pineforest-tapeloop

[pineforest-tapeloop]

A few days ago I saw Tropical Malady in the living room of my geologist uncle-in-law. It was a warm, damp night and everyone else had gone to bed. It felt good to watch this movie in such a hot humid secrecy.

The movie itself consists of two parts. The first one focusses on the love between Keng and Tong. There are a lot of slow and humble passages where their love is displayed. Because of the slow and subtle nature, their love felt very profound to me. It reminded me of loving gestures I have experienced for myself and how al these seem to build a steady relationship and trust which less subtle actions can not achieve on their own. There are also moments of tenderness and nurture then the two take an ill dog to the vet and decide on chemo therapy for the dog. A story about greed tolf by an old lady seems to introduce a magical aspect which is explored more in the second narrative of the movie.

The second narrative is about a military tasked to take down a shapeshifting shaman in the woods. This part is more abstract and spiritual, with little dialoge. I am not certain what this was about, but I suspect something with the submission to love.

I really liked the movie! I already liked Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives, and this one had a similar air to it. I am planning to watch more Apichatpong Weerasethakul films in the future.

[pineforest-tapeloop]

Yesterday I went into this cave with my uncle-in-law. It is a deep narrow cave with an unknown end. At some points we had to crawl to get through a narrow path. He is a geologist here in spain and experienced with cave exploring, which made me feel at ease in such a spooky scenario. There were huge stalagmites and stalactites which formed over thousends of years.

[pineforest-tapeloop]

Today I found these golden chantanelle mushroom! These sporophores are from a mycorrhizal fungi which has either associations with birch trees or some kind of conifer, since I found these near those trees. They are easy to spot and safe to eat so I plucked a bunch of them for our barbeque in the evening. My girlfriends family was very happy to get the chance to taste them. They tasted very well, with a slight hint of spice.

[pineforest-tapeloop]

My tiny brother-in-law organised a chess tournament which is cute. I just went up against my girlfriend and we ended in a very very annoying tie and now im upset U_____U

[pineforest-tapeloop]

Yesterday I was happy to spot the Stag beetle (Lecanus cervus). This beetle is endangered in my home country with only a few small populations being left in the south and east of the Netherlands. Here in northern Spain he is a lot more common. I have already seen a bunch of specimens flying across my tent and in the forest. On my first day I also found a female on my way to the orchard. It takes a few years for the larvae to mature into this imago, so I hope this one is succesful in reproduction.

[pineforest-tapeloop]

Last night it was raining in Austurias. When I walked back to my tent at night I found a bunch of these amphibians! I already knew of these salamanders living here from previous years, but it was still a nice surprise. It had been a while since ive seen them. They are also present in my home province, but there they have gotten very rare because of an Asian fungus. Previous years I wondered where their reproduction pond was located, but I know now of the Dutch population reproducing in puddles left by carttracks. I imagine them doing the same here, since I don't know any freshwaterbody nearby.

[pineforest-tapeloop]

I just saw Moonrise Kingdom for the first time, and there wouldn't be a better time than this evening. Tomorrow I will be leaving to camp in Asturias Spain and this movie set the right mood. There is something so romantic about the way Wes Anderson frames his movies like picturebooks for children. It makes me feel nostalgic and safe while watching them. It also gives a strange distant love for the time it was set in. I have of course never lived in the 60s, but I do recognise the plain but very present colours from my grandparents house. The yellows I have seen in clothes of them as well as old tupperware. How things like the basketweave chair by the window seem like a place from my own life really makes me fall in love. It is also a movie which makes me want to celebrate life. All the silly little gags feel sinultaniously over the top as familiar. Highly recommend as a camping movie!

[pineforest-tapeloop]

Tomorrow morning I will take a flight to Asturias Spain to visit my family in law. My grandmother in law has an orchard in Llanes in which I will put up my tent. I just saw Moonrise Kingdom for the first time which I really liked. It really set the mood for tomorrow. My only problem now is that I have too many stuff that I want to pack. I am most excited for my tent though, which I usually set up at the top of a cliff in the orchard. I can not wait to have a month of nice nights rest since batresearch has taken a toll on me lately. I will be reading a bunch of books which im bringing, I hope to write about that on here soon. I will take a hike in the Picos de Europa which I will share aswell. I will miss my little dog and snake though...

[pineforest-tapeloop]

Introduction

Hi! My name is Hedwig. I am currently in the progress of getting my masters in ecological research. Right now im finishing up a paper about the conservation of common spadefoot toads in the Netherlands. At night I work as a bat-researcher. I am specialised in ectomycorrhizal associations. I hope to share a lot of stuff I find here on Tumblr. I am also very much into Art of all kinds. I have a degree in interior architecture which really sparked this love. Now I am more of an amateur generalist. I like visiting galleries, seeing movies, listening to music and reading books. I do like to draw too, although poorly. I also play the piano. The only writing im doing is research papers though. I hope to change that with my new blog. I have a loving girlfriend and a cute dog. A tarantula and a few houseplants.