The text and paintings on The Trowbridge Chronicles are taken from the illustrated journal of Violet Trowbridge, a shrew that once lived in a village deep in the Olympic Rain Forest. Each new post will represent a portion of Mrs. Trowbridge’s journal.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

MORE SUMMER GAMES

In this age of speed-of-light satellite communications, it's hard for us to imagine the simple life that the residents of Huckleberry Hollow lived. But they enjoyed their simple life immensely, as demonstrated by the children's summer fun and games.

I was struck by the paisley-design flag that the frog is holding. The teardrop paisley design originated in India and Persia, and is based on the mango fruit. But I have traced Trowbridge shrew culture to the Mongolian Steppes. It leads me to wonder if there was some cultural connection between the shrews of Mongolia and India, though they were separated by the Himalayan mountain range. Hmmm...perhaps another expedition is in order.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

SPLASH!

Just up the trail, upstream from Huckleberry Hollow was a calm spot in Wild Rose Creek that served as the swimming hole for the shrew children. They would while away many summer days frolicking in the swimming hole.

If you look carefully at Mrs. Trowbridge's painting, you will see some orange flecks of color on the rocks. This is lichen (pronounced "liken"), a composite organism made up of fungus and green algae. Lichen that grows on rocks is called crustose lichen. I photographed the example above on the summit of Blue Mountain in the Olympic Mountain Range.