The Big Hole Project

My wife thinks I am half crazy dragging bags of leaves, grass clippings and other yard debris to an erosion gap in our creek.  Maybe she is right, for I have just unloaded bag number 1,311 into that hole.  All of these bags were collected since June of 2011.  That’s 108 bags per month I have saved from the Baton Rouge landfill.  Estimated to be 26,000 pounds of good organic material not wasted. See more pictures.

Adam Aucoin stand in the hole in June of 2011,
since then 1. 311 bags of leaves  have been put in.

Why?  It started on September 1, 2008 when the winds of Hurricane Gustav knocked down a pine tree, 3 foot in diameter and over 80 feet tall into the above mentioned gap.  It extended into my creek.  I was immediately sad to lose such a big tree and especially so because that gap was my trail to the stream. I solved part of the problem by trimming the limbs off the tree so I could walk down to the creek on top of it. A little more than two years later this became dangerous as the tree rotted.  On May 29, 2011 my stepson Adam and I sawed the pine log into four foot pieces and left them in the hole. A few days later I started throwing nearby limbs and branches on the logs. Brainstorm!  I could see the crevasse totally filled up, making a nice view point over the creek and creating 720 square feet of usable land.

CC stands on the newly accreted land after many bags
 of leaves and grass clipping have been put in.

Branches would take a long time so another idea came to mind as I headed to my office and saw some garbage bags by the street full of grass clippings.  I had collected leaf bags in the fall for years to make compost.  I decided to start collecting bags of yard refuse and fill the crevasse.  With a combination of grass, leaves, sticks and a little dirt every now and then, this concoction of materials will decompose faster than just the logs, limbs and branches.  Furthermore, it has the added advantage of keeping those full bags of valuable vegetable matter out of the land fill.  I made my first entry in my hole ledger on June 5, 2011.  Twenty-one bags of grass went into the hole.  I quickly found out who had the best bags of stuff in a six block radius of my office. So in just a few minutes each Monday on the way to work I could obtain 20 to 30 bags.

So working like a beaver, engineering with layers of leaves, grass clippings and fallen limbs, I began filling that eroded crevasse. It was about 18 feet wide and 40 feet long.  It starts about 4 feet deep and reaches 15 feet deep by the creek. Today, I can walk out about 22 feet on solid ground and another 10 on a spongy surface of compacting leaves.  This leaves only 8 feet left to reach the bluff above the creek.  That will be the hard part, developing a firm vertical bank.

I know as it decomposes, it will sink, compact and subside just like the Louisiana coast and I just like the Mississippi River will keep adding layers until I reach the height and compaction I need.  Unlike the Louisiana coast which always needs new sediment, I think I will reach a point where I no longer have to add.

It's a crying shame that we do not let the Mississippi River get its valuable sediments from the heartland of America into our beautiful and valuable marshes anymore and drag our feet in making that right.

It took 6,000 years of Mississippi River sediments from the heartland of America to build 8,000 square miles of coastal Louisiana.  It will take me about a year and a half to make a 720 square foot plaza above my creek and save the landfill about 2,000 bags of leaves and grass.  As I sit out on my newly accreted land, I think maybe, just maybe this hole project be the inspiration to getting the valuable sediment out of the Mississippi and back into the coastal wetlands.
Link to Baton Rouge Recycle

Bags of Leaves

What does saving Louisiana's subsiding coast, making compost and taking it easy on the Baton Rouge landfill have in common with these bags of leaves? Find out Monday when I write about a project I started one year ago.

Bags of leaves collected from the street in South Baton Rouge

New Inspiration

Last week I finally got to see Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne’s presentation called Why Louisiana Ain’t  Mississippi; it was very inspiring.  Don’t miss it if you ever get a chance. It made me want to get out and see more of Louisiana right now.  It reminded me of the mid 1980s when I was accused of spending too much time in the swamps and marshes of South Louisiana and leaving out the beauties of the rest of our wonderful state.  So I embarked on a two year journey to do a book called Discovering Louisiana. On this sojourn I found much to like and have seen so much more since…but there is still more.

So yesterday I decided to go fishing on the Ouachita River with Jimmy Newsom.  His son Rob, a musician, mountain climber, proprietor of Boudreaux Cellars, and friend of mine, had been telling me for years that Jimmy was one of the best white perch, (sac-a-lait to Cajuns) fishermen in North Louisiana.  Rob has been suggesting that I go fishing with his dad for years. I met Jimmy in his driveway in Dubach at 5:30 AM. On our drive to Alabama Landing I find out he turned 91 years old last week.  He looked like he was 80, acted like he was 70 and moved like he was 60 when he jumped into the boat on its trailer and asked me to back him into the river.

Jimmy Newsom

It wasn’t long before he jerked in the first of 24 fish we caught that day.  I think it was 19 for Jimmy and 5 for me. The morning was cool and he told me war stories. One was about how important it was to have good pitch to be a sonar operator on a US Navel Destroyer to tell if a submarine was coming or going, which is how he served our country in World War II. But mainly we talked about fishing. We also saw a few water snakes and lots of egrets and herons. When we headed back to the boat ramp, I told Jimmy that I was inspired to see more of the Ouachita River.  Soon I will put my boat in at the Arkansas border and float down to Jonesville, Louisiana.

Bicentennial Day and Stamp Release

Monday was a wonderful start to Louisiana's 200th year as a state.  The event was put together by the Bicentennial Commission, the Lieutenant Governor's Office, and the USPS. The party was chock full of celebrities and talented people with Louisiana roots.

The luncheon at the Governor's Mansion was a tasty start.  Chef Don Bergeron used local ingredients.  Then our group bused to the State Capitol and entered the packed House Chamber.  Most all of our state's elected officials were there.  Jay Dardene was the MC and gave an interesting short history of the state. Michael Wynne of the commission spoke in place of General Honore. Monique Gagnon-Tremblay spoke in French.   The pace picked up when Zachary Richard sang a wonderful song about the oldest tribe in Louisiana.

Interesting remarks were spoken by Political Strategist James Carville, Actress Faith Ford, Filmmaker William Joyce, Chef Paul Prudhomme and finally Jay Dardene read a letter from Journalist Cokie Roberts, who broke a bone the day before and could not come.

Finally, after three years of knowing that my favorite photo would be the bicentennial stamp, Anthony J. Vegliante, Executive Vice President of the USPS, unveiled a five foot facsimile of the Forever Stamp.

Deacon John sang, Donna Douglas (alla Elly May Clampet) belted out her signature shrill whistle, then Irma Thomas and Jay Chevlier led the crowd in You Are My Sunshine.

Afterwards stamps and first day of issue envelopes were sold as a giant Louisiana themed cake was cut. I'll be attending a few bicentennial events throughout the rest of the year, but mostly I can get back in my boat and look for another Flat Lake Sunset in the Atchafalaya Basin.  Happy Birthday Louisiana!

Oil Flow Anniversary

Today we remember again what can happen when we are careless, greedy and just plain stupid.  I look back to the worst work of my photographic career. I spent most of my time two years ago on the Louisiana coast while the oil was flowing.

The boom did not work very well

It  came from one mile down, diluted by dispersants and still making its way to pollute the waters, dirty the beaches, and torture the fauna. I am worried about the drop in egg production on some of the prey species (minnows) of fish.

One of the many oil soaked young Brown Pelicans

More of my photographs on this sad time can be seen on an i-Pad app HERE.

On a positive note, I attend a luncheon celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the Louisiana Nature Conservancy yesterday. Many attended that have done so much to preserve and set aside valuable habitat in our great state. They are my favorite conservation group as I think the best way to save flora and fauna is to buy land and that is exactly what the LNC does. Skipper Dixon and Nancy Jo Craig, two of the founders asked me to serve on the board of which I did for a few years I also made them a slide presentation about the diversity of Louisiana habitats.  Robert Barham, Secretary of the Department of Wildlife and fisheries gave an entertaining talk at the lunch. With groups like this, the Audubon, the Sierra, the sports fishing and hunting community we will be able to take care of one of Louisiana’s assets, simply put as the “Great Outdoors”.

Email Boycott

On April 30th Louisiana celebrates its 200th birthday.  On that same day the bicentennial stamp will be released with my photograph of Flat Lake Sunset.  I say that makes it a perfect day to write a letter or two or ten.  Write your mother, write your grand kids or write an old high school chum.  Ban and boycott email for the day and write letters. Do all you kids, teenagers, and young adults realize how much your grandmother would appreciate a letter?

First Day of Issue envelope available for purchase at cclockwood.bigcartel.com

My grandmother so appreciated every letter I wrote her, she responded immediately and sometimes even corrected my grammar, as she was an English teacher for 40 years.  Early in my career, I would send letters to magazines querying them to run my newest pictures.  What a delight it was to open my mailbox and see National Geographic or Smithsonian on the return address.  I would open with anticipation, hoping that they did want to use my photographs.

At the local Post Office mailing a letter

So take a day off from email, start now and write a stack of letters.  On April 30th go to the Post Office and get a few Louisiana Bicentennial stamps, you don't have to lick, just stick’em and mail. Grandma will be delighted.

No email on April 30th.

By the way, Flat Lake Sunset is my favorite picture and I am proud to have it on a USPS stamp.

Spring

Although it is 15 days until official spring, I say it is here now.  At least it is in Baton Rouge where the azaleas are in full bloom and also in West Feliciana Parish where the dogwoods are bursting in their white splendor. Not everybody is warm, for I know my friend Renny Russell at 8,000 feet in the northern New Mexico Mountains is still knee deep in snow.

I love the azaleas for photography for they are such a captive subject and in so many colors ranging from pure white to deep red.  I encourage students in my workshops to look for subjects like this so they can practice their technique and composition. It helps before a big trip in the Atchafalaya Basin or the Grand Canyon.

Multi-colored Azaleas

Another indicator to the blooming season is my chickens. They get stingy in the winter and slow way down in their egg laying duties. December through late February I was getting one egg every other day, three to four a week out of 7 full size hens and 4 bantam hens. That’s hardly enough yolk to make a joke. A few days ago they popped back into high gear and we are eating our fill and giving eggs away to friends again. There is a variety in my hen house from the calm Buff Orpington laying light brown eggs to the sassy Araucana laying blue eggs.  I have a lot of shades of brown eggs and tiny white eggs from my bantams.  All good.

Colorful mix of fresh eggs

On the way to the office to post this blog, I passed a neighbor’s pasture and saw a new born filly stand for the first time, nurse and run with her mother.  Amazing for only a few hours old. 

Filly standing up for the first time

After I took photographs and started for the truck, I heard honking high above and saw an undulating V of snow geese heading due north.  Yes, spring is in the air.

Flock of snow geese heading north