Tales from the Microbial Laboratory

Lowes on a Saturday morning (ugh)

 

I've grown quite fond of coleus.

There seems to be an infinite number of them out there now, with more showing up each year (is there a room, next to the room where people meet to brainstorm new cereal ideas, where they also brainstorm new coleus color combinations?).  I used to dislike them - strongly - as much as I still dislike the more common impatiens.  But now coleus has become my favorite random plant, that one to fill in spots in sunny parts of the garden - there's one to go with almost any combination of plants.

I got this one today, my first coleus purchase of the season, and the tag said it was 'Rustic Orange', but no - I don't think so...I went on to the Coleus Finder website, and wasn't patient enough to scroll through all of the pages of different colors and textures and patterns - and, well, it's name doesn't matter all that much anyway.

I got it at Lowe's.  And why didn't I follow my own internal voice this morning that said don't go to Lowe's on a mid-morning in late May on a beautiful Saturday?  My lawn mower wasn't starting, so I wanted to get a new air filter and spark plug for it - and while I was there, I had to peruse the garden section.  I had to.

The new plant purchases have been planted, but the lawn mower still won't start.  

~~~~~

 

~Carex oshimensis 'Gold Strike'~

I like sedges.

The Genus Carex constitutes the 'true' sedges.

You can read about sedge taxonomy here.

(There will not be a quiz.  I always hated quizes.)

Lowes.

A doctoral student in the lab received noticed yesterday that she was being awarded a very nice two-year fellowship.  It was wonderful news.   

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 I had lunch on Friday with a colleague and his family - they are serious gardeners and I love to visit because I often return with a clump of 'something'.  Last time it was a clump of pinecone ginger...and this time it was an elephant ear - perhaps Colocasia esculenta 'Illustris'.

I used to not like elephant ears either.  But incredible ones are out there - and they're nothing less than stunning.  Plus, they spread nicely - transplant easily - I just can't find a negative.

Plant Delights (as always) has some really fun ones:

 Colocasia esculenta 'Mojito' (Mojito Elephant Ear)

 Colocasia esculenta 'Black Marble' (Black Marble Elephant Ear)

Colocasia esculenta 'Lime Aide' (Lime Aide Elephant Ear)

There's many other wonderful ones.  I have 'Black Magic'.  And another one, that is more of a bluish color.

I desperately need more elephant ears.

(And I know, the lawn mower doesn't run.  I desperately need the lawn mower to run.)

~~~~~

 

~Hydrangea macrophylla 'Blaumeise'~

This is the most beautiful hydrangea in my garden.

It's color keeps getting a deeper and richer blue for about a month.

(Take a look at this fun site.)

It's Spoleto season around these parts.

I made it to the symphony last week - Mahler's Das Lied Von Der Erde.

"Gustav Mahler’s brilliant intertwining of symphony and orchestral song-cycle resulted in the extraordinary “song-symphony” Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). Noted for their mastery of Mahler symphonies, Emmanuel Villaume, Music Director for Opera and Orchestra and Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra performs this definitive Mahler masterpiece, based on ancient Chinese poems that exult in life’s joys and lament life’s brevity."

I also listened to a bit of the Punch Brothers performance.

Next weekend I hope to make it to a few more events.

Happy weekend.     

~~~~~

How much are our natural resources worth to you?

The garden's first Ed Brown opened up today - a definite treat.  I love the Ed Browns. 

I've been working from home today - editing, emailing, mostly editing - and my head is now filled with sentences and ideas and commentary and if I had to guess, it needs to be set out to dry.  I suppose folks dry out for all sorts of reasons - and today, for me, it's because of editing.

~~~~~

If you're looking for something immensely useful to read regarding the economic significance of South Carolina's natural resources - take a look at the publication Underappreciated Assets:  The Economic Impact of South Carolina's Natural Resources just released by the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.

The bottom line:  South Carolina's natural resources impact the state at just over $29 billion.

Think about that.

~~~~~

Most of you probably heard this week about the 'glowing monkey' - the implications of which are pretty huge.  Wired has a nice piece on the discovery.

I'm not sure how I feel about it.  Soon they'll be breeding marmosets genetically wired to get Parkinson's or a host of other diseases.  I'm not a huge fan of animal studies (which shouldn't come as a big surprise).

~~~~~

Back to editing.

 

~a christmas letter in late May~

~Hydrangea macrophylla 'Pia'~

~~~~~

This little hydrangea, Pia, has been happy this spring - for several years she was in a pot on my deck and finally I put her in the ground ('she' does seem like a 'she', don't you think?) last summer.  She's blooming nicely this year - happily - and I'm glad that her roots have the freedom to roam a bit.  I tend to favor the blue hydrangea colors - which means I don't have to do much, since my garden's soil tends to be acidic, thus making aluminum more bioavailable.

It's definitely hydrangea season.  The oakleaf is covered - the lacecaps are beautiful shades of blue and the paniculatas are just showing a hint of flowers.  Soon the fragrance of the gardenias will be whirling around the hydrangea flowers, acting as if they are friends who haven't spoken in at least a year.

~~~~~ 

As for me - I've been really cranky today.  I'm not sure if it's cranky - or anxious - or tired - or frustrated - or all of the above.  The next several months are going to be a challenging and stressful work transition - I am very hopeful, but it will just take alot of time and energy - time that takes me away from the science.  The science going on in my lab right now is so fun - there is a sense of solid contribution and discovery - everyone is frantically writing manuscripts (with more waiting for attention in the wings) - and yes, writing means there is active learning going on.  I wish I felt lighter and could enjoy it - but instead my days feel as if they are all one giant sigh. 

Yes, this too shall pass (isn't that what 'they' say?). 

Today was Wednesday - so time for our weekly laboratory meeting.  The senior doctoral student was absent, as he was conducting several simultaneous experiments in the lab - so the rest of us, the 'coral group' discussed our manuscripts in progress, our dreams of future manuscripts - as I sighed, thinking about reviewing all of them (which feels good generally - but because of today's mood, resulted in another long sigh).  Before our discussion about all of this active writing we're all involved in, the lab's Poet Laureate read us a poem.  Katherine previously read a poem of Parker's to the lab - but today she couldn't resist reading another.    

~~~~~

A Christmas Letter by Alan Michael Parker

We're never sure anymore.
We redecorate the living room

in a natural theme—grasses in pots,
a cherry veneer, greens and reds—

while in the meadow a zoomburb grows.
The sky tops up, the birds

are strung like dirty pearls.
We're never holier than this:

cutting through the park-like park
on the drive to the office, choosing to be late,

the park-like park cutting through the city,
the city cutting through geology.

And all day the music's in our heads
and planes narrate the weather.

We never know what to feel.
We go to the gym to go

to the beach, where erosion rules.
We reward ourselves with a movie.

Our food glistens in plastic,
kind of like our bodies.

Who can be alone?
This year, so many people died,

and last year, and more next year:
we're unable to be surprised.

Ah, ye gods. I write to you
from prison, surrounded by your flowers.

Thank you all. In the months ahead
let us gather together—to nosh upon

one day as though it were bread and jam.
Cocoa on a snowy afternoon,

or a little wine. Life.
The family is well, the dogs get along.

Love—

Alan Michael Parker

 

 

 

 

the first gardenia...

 The first gardenia flower opened up today.  Within a few days, when I arrive home in the evening and get out of my car, I'll be greeted by a rush of fragrance.  I love when the gardenias are in bloom.

Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring and Gardenia season.

a misc. mushroom

approx. seven hours in the life of a japanese iris (and a poetry reading by Richard Garcia)

Approximately 8 am, 24 May

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Approximately 1 pm, 24 May

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Approximately 3 pm, 24 May

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This evening, at 6:30 pm, the Charleston Poet Richard Garcia (spouse of the Microbial Laboratory's very own Poet Laureate, Katherine Williams) will be reading from his new chapbook of prose poems "Chickenhead" (Foothills Publishing 2009). 

  

 

Richard's reading is part of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival's Sundown Poetry Series - a wonderful (free) event) held at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park (and while you're there, check out Ben Timpson's work).

Below is one of the poems from "Chickenhead".

~~~~~

Nightstand by Richard Garcia


A book is a finer pillow than a stone.  A drowned book floats face-down.
A book in a sandstorm constantly changes its mind.  Who has not heard
of the book carried over the heart that stopped a bullet?

A watch was in love with a thief, but the thief had many watches. He
wore several on each arm.  Like most watches, eventually it got sick of
dreaming.

Nobody cares that the book eats so little to stay alive.  Nobody cares
about the book of bandages.  There is a book looming on the horizon.
The book open to the sky is the horizon.

What to say about the water bottle?  It hardly exists, having already
failed as a river.  And the rain, tapping its fingers, so impatient,
hasn't it already failed as a cloud?

 

a new day

~a stargazer~

~~~~~

The garden has received at least an inch of rain this morning - with more on it's way.  The japanese irises and stargazer lilies are blooming - the hydrangeas are getting a deeper blue - and the dogs are sleeping.  I found more zinnias that have reseeded - and the mexican sunflower is popping up everywhere (later I will go and transplant some seedlings out in front of the fence).

I slept well last night with no interruptions.

It is a new day.     

Might I start the long weekend over?

~Magnolia grandiflora 'Little Gem'

~~~~~

 Reflecting back, I think that when I started this blog, I wanted it to be a place where I could archive little stories - you know, those things that happen to you, an hour, an evening - a day.  The past 22 hours or so have been a bit traumatic, especially if one knows the background of my decaying home, previously discussed move into an Airstream and goal of building a new home.

~~~~~

My current home is falling apart, quite literally.  I've postponed moving into the Airstream - and the building of my new home - because of job security issues and the economic downturn (my appraisal last summer came back quite lower than anticipated for my land).  So for the past year I've been trying to 'make due' - not wishing to put money into the repairs of a dwelling that ultimately will be demolished.  I think that last night was a turning point - and that the move into the Airstream is becoming a necessity.

~~~~~

Last night at 1 am I got awoken by a loud thud.  The dogs all jumped up - and ran to the back bedroom.  It seems that a female raccoon fell through the back bedroom ceiling.

A large female raccoon.

I have three dogs.

~~~~~

If you have never seen a dog fight a raccoon, well - you don't want to.  You especially don't want to witness the fight indoors (trust me on this).  A raccoon can be quite viscious - and, quite honestly, so can a protective dog (much less three).  At first I tried to get the dogs (using my kayak paddle, which fortunately was in the living room) - thinking that I could then open the front door and guide the raccoon outdoors.

~~~~~

Wrong.

 ~~~~~

 By the time I could get the dogs, the raccoon was near death.  Finally I put the dogs in another room and got the raccoon outside on the deck - where it died.

I came inside and vacuumed - and even steam-cleaned some of the carpet.

~~~~~

After a few hours, the dogs settled down (Annabelle never did - I ended up keeping her in her kennel for the night) - and I got some sleep.  The dogs were wired all day - it was an exciting night for them.

Instincts are what they are.

~~~~~

Of course all day - in the back of my head - was the thought 'where are the babies?' and towards the end of the day I found one hidden in the same back bedroom.  It must have fallen too.  I just got back from dropping it off with someone from Keepers of the Wild - a local group that is a 'Federally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation, preservation and rehabilitation of South Carolina's Wildlife'.  They said the baby looked very good - and that it would probably live.

I guess that is good.  I really don't know.

~~~~~

I'm looking forward to an uneventful night - although I'm not counting on it.

It's time to move into the Airstream.  
  

S.O.B.

~~~~~

I should not (as I did last evening) show an image of the iconic South of the Border sign (as seen on the I-95 North Carolina-South Carolina border, for those of you who have not spent YEARS of their life on this highway corridor) without mentioning the recently released documentary about this place.

S.O.B. and the Legend of Alan Schafer

~~~~~

The history of the place is definitely interesting.   

~~~~~

And yes, we stopped there on the way up to Philly for gas, and on the way back to Charleston.  On the way back we even ate.

~home....~

 

I'm back from Philadelphia.

Tired, glad to be home - but I really enjoyed the city (and the meeting).

Recommendations:

Amada for dinner.  Creative tapas and nice spanish wines.  Impeccable service.

Fogo de Chao (Brazilian Steakhouse).  If you're craving an insane amount of meat. 

Bars:  Monk's Belgian Cafe and Beer Emporium and Eulogy Belgian Tavern.

Wonderful city to just wander - interesting architecture.

Oh, and 1207 Race Street.  The lab's official late night dive bar.  (Oh, and only the 2nd floor).  I'm pretty sure this isn't a place you can find a link for...just guessing.

~~~~~

Off to get some much needed sleep....