Tiger hill looms large in the distance. Should we admire its beauty or allow ourselves to recall its war-ravaged landscape, shelled from both sides of the border 15 years ago?

We are on our way to Ladakh and, as is customary, weve planned a stopover at Kargil. But first we reach Dras and settle down to a meal of mutton and rice sold at a roadside hutment by a couple in their 70s. They talk of the great war, remembering how even after a ceasefire was declared, officially bringing the conflict to an end in July 99, sporadic shelling continued. They used to go to sleep every night thinking they would wake up dead.

Today, things appear to be different. There is a phone booth. And herds of bikers zip by on their way to Leh. Predominantly a Shiite town, there are posters of Ayatollah Khomeini displayed prominently at the crossings. And there are whispers about a local trust importing the culture of Iran to the place, where the Iranian clerics maternal family apparently has its roots.

As we ride along the Singa river, it is strange to see Pakistanis on the other side of the Line of Control (LOC), even as youre greeted by Indian army signs that warn the enemy is watching you. Long disputed, the LOC keeps the army on its toes, so much so that a common form of greeting among them is Tagra Raho or stay strong, stay alert. At one of the posts, we see Pakistani regulars of the Northern Light Infantry and men from Gilgit Scouts waving at us.

Later, an Indian Army captain tells us how at border meetings fatigues from both countries share food and stories. But situations often change overnight as bullets often puncture the fragile peace of the region. For the many villagers who live along the LOC, blasted shells and the smell of gunpowder have become part and parcel of everyday life, especially after the turn of the millennium.

(Shome Basu is a freelance photojournalist based in Delhi. He visited Dras and Kargil in 2009 and 2013)

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War & peace

Herdwick sheep gathering will show why breed is to important to the Lake District

11:10am Thursday 31st July 2014 in News By Allan Tunningley

A TRADITIONAL Lakes farming spectacle, the annual gathering of the iconic Herdwick sheep from the fells, is being opened to the public for the first time.

The Herdwick Sheep Breeders Association says it is holding the event for both locals and tourists to learn about how the historic Cumbrian sheep breed has shaped the Lakeland landscape.

The event, which is free, takes place on Knott Houses Farm, Grasmere on August 7, from 1-4pm.

The public will be able to see shepherds working with livestock in the farm environment, directly next to the high fells on which the sheep graze.

They will also have the opportunity to see Herdwick sheep up close and learn from the farmers about why they are so unique and important to the Lake District.

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The open afternoon will inform and educate both tourists and locals on the vital work of hill farmers and how they shape and manage the unique cultural landscape of Cumbria.

Herdwick farmers will be on hand to explain to visitors the link between farming, food, landscape, environment and the culture it supports.

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Herdwick sheep gathering will show why breed is to important to the Lake District

Tue Jul 29 12:15:28 EDT 2014

This delicate look at lower class kids in Missouri won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance.

"October Country" captured the struggles of a dysfunctional family in upstate New York, while "Oxyana" found echoes of desperation among drug-addled residents a West Virginian mining town, and this year's "12 O'Clock Boys" presents a lyrical view of daring teen street bikers from low income neighborhoods in Baltimore.

Directors Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palmero's "Rich Hill," which won the Sundance Film Festival's grand jury prize for documentary and opens this week, epitomizes the best and worst aspects of this non-fiction storytelling tendency: It's often overwhelming gorgeous and deeply sad in its depiction of three young boys fighting through their youth in the trenches of deep poverty in Rich Hill, Missouri (where the directors grew up). At the same time, it's a meandering portrait that never snaps into narrative focus with the stunning clarity of its images. But that same lack of cohesion reflects the conundrums facing its afflicted characters, enabling "Rich Hill" to share the pathos of their lives even when it doesn't fully gel.

The filmmakers, who also handle the camera work, quickly establish the ethereal qualities of the town during a transcendent opening sequence, which encapsulates the setting with sweeping gestures: We first see glimpses of boys shuffling about their cramped homes among the faster movements of the local elementary school and the static qualities of the city streets. As the music swells and a train rushes past, "Rich Hill" instantly conveys the rush of existence that bears down on the despondent lives at its center. There's an immediate sense of tension with the admission of one young neighborhood resident that the wealthier part of the population regards their community "with their noses 50 miles in the air"; for the rest of the movie, the boys are seen constantly struggling to determine their own confidence in the shadows of such lofty neighbors.

With its constant melancholic tone, which blends voiceovers and somber asides from its characters, "Rich Hill" often feels like a Terrence Malick movie that trades majestic spirituality for burgeoning teen angst. Revealing very few details about its subjects outside of their own admissions, it unfolds with a straightforward verite approach that makes its bleak reality fully immersive.

While the perpetual shifting between a trio of stories never obtains a satisfactory rhythm, but it does serve a point. The directors swiftly establish each distinct personality: Andrew, a soft-spoken, levelheaded man with a lanky frame, helps his peripatetic father work various odd jobs with no real sense of direction; Appachey, a chain-smoking 13-year-old first seen lighting his cigarette with a toaster, coasts around town on a raggedy skateboard and deals with his increasingly complaisant mother; Harley, who suffers from the greatest emotional problems of the three, lives with his grandmother in the wake of his mother's arrest for a dark incident only explained in the movie's final third.

Though none of the boys share a scene together, the varying degrees of discomfort that define their lives form a larger overview of instability. Harley is the most frightening embodiment of neglected youth, his disorders left unmedicated and his anger management issues constantly driving him to reject authority figures. Turning his back on school day after day as a tense exchange with a school official makes clear he's a sad figure trapped by his delusions with no firm guide to help him stabilize his situation. Yet that same issue haunts Appachey, a scowling, compact child with the disposition of a disgruntled old man as a result of the neglect surrounding him. Only Andrew seems to have a generally healthy attitude about his life, though that doesn't help his situation.

"Rich Hill" mostly repeats its observations of these characters over the course of a few years, but it manages to convey one strong argument in the implication that the sins of the parents have been visited on their children. "I never had any dreams or hopes," Appachey's mother says, which at least partly explains her son's unearned confidence. The similarly aggressive Harley asserts that he "doesn't need an education, I can make it out there anyway," and has no firm parental figure to tell him otherwise. The ultimate tragedy for these boys is that they have plenty of drive but no direction.

"Rich Hill" constantly explores their situations through sputtering glimpses of individual moments. Though some dramatic exposition develops around Harley's destructive resistance to stay in school and Appachey's behavioral problems with other classmates, the movie generally cycles through their disarray with a perceptive eye for details. The free-roaming structure is salvaged by a persistent commitment to enabling the barren Missouri landscape and the claustrophobic interiors to the define the mood. There are moments when Tragos and Palermo run the risk of transforming their subjects into tools exploited for the sake of the movie's artistic vision, but the best part of "Rich Hill" is that its participants rise above the limitations of the material. "You're looking at me through some special lens or something," Harley says late in the proceedings, linking the subject's willingness to take control of his life with his ability to take control of the movie.

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Review: 'Rich Hill' Presents American Poverty in Poetic Terms

Two of Greenwichs top garden and landscape designers were prominently featured in a July 2 New York Times Home Section story called The Garage That Bloomed.

The story was about the founding and creation of The Lotus Garden 30 years ago.

The 7000 sq.ft. rooftop community garden, which has been featured in countless publications and garden directories, has long been considered one of New York Citys hidden treasures.

Thirty years ago, as they were just starting their working partnership, Mark and Carrie Greenwald of Maher & Greenwald Fine Gardens negotiated a watershed agreement between the Zeckendorf organizations one of the countrys biggest developers at the time directly with the local West Side community to construct and endow this unique garden.

The Greenwalds continue to mix public and community work in with their thriving residential design/build practice; they have just won another National Landscape Design Award from the Perennial Plant Association for a local residential project overlooking Norwalk harbor and a Greenwich Green and Clean award for their gardens at the Town Hall Annex on Havemeyer Avenue.

Other local public works include the Byram Shubert and Cos Cob libraries, exit 28 (Round Hill Road) on the Merritt Parkway and a number of projects for the Greenwich Housing Authority (Town Hall Annex, Greenwich Close at Brookfield/Field Point.)

For more information on Maher & Greenwald Fine Gardens visit Mahergreenwaldgardens.com.

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Greenwich landscape designers featured in New York Times

A 24-home development is being proposed on Perry Hill Road, near Walnut Avenue.

The yellow line indicates where a 24-home development as well as two existing homes would be located, with Perry Hill Road on the right and Walnut Avenue on the top.

Perry Hill Estates is being described as cluster type of housing, and would be built at 88 Perry Hill Road, near the Block Farm and Highland Golf Club.

Two parcels totaling 13.5 acres would be combined to create a rectangular site. Two existing houses on the properties off Perry Hill Road would remain and became separate lots.

All the houses in the new development would be on individual lots, with an association formed to oversee some common areas, including the roads.

The land now is zoned for residential use and has about 1.5 acres of wetlands, including a watercourse. A sanitary sewer line runs through part of the property.

It also is hilly, with about a 50-foot drop in elevation from the Walnut Avenue side on the east to the Bridgeport Avenue side on the west. The land contains both fields and woods, and most of it was used for farming in the past.

James Swift, an engineer and landscape architect, and developer Ben Perry recently presented initial plans for Perry Hill Estates to the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC).

The developer is seeking IWC approval for the project before going to the Planning and Zoning Commission to apply for creation of a Planned Development District (PDD).

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A 24-home development is proposed for Perry Hill Road in Shelton

Chapel Hill, N.C. One of the men accused of beating a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor to death on a street near campus was wearing an electric monitor on his ankle at the time of the crime, authorities said Friday.

Feng Liu, 59, of Durham, was taking a lunchtime walk near the UNC campus when he was beaten and robbed near the intersection of Ransom Street and West University Drive, police said. He died early Thursday at UNC Hospitals.

Derick Davis II, 23, of Scots Pine Crossing in Durham, and Troy Arrington Jr., 27, of Johnson Street in Chapel Hill, have been charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in the case.

In addition to noting that "a landscape stone" was used to beat Liu about the head, the arrest warrants state that Davis and Arrington stole Liu's wallet and four credit cards.

Several passersby found Liu in the street after the attack, and someone who called 911 said he was bleeding from his nose and ears and had difficulty breathing.

The 911 caller also reported seeing two men who were acting suspicious. Police used that witness' description apprehend Davis and Arrington.

"That first caller's information was vital in us starting to put those pieces together," said Lt. Josh Mecimore of the Chapel Hill Police Department.

Police said they have no reason to believe that Liu was targeted by his attackers.

Davis was released from the Wake County jail on Tuesday after serving three weeks on a June 28 shoplifting charge, according to the Wake County Sheriff's Office.

Likewise, Arrington was released recently from jail. He posted a $5,000 bond on July 2 after spending 10 months in the Durham County jail in connection with an August 2013 residential burglary in which a dog was stolen.

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Pair charged in UNC professor's death recently released from jail

Our high desert landscape may appear as enduring as the mountains themselves, but in fact there are big changes going on out here.

Experts say in a few decades we'll be looking at a much different rangeland and in one way or the other we may all feel the impact.

Each year wildfires leave some of this land scorched and lifeless, but even as it recovers the land will be changed.

And those changes are lasting and they are visible. You can see them in a number of places if you look. The lighter patches among the darker sagebrush? That's from a scar of a fire.

These scars track the history of wildfire in our area.

Two years ago the Washoe Drive fire marched down the hill to the very back door of Galena High School in south Reno. Today, the scar shows us just how far and how close it came.

The sage, bitterbrush, greasewood and native grasses that once grew here did not return.

In their place, an opportunistic exotic, native to Central Asia, known as cheatgrass.

It made its way here, probably before the turn of the last century in shipments of wheat.

On its own it has little chance of getting a start in a natural healthy landscape. It needs a helping hand. Something or someone disturbing the soil.

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Sagebrush To Cheatgrass: Big Changes, Serious Consequences

From a lacy shawl of Japanese maples shading a Berkeley hillside to bold colors painting a Tiburon slope, beauty is in the eyes of the judges -- and now of the voting public -- for this year's Considered Design Awards.

The nationwide online competition is sponsored by Remodelista.com and Gardenista.com to celebrate stunning home-interior and garden designs by professionals as well as do-it-yourselfers.

The sites' editors received hundreds of entries in 17 categories for this second annual event. They opted to spread the judging around the country, seeking out a "roster of design-world luminaries" for the task.

One of the Bay Area finalists in the 2014 Considered Design Awards contest from Gardenista.com is this stunning hillside of color in Tiburon, designed by Arterra Landscape Architects. ( Michele Lee Willson )

In the Bay Area, they tapped Flora Grubb, garden designer and owner of San Francisco's chic Flora Grubb Gardens, to tackle the best professional landscape category.

We caught up with Grubb at the nursery -- an oasis in the industrial Bayview district -- to talk about what makes for an award-worthy garden, whether created by a professional or homeowner.

When we arrived, she was poring over photos to whittle down 29 entries in her category to five finalists, with the winner to be selected by the public in online balloting.

"It's tough to judge because they're all so impressive," Grubb said. "These are beautiful gardens at what could be considered estates. It's not going to be easy."

She did manage to narrow it to five, however, selecting three Bay Area landscapes among the finalists -- a modern Pacific Heights setting designed by Terremoto in San Francisco; a colorful hillside in Tiburon by Arterra Landscape Architects; and a calming "outdoor room" by Mary Barensfeld Architecture for a home in Berkeley. (See more on these gardens in an accompanying article.)

Public voting in all categories remains open through Aug. 8, and winners will be posted on the Remodelista and Gardenista sites Aug. 9.

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Flora Grubb: What makes a landscape award-worthy

July 25, 2014, 4 a.m.

HERB Morrow was a keen young apprentice builder when he and his father spent weeks making an intricate scale model of the Tower Hill natural history centre designed by acclaimed architect Robin Boyd.

HERB Morrow was a keen young apprentice builder when he and his father spent weeks making an intricate scale model of the Tower Hill natural history centre designed by acclaimed architect Robin Boyd.

Retired builder Herb Morrow with a picture of himself as an apprentice in 1969 with the model of the Tower Hill natural history and visitor centre, which he is now hoping to locate. 140724RG14 Picture: ROB GUNSTONE

The detailed structure helped Herb win a bronze medal in the state apprenticeship awards and local apprentice of the year.

It took him about six months to finish with help from his parents and teachers, one of whom happened to have detailed plans of Boyds unique design.

When the Victorian Apprenticeship Commission awards were announced the model was displayed in Melbourne for a week.

Sadly, it now seems to be lost, thrown away or forgotten. It was last seen in the former tourist information centre on Swan Reserve before it was relocated to Flagstaff Hill about a decade ago.

Herbs wife Lois has made several inquiries, including the city council and Tower Hill Reserve, without success.

Wed dearly love to have it back again just to show our children, she told The Standard.

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Hunt for model as Herb rebuilds his past

CREST HILL Crest Hill became the latest Will County municipality to tackle the emerald ash borer beetle after the City Council this week agreed to spend up to $50,000 for ash tree removal.

More than a fourth of the citys parkway trees are ash trees.

The city authorized Reasonable Tree Experts of Crest Hill to remove the ash trees at a cost of $15.75 an inch for trees less than 15 inches in diameter, and $44.75 an inch for trees with diameters of 15 inches or more.

The cost includes the stumps being removed 10 inches below grade and topsoil and seeding of the area where the tree stood.

Mayor Ray Soliman said that a study conducted by Joliet Junior College horticulture professor Fredric Miller found that out of the citys 1,210 parkway trees, 317 are diseased ash trees.

Miller, who also researches insect and mite pests of woody landscape plants and nursery crops at the Morton Arboretum, analyzed Crest Hills parkway trees with students.

We have quite a task ahead of us, Soliman said.

This is the citys first action in getting rid of ash trees. The budgeted funds will help remove 100 to 125 of the most diseased and dangerous ash trees this year. Soliman anticipates it will take three years to remove all the diseased ash trees.

The city will treat trees in parkways that are in the early stages of the emerald ash borer infestation. There are no plans to reimburse residents for removing ash trees from their own properties.

By partnering with JJC, the city saved about $23,000, the cost of a professional study, according to City Administrator John Tomasoski.

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Crest Hill approves first ash tree removal program