the walk sponsored by Voices for Creative Nonviolence. This one starts in Madison, Wisconsin, and ends in Volk Field.

We walk through city and countryside, well-off and impoverished areas.

Brian (on the left) lives in Iowa. He is a farmer and an activist. Jules is a retired bookstore owner from New Jersey. I first met him during the 2010 Walk for a Nuclear Free Future from Salamanca, New York, to New York City.

This is one of the things that makes really long walks so worthwhile.

Maya and Tyler. Tyler lives in an off the grid community in Missouri.

Maya enjoys trumpeting the cause of peace in the Wisconsin Dells.