* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #952 / Revived #172 on 2026 07 15 *

Thanks Minniev.
This was taken on a hike in Carinthia, Austria
I must admit when I first saw such huge piles of felled wood on our hikes in Austria I had the same feelings. But over time I’ve come to accept that this can be a good thing for the forest and also a climate-friendly thing to do.

I guess you personally, as a nature lover, are already well informed about such general issues, but maybe others here might find my next bit interesting,...

We have been on guided tours from the government foresters that explained over 45% of Austria is covered with forests.
Such wood stacks (usually) come from very large sustainable managed forests. Over many years, the foresters take care of the forests removing dead and rotting trunks, clearing away storm damage, planting new trees and generally taking steps to make them less susceptible to devastating forest fires or plagues of wood beetles. Harvesting allows us to put the wood to good use.
The trees have captured loads of CO₂ over the years and if the wood is used in buildings, instead of steel and concrete, then that CO₂ stays captured for a long time and means we need to make less cement which produces massive amounts of CO₂ during its manufacturing process.
Even just burning the wood for heat is “CO₂ neutral” meaning that although that “recently” captured CO₂ is released back again, less fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal fuels are needed for that heat; which would pump additional greenhouse gases into our modern atmosphere.

Of course there are also sad exceptions in Austria , where, say, a forest area is completely removed by developers to build a new shopping center. There are usually local protests about such projects, and they are often, but not always, stopped.

All the best
Trevor

It is encouraging to know your country has well managed forests, and that these are the result of planned harvests in them. We are not so lucky in our country. A massive array of big trees here in the US usually means some national forest has been converted to logging, often clearcut logging, or someone has loosed the timber industry onto their private land for very little profit.

Sorry all for few responses from me.
I saw images and started comments but lost connection a few times and have given up.

I am now cooy-pasting this message from an offline note.

I am in an area in Brazil now (south Pantanal) with literally zero cellphone service and very limited (and unreliable) wifi, only near the center of our fazenda.

I am still here a few days & will try to start the new thread tomorrow.

If this has not been succesful by 8.00 AM Campo Grande time (6 hours behind Brussels - roughly equal with east USA) I hope that Minniev oe Mike or Pete will fill the void.

Thanks.

This literally eye-catching, as the striking building looks like an eye in the sky. The colour palette is unusual, with bright yellows and a vast selection of greys. There are many lines and sharp angular corners to contrast with the more natural rounded shapes in the clouds. It is always good when the Museum itself is worth a look in addition to the exhibition inside.

I like the first one best, as the lighthouse creates an interesting subject to attract the eye, and then discover the islands on the horizon afterwards. The second is similar in effect, but the grasses are not as interesting as the lighthouse.
The third doesn’t really work for me. The bright Sun and reflection are sonar the edge, or even on it, that they become distractions and lead the eye away from the islands.

It is a nice series and proof that if you look for subjects with an open mind, you can find them anywhere - and they are not even boring.
There is quite a selection of objects making up the pattern in the first one, with bright green grass, brown, textured wood and leaves, a dark rough stone, a fried egg fungus and even barbed wire, each adding their character to the collage.
I really like the third, which is limited to shades of green and the different shapes of the rounded and star-shaped leaves.
The fourth and fifth contrast between them, with the large trunk of the dying tree, with its brown bark in large flakes on the ground on the one hand and the bright delicate little flowers, bursting with life, on the other.

The orderly architecture of the building rises above the gaggle of cars, whose individual shape may be pleasing, but together form an unorderly row, above which the building rises. Their mixture of colours is again in contrast to the buildings‘ subdued ochre and pale stone hues.

I like the way you have used tithe piles of wood to form a wavy line to lead into the frame. It still tells its story of all the trees being felled, but in a more subtle way than a more usual straight on shot. And yes, it does work well in B&W.
The two people are tiny, but are important parts of the composition. They show scale and also act as a “reward” for following the lines in the composition n to their meeting point in the distance.

This is very cool. It seems to be a peaceful abstract with lovely shapes, then suddenly there is a serious danger in its midst. A sort of Beauty and the Beast. As Minnie pointed out, you can play with the shapes and make faces. The alligator’s head can become a cat’s nose, Then it becomes the mouth of a larger man’s face. Then……