Blog/Archive
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"Dounia"
9.0 cm x 10.8 cm
Inspired by The Sahel Region of Africa, "Dounia" embodies a mothering figure, an entity of guidance, love, support, and understanding.
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Woodland Series, October 2024
The Woodland Series — a collection of wooden/paper sculptural-works inspired by different forest biomes.
Second of the series/completed: March, 2024
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Woodland Series, February 2024
The Woodland Series — a collection of wooden/paper sculptural-works inspired by different forest biomes.
First of the series/completed: February, 2024
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Hyde Isle, November 2024
Contrasted with "Neighborhoods" and others, "Hyde Isle" is very experimental; my premise is: often — sometimes, Hyde Park feels reminiscent of a shore-town — an island perhaps. Seagulls squawk overhead on rooftops and light-poles; the fog gets thick, and rolls over the fluctuating hills and slopes; covering churches, homes, and morning commuters; the distant-view is calm, the lighting is soft — I can practically hear and see the pseudo-waves crashing against the pseudo-shore-line.
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Save Crane Ledge Woods
Developer MQMF Hyde Park LLC (an affiliate of Lincoln Property Company, & Jubilee Christian Church,) after several attempts of seeking approval by BPDA but being denied twice — because of concerns of impact, calling for a full-rework and revision of development — decided to sue BPDA through Land Court. On April 10th, 2025, Land Court’s judge ruled BPDA can not deny approval to order the developing company to do a full-rework/redesign of development, but can instead request and work-around reasonable and appropriate conditions. 990 American Legion Parkway is home to Crane Ledge Woods — a dense forested-environment, compared the surrounding area; a vast urban-landscape: overwhelmed with cars, pollutants, noise-pollution, and grey-infrastructure; only tolerable because of the sparse amounts and few in-between forest-clusters in the area. Despite overwhelming opposition from community-members, organizations, and coalitions, not to mention of CLWC’s (Community Land and Water Coalition) offer, with the help of partner organizations, to acquire the land from MQMF for the purpose of helping preserve Crane Ledge Woods. But regardless, BPDA, with their hands seemingly tied by the judge, approved development on the 18th of September 2025.
And according to the coalition Save Crane Ledge Woods (www.savecraneledgewoods.org), a grassroots-organized group created in response to protect the forest, wrote:
For decades, a 24-acre forest, known locally as Crane Ledge Woods and designated as an urban wild, has been inaccessible and mostly unknown to the surrounding neighborhoods of southwest Boston - Hyde Park, Roslindale and Mattapan. Now a multinational property company intends to construct 10 buildings containing 270 rental units, 415 parking spaces and several roads on this land. From a beautiful green space of crucial wildlife habitats - shady forest, flower-filled meadows, rocky alcoves and vernal pools - the proposed project would turn Crane Ledge Woods into an immense urban heat island of impervious asphalt and concrete. This ecological devastation would rob our local wildlife of their homes, and its gentrifying effect would force many of us and our neighbors out.
Consider visiting Save Crane Ledge Woods’ website; they have accumulated and provided helpful and insightful information on the development and the jumps and hurdles of their advocacy.
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The clearing of trees on 1717-1725 Hyde Park Avenue
I'm appalled by the city of Boston's involvement and negligence in allowing environmental-clearings like this to continuously happen — especially in areas of the city which needs forested-canopy-coverage the most.
I've sent my discontentment to the city in regards to this — and the developer, Ad Meliora LLC (who, conveniently enough, can't be reach by their email as it is "not found.") And unfortunately, the city doesn't listen, and frankly, it doesn't care to; as long as pockets are filled, interest are met and partnerships are maintained. Whether it is me, or another community-member advocating for the environmental-injustice being done to our communities, the city will continue to ignore, gaslight, and perform PR — wash, rinse and repeat.
A habitat and refuge to a multitude of ecosystems (whether native, or non-native,) and creatures for several decades, this forested-environment spanning for more than 600 feet, was a safeguard to communities from the highly-polluted industrial-district of Hyde Park. According to American Forests, the developing-area has less tree-canopy coverage than its surrounding, and now, because of the recent clearing, this number (25%) will only go down (most likely by half,) therefore endangering the surrounding communities to higher-pollutants and unsafe-conditions: lower air-quality, hazardous-debris, noise-pollution, and higher temperatures during the summers. Unfortunately, the clearing has already been done; despite how long it took for this forested-environment to establish itself, it took merely several hours to undo several decades of growth. And although a number of trees are proposed to be planted, what steps are being considered to ensure their survival? Native trees are struggling to survive in urban-environments; without the proper-soil conditions, tree-planting protocols, and environment, the chances of survival are low. Furthermore, there are discrepancies between the site plan/rendering with the street-view imagery from google. Where are the trees that were projected to be left unrooted?
Images of the Clearing of Trees
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Winter Snow-fall, January 2026
I'm pleasantly surprised how well heat is retained inside the greenhouse; enough to keep the lavenders going, but not enough for the hibiscus.
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Update on the Dogwood, February 2026
The deterrent, or more really, the trunk-guard, made by encircling discarded shingles around the base of the tree — didn't work; nearly 2ft of snow fell, and well...see for yourself.
Perhaps, this rabbit is generations down from the rabbit which had caused my father the same grievance three summers ago — the dogwood is being eaten up as was my father's bean-sprouts.
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Salt Marsh, January 2026
As we decide on ways to effectively develop green-infrastructure in urbanized-places, the ecology and geography (geomorphology) of our wetlands (photos taken in Belle Isle Marsh) always fascinates me, especially in the efforts of mimicking the natural-water-cycle. The green-infrastructure in Harambee Park, a public park in Dorchester is designed with many of the characteristics of a wetland; managing water-levels of runoffs/stormwaters from impervious-surfaces by methods of infiltration and retention; swales guide water through the native planted vegetation, before it reaches into the marsh, where you'll find cattails and other macrophytes.
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Stillness...
Harsh, but brief, moments of stillness as the winds hold the wings of seagulls; motionless in the air, flying in the absence of effort.
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Commuter, Around 2021
Slippin' and slidin' on these new orange-line seats prompts furious internal-debate: are these new plastic-seatings worse than the old fabric ones? I'm convinced, the old, moist, anxiety-inducing, ripped, bacterial-harvesting, stained fabric seats, were just better.
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The Dogwood Tree Became a Meal, January 2026
Rabbits. Just rabbits.
In a few-months, it would be the two-year-anniversary since the dogwood was planted, by which time, the dogwood should start to grow in height and thicken because of their now-established roots. But I'm worried — I added some less-than-ideal deterrents, but I'm not sure it'll work, and if the dogwood will survive; the cambium is certainly eaten at, and bites encircles the entire bottom-base and upper-base of the tree.
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Muted Harshness, January 2026
I absolutely adore the greenhouse in the winter; the harshness of the cold becomes felt-ly muted — sort of, subtle, still, and quiet.
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Indigo Fish, Of, and by Love, January 2026
For the ocean feels vast, boundless, yet unknowing; as with love; choosing our constraints. Indigo, for this potent hue, as honest as blue, is presently to the oldest Fortingall Yew.
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Broad-winged Katydid (Microcentrum rhombifolium,) January 2026
I spotted this little critter two-summers ago, She? was seemingly just as curious as I was.
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Whims, January 2026
In a whim, I could've decided to go down near the pond, but I didn't; perhaps, I would've noticed and felt the briskness still poise of the pond, I would've noticed the smell, or even, the colors; the differentiating hues of particulars within the pond — but I didn't, but I really wish I did.
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Pitch Pine; Kind of Blue, January 2026
"Highly acclaimed, and now synonymous with the sounds of jazz, at the time (during the height of the "urban" blaxploitation,) he represented, to the Afro-centric, the Afro-revolutionist, and the Afro-idealist, a sound: a sound in which resonated and garnered more from its African roots than its counterparts; their own lingual — free from the dominant gaze. And to the rest of the sweeping majority (the starving-listener, the blasé-blah-listener, and the-copycat-listener,) he represented something new."
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Pines, Birches, and Mountains, December 2025
How old are these trees? I wondered — on the slopes below, the birches, beeches, and the pines above; where the clouds meet the mountain-ranges — how old are these trees?
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Greenhouse, Keeping Warm, Mulching, November 2025
I've been implementing ways to keep the greenhouse warm during the cloudy days and nights. In hindsight, we should've went with a different way of installing the panels, and we will likely do that as we near spring/summer.
And as for the wood, we treated the exterior with linseed-oil and pine-tar; my favorite.
It took seven-hours to move 20 to 25 cubic-yards of wood-chips from our front-yard to the back, and although it was intensive and repetitive, I thoroughly enjoyed it — and the smell of the wood-chips were intoxicating!
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Greenhouse, Native-Garden, October 2025
Started in mid-October, we underwent building the greenhouse and turning the backyard into a native rain-garden and pollinator-garden. With an emphasis on native-garden; we want this garden to maintain itself and provide a home to the lives surrounding it — the families of blue-jays, cardinals, mourning-doves, robins, and black-capped chickadees — the chipmunks, rabbits, and squirrels — the bees, butterflies, and the critters below.
And biking through the arboretum has become my highlighted activity to do during the fall.
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Mushroom-Foraging (written by my partner Lily,) November 2025
Below the surface lies a world unknown that is seldom thought of as important. The soil beneath our feet is teeming with life, worms, insects and endless entanglement of hyphae that forms long strips of mycelium that stretch for miles. What we once thought of as just dirt, becomes revitalized as we engage with the complex and intriguing life of fungi. Without fungi, life as we know it would not exist. As Merlin Sheldrake beautifully puts it, mycelial fungi is "living, growing, opportunistic investigation in bodily-form". Fungi has has embedded itself in every living thing on earth, from the microbiomes in our guts, the lichens on rocks eating away at the stone to covert into soil, to seeping itself into the roots of plants granting them the ability to retrieve nutrients in the soil. While animals and humans alike consume their foods from the outside in, fungi has found a way to embed itself into whatever it's consuming, releasing enzymes, in turn releasing nutrients back into the soil. Fungi has found a way to grab our attention by their intriguing fruiting bodies that come in all forms. Whether they're truffle mushrooms that allure us with their potent scents, or the deadly fly agaric mushrooms that tempt us with their fairy tale like appearances, or magic mushrooms that make us hallucinate vividly, deepening our spiritual selves; fungi is sure to leave long lasting imprint on human life; leaving us to question, are we eating them or are they eating us?
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Flowering Dogwood, July 2025
Bitterly-sweet, this young-tree, planted in a Hyde Park resident's front-yard will unfortunately live a life of lonesome, unable to communicate with their own — but hopefully with chance and care, they will live happily-alone in a mutualistic-relationship with the resident. And similarly, I had asked the shrewd silverleaf-maple outside my backyard, to take care of the young flowering-dogwood I had planted near. Maybe resources will be shared and kinship will be formed, but perhaps it's happening already; as the dogwood is flowering and looking healthy.
The silverleaf maple had surely sensed and moaned the loss of their friends, or family over the years — stumps seen protruding near and far from the newly-planted dogwood.
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Germinating a Redwood, July 2025
Last November while biking through the arboretum, I found myself stuffing redwood-cones down my tucked-shirt — I had no-bag, no pockets, and it was without a doubt my only option of carry.
Having learned I had to mimic the climate-cycle for hopes of germination, I placed the cones inside a glass-pot near my bedroom window, and I cracked the window just enough to let some-cold inside. And it worked!
Fast forward to April, the seeds had fully-germinated and they were beautiful (I'll add a photo of the sprouting-seeds later).
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Solace Through Trees, January 2025
Better than Jazz, would you believe it.
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A Whole-Lotta Noise Pollution, January 2025
Their tires, their engines; cars are so loud!
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Roots, Trunks, Trees, November 2024
Mildly Cold; barely warm — I biked through the arboretum while precariously looking ahead and maintaining a wondering-eye; admiring and stopping for their energies when approached.
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Fish Out of Sea, November 2024
A fish washes into a sea-puddle; bounded and stuck, it misses the vastness of the ocean — but moments later, or what feels like an eternity, the fish washes back by a high tide.
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How Thoughts Manifest, September 2024
In an attempt to simplify my life; the way I view life and go through life — I had unfortunately allowed the anxieties of my various thoughts to be the enemy. I need to work on identifying my anxieties faster, before they establish themselves as an enemy/threat.
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Romanticizing My Biking Experience, September 2024
I really dislike riding around Boston; between them big-ugly pickup-trucks intentionally, ignorantly speeding pass, and the entitled-SUVs — biking anywhere on the streets is hellish. Side-note: cars, and car-infrastructure is killing the planet, the solution is not planting more trees, it's removing car-infrastructure from this earth — full-stop.
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Sun-Kiss, September 2024
Have you ever been sun-kissed; it's nice, and it's only ever a sun-kiss if it is tolerable, meaning, the sunlight isn't harsh, or damaging.
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They Talk, and They Gossip, August 2024
I've been told to enter a cluster of trees with respect, patience and humility. Our energies are felt; our intentions are felt — and to be embraced by them; be welcomed and harmonious with them, we must at the very short-instance of entering, decide to return to nature.
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Watering Trees, Hot Days, Hot Dogs, August 2024
On hot summer days like these — dogs on walks panting, tongue out, sluggish; pedestrians hanging right to avoid sunlight, irritated, uncomfortable, sleepy — the trees are often ignored; very ironic. We need to prioritize our trees; water them, protect them and advocate for them.
Anxiety, Tree Canopies & A Salamander, August 2024
Anxious all-throughout the day — I felt fatigue, confused and tempered; I was not myself. But, up high, looking above the trees felt wonderful, and down-low, to see a salamander, felt wondrous.
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Improvising Until A Song, July 2024
Improvising until I get a song, strictly by feel and emotions. I'll upload more as the song progresses.
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Forest Ground, Forest Feet, July 2024
Even my socks are one with nature — matchy McMatch.
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Pleasantly Vulgar, July 2024
I was repeatedly muttering: "ahh beautiful — o'yeah, beautiful," before my friend mentioned the trees were all dead — I didn't even notice, I was admiring the lighting, the composition — the beauty of the scene — it was pleasantly vulgar — even when the trees were dead, they still demanded presence and my admiration.
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A Day and an Adventure With Music, June - July 2024
I had spent a day at the Harvard Arboretum — I was up a hill — there, among the trees, and here, under a Black Oak tree.
I had spent an hour at the Harvard Arboretum — I was on a bench, people-watching and playing the ukulele.