~ a small fact for the morning ~
Carbon, the Quiet Architect
Element no. 6 is the patient backbone of every living thing — six protons that fold themselves into chains and rings and lattices and us. Tanso is the Japanese word; carbo is the Latin; the meadow does not name it at all, and yet it is in every leaf.
— from the field journal
crystal allotrope
Diamond Lattice
Tetrahedral bonds. Hardest natural material. Each atom holds four hands.
crystal allotrope
Graphene Sheets
One atom thick. Honeycomb lattice. The thinnest material in the world.
leather-bound entry — tuesday
Field Notes on Soot
The candle leaves carbon on the saucer overnight — the same element that, under enough patience and pressure, becomes diamond. The kitchen and the deep earth keep the same stationery.
A handful of charcoal from the hearth, a kettle of water, a jar of vinegar: a perfectly fine afternoon of chemistry.
— on rosemary and reduction
the slow turning
A Carbon Cycle
- Sunlight, leaf, sugar.
- Hare, owl, soil.
- Compost, root, leaf again.
- And, sometimes, stone.
today's bloom
“Every meadow is a slow library of carbon.”
— pinned to the bulletin