Many years ago, I read part of a delightful book called "The Great American Forest" (out of print) by Rutherford Platt, as I remember. Why I never got through it would be a long tangent. Platt, if it was Platt, wrote that the forest is preceded by azaleas and rhodedendron, as well as some others, probably, that I can't remember. These prepare the way, the soil, mostly, for the forest that comes later. I suppose they also provide a cross over habitat, temporally something like equitones we touched on recently. I've always thought of the arts communities, here in New York and elsewhere, as analogous to the azalean predecessors of the forest. The fact is, that these communities have largely been displaced, in Manhattan, at least. Soho, for example, is a thriving retail community, but hardly a lively arts venue. Some of the earlier artists remain -- and some among them have become landlords with considerable clout. Very little art is still made there, though. It seems to me, "creatives" do much toward urban renewal, in some areas, but, for better or worse, are then displaced.

"Don't eat the flowers, what is balm to the eye is bane to the tongue."

-- unknown