Last week, we saw how the rowans provided the key to Grad Bernart’s deciphering of the language of the trees. This week, we begin to discover just how weird trees are, as Bernart describes his encounters with an old ash coppice. (If you’re not sure what a coppice is, here’s a link to Wikipedia.) From … Continue reading Sense of Self in an Ash Coppice
Photo by Mr Xerty at Unsplash I’ve got another update on Grad Bernart’s research notes. After his initial horror at the trees’ slaughter of one another, the grad seems to have come to terms with their violent natures and continued his study of tree language and behaviour. Here is an excerpt from his conclusions: “At … Continue reading The Psychology of Trees: Part 1, the Rowan
"NO LIVE organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream." With an opening sentence like that, how can you not read this book? And it just gets better from there. First published in 1959, The Haunting of Hill House has … Continue reading “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson
Image by Mauricio Estrella CC 3 I think I'm becoming addicted to Grad Bernart's research notes. This week as I was going through his stuff I found an amazing collection of artefacts tucked away in a box. There’s a tiny bellows and a collection of even tinier ampules, each of which contains a blend of … Continue reading On Trees, Bees and Ocarinas
© Nevit Dilmen. CC BY-SA 3.0 As some of you know, I have been working my way through Grad Bernart’s research notes, preparing them for publication in a new, critical edition. A few weeks ago, I told you about (and stupidly tried) one of the grad’s experiments in communicating with trees. Here is a follow … Continue reading An early Halloween story, inspired by Oliver Rackham’s “Woodlands”
This is a curious little book. First, it is a curious in that it is a fictionalized account of an actual murder in which dozens of people knew that the crime was about to occur, yet no one did anything to stop it. The events covered in the book happened in 1951 in Sucre, Colombia, … Continue reading Review of Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Chronicle of a Death Foretold
theilr/Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0 As some of you will recall, earlier this year my friends at the County Durham College of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fine Arts discovered a time capsule from the future. The research team has been busily working on decoding quantum spins and such and, last week, I got a brief update … Continue reading A curious, and somewhat frightening, message
© Nevit Dilmen. CC BY-SA 3.0 While going through Grad Bernart’s research diaries, I recently came across an odd little box. It’s an elegant thing, made of wood—several different varieties, by the look of it—and intricately carved with forest scenes. It sits comfortably in the hand and has a small, wooden crank on one side. … Continue reading Pandora’s Music Box (or The Song of the Trees)
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories is a collection of short stories, most of which are set in the same world as Susanna Clarke’s novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. If you’re not familiar with the novel (or the BBC TV adaptation), it takes place in late 18th-, early 19th-century England and features … Continue reading Review of The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
Photo courtesy CSIRO CC 3.0 Howdy folks. Today, I've got another entry from Grad Bernart's research diaries. For once, he seems to be reasonably happy with his progress. Enjoy! The good news is, my research into the language of ants might actually yield some useful results. The bad news is, I’m surrounded by idiots. … Continue reading The Good, the Bad, the Termites
Christopher Randall 