From the Archive: Clear Cut

This is my father, Harold Shapero, standing in what appears to be a barren desert. But actually, it is the future site of the house I grew up in, an L-shaped mid-century modern ranch dwelling where there is no ranch. The earth my dad is standing on is a clear-cut, the kind of complete forest and land removal that is currently done on mountainsides to strip-mine coal or other resources. In this case, the mine would house families. The year is 1955.

This ecologically devastating project, named "Wethersfield," would never be allowed in our more sensitive era. The developers tore out all the trees and leveled a hill to an acceptable grade (though the driveway of our house was always at a noticeable slant). They went into the sandy, rocky glacial soil of New England and built homesites on poured concrete slabs. These houses didn't have any basements. My father is standing where the slab is going to go. If you look carefully at the dirt plain, you can see little markers on rods marking out where each house will be.

The artificial prairie of our lots attracted unusual birds and wildlife. For a couple of years, horned larks built their ground-nests in this environment. These larks usually breed in the Arctic tundra. The developers planted tiny saplings by the open streets, hoping that the trees would survive and be a good habitat.

The tundra didn't last. Once people were there, they loaded in landscaping, extra buildings, more tree saplings, and flowerbeds. Nature did the rest. Native trees and plants re-colonized the clear areas, marching in from protected swampland. By the early 1960s, there were already shadows on the ground. By the late 60s, open meadow habitat birds had gone and forest birds like nuthatches had re-appeared. 

Nowadays you would not believe that this development had once been a clear-cut space of imitation tundra. It looks like a New England forest, shaded by grand maples (the little saplings of 1955) and tall white pines and spruces and yellow poplars. The flat houses which were built in an echo of the "Prairie" style have mostly been replaced by two-story comfort zones. And the home that would occupy the place my father is standing, has been re-built as well, surrounded by the remains here and there of the old mid-20th century settlement.

March 16, 2018

The Return of the Blue Electron

Greetings from the subatomic world. As many of you know, my orange Element, a heavy Element, was crushed beyond repair on January 16 in the particle-race of my urban neighborhood. I was only mildly hurt (bruises) and have recovered. It was necessary to get another car, and this is what I got. It is a Honda Civic with a hatchback door. I have driven Hondas for more than 20 years so I went with what I trust. Aesthetic values were also important; I wanted an orange car but the only orange Honda is the minuscule "Fit" which was charming but tiny. This Civic is basically Honda's smallish utilitarian car, with plenty of cargo space in the back,   a modernist Japanese-anime look to the exterior, and a brilliant metallic blue color almost identical to the original Electron Blue Honda CRV that I used to drive. So...say hello to "Electron Blue 2." (This blog is number 3. Confusing? Yes, like road signs in Fairfax, VA.) I am driving the urban labyrinth in this conveyance now and I'm taking some time to get used to it. It will be a while before I get over the accident but I need to do it. 

I haven't posted to this Electron Blog for quite a while but now that the new particle is glowing on the roads, I will be writing more for it. I will be "re-blogging" some of the material from "Art By-Products" which will remain mostly art-centered. This blog will show some of my photo-restorations and writing about the fascinating places and people from the family archive. And if I have more words to emit, I will do so as part of my "blue-shift."