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~freshly harvested bok choy, cut in half in preparation for roasting and photographed in bad light~
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This was the first winter that I included bok choy in my winter garden - and now I am a huge fan. I planted about a dozen in the garden and ten of them are gorgeous and the other two are a little scrawny, but fine really.
I just love harvesting my own crops.
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~cedar waxwings, hanging out in the tops of the popcorn tree~
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There has been an unusual number of robins hanging out in my garden over the past few weeks - large birds compared to the more common goldfinches and nuthatches and sparrows - and an unusual thing about them, that I haven't noticed before either is that they have been enjoying the berries on my large Savannah Holly. These berries are typically reserved for the annual visit of the cedar waxwings - and finally, yesterday morning, they arrived - pushing the robins out (at least for awhile), taking up residence in the top of the popcorn tree (chinese tallow) and taking turns flying the short distance to the holly to enjoy the berries.
This morning I was thinking about the robins, and was hoping that they sensed warmer days and had decided to fly south a few hundred miles more. Personally, in my own garden calendar, I have decided that this last day in February is the last official day of winter - and that spring begins tomorrow, no matter what. I will ignore the two days in the forecast for next week, with predicted highs only in the 40s - and I will ignore that one night predicted to be just below freezing. This morning I noticed crocisma coming up - and most certainly I did not notice the crocisma yesterday morning - one entire clump of daffodils in in bloom, another type of daffodil should be in full bloom next week - the hyacinths are showing color, buds are swelling, and one protected hydrangea is leafing out. If they can ignore days in the 40s, then so can I (ignoring biology of course, and how responses to day length often trump all else if some species).
This afternoon I plan to work in my garden, in celebration of the garden's last official day of this dreary, cold, and miserable winter. Let spring officially begin!
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~the South Carolina Aquarium~
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Yesterday I had an interesting day - a new experience as a scientist - as I was invited to speak to a group of middle and high school teachers on the topic of 'Ocean Acidification' as part of a continuing education program focused of 'Ocean Awareness Day' focused on oceans and a changing climate. The event was coordinated by a number of folks, including the SEWEE Association, the SC Aquarium, and COSEE SouthEast (Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence) - the southeastern group serves North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
It was a small group of teachers - about 12 from the three states - but they were interesting and quite passionate and they raised some issues that just baffled me. At the beginning of the workshop, they were asked to list some questions/concerns they had about the topic - and one said that a few students had approached her when she started teaching climate change science, stating that like evolution, it was - more or less - against their religion. The insinuation, which was not surprising, was that it was against their parents politics. When did science and politics and religion get so messed up...and entangled in education? The other interesting point that was raised by another speaker, a climate extension specialist, was that the southeastern United States is an anomaly with respect to current climate change models - thus making it difficult when folks from this part of the world say, tonque-in-check, 'See? Al Gore was certainly onto something, wasn't he? It's been sooooo warm in Charleston this winter...'.
You see, what many folks forget is that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING- including global climate patterns, is based on what is happening right here in Charleston, South Carolina.
Remember that.
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~moon jellies~
You must love it before you are moved to save it.
Sylvia Earle, Oceanographer
(a TED prize winner)
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Yesterday was a nice day.
I finally was seeing the Florida invasive and infectious organisms that had invaded my body over the previous week retreat, and it was nice to feel a bit more human again (it was one of those flu-like illness where at some point, late at night, you pondered whether you would ever feel well again). It was also nice because as I found myself talking to the teacher workshop - I realized, despite all the craziness, how lucky I have been. While talking with the workshop folks, one teacher asked what I studied - and I told her that right now, we were working mostly on corals and bottlenose dolphins - and she laughed and said "How'd you manage that?" - she had a point. I'm unemployed, and my near future is a bit uncertain - but amidst it all I have an invitation to the University of the Virgin Islands in St Thomas to discuss areas of possible collaboration, the publications we are having released have been received well (with more to come), and last Friday we received ~113 Mb of sequence data (for those of you who don't regular talk in Mb language, 1 Mb=1,000,000 bp) - metagenomic libraries from the upper respiratory tract of eight bottlenose dolphins.
It's a stressful time, but it sure is interesting.
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~little white fish, captured by the flash~
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Don't these guys look like flashes of bright metal? After my talk, and after I enjoyed lunch with the workshop participants, I walked around the Aquarium for the first time in a long while. Unfortunately for me (but fortunately for the Aquarium), it was crowded - but I still enjoyed stopping at my favorite tanks - the moon jellies, the large ocean tank - and the outdoor exhibit with all of turtles swimming around.
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~little white fish, captured in low light~
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Of course I became enamored with these little white fish - and while I like them looking as if they are shiny, metallic objects - I think I like even better this out of focus image.
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~turtles, hanging out~
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It was so crowded that I didn't get the Genus and species information on most of these guys - but that didn't stop me from enjoying them. The turtles were quite playful, and photogenic - and although my images weren't as focused as I would have liked, the patterns on these guys are so amazing that it doesn't seem to matter.
Tomorrow, in the afternoon, I'm attending a loggerhead turtle planning meeting (with these guys) - I want to get some samples from them, to cryopreserve for microbiome analysis at a future time.
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Another view...
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...and another. This one I really liked - with the reflection of the glass ceiling overhead - I thought the contrasting patterns were interesting.
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~the Ocean tank~
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I'll end this with two images of the ocean tank - the large tank essentially in the middle of the aquarium.
Oh, and by the way - happy last day of my winter!
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~first daffodil~
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There's hope yet that spring will arrive - when I returned from Florida, my sweet early daffodils were just starting to open up - and today a clump of them were in full bloom. I wanted to hug the little things.
Whatever charming and infectious microorganism that has invaded my body has decided that it is happy here - and is being very stubborn. My head feels like concrete goo - the fever comes and goes - and being upright for more than an hour just about does me in. Lovely, don't you think? But I do have an Airstream fridge full of juice, a bowl of miscellaneous fruit, and soup. I can survive this.
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~Last Friday's breakfast~
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My friend's in Florida really took good care of me, and my friend Barb (the taller of the two aliens here) treated me to a yummy breakfast on my first morning. We both took our trays out to her front porch - an eclectic porch filled with bromeliads and tropical plants and adirondack chairs and wind chimes - and had a perfect Florida breakfast.
This friend, as well as a few others, wrote a murder-mystery party script with me back in 1993 - one that had over 90 'roles' and included pretty much every scientist living along the Florida panhandle. The theme was an 'Intergalactic Conference on the State of the Environment' and included seminar speakers - and the hilarious part was that the keynote speaker was the head of the Florida Chapter of MUFON - the Mutual UFO Network. He came with a slide presentation of UFO sightings in the Gulf Breeze area - and seemed quite delighted to be talking to a room of scientists dressed up as aliens. My 'character' was Snarg: I was from a prison planet, and I had been placed in prison because I ate scientists. I was part of an experiment to implant chips into the brains of dangerous individuals to curb their various evils. All I did all evening was go up to people (aka aliens), sniff them, and say 'delicious'. The scientist who did my brain chip implantation was one of the speakers during the conference. Oh, and as all good murder-mysteries go, during a break in the conference talks someone was killed.
Fun times.
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~Barb's walkway~
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I loved my friend Barb's walkway in front of her house. She had made these large concrete pavers, with elephant ear imprints - various sizes, mingled in with slate and other walkway stones and pavers. I'd love to make some - they were fun.
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~sand cliffs along Santa Rosa Island~
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I went for a walk Sunday with a friend out on Santa Rosa Island - the island has been visited by a number of strong storms since I was last there (when Andrew made a near-visit) - Ivan (for one) visibly changed this little sandbar. New 'manmade' dunes had been added to some places, and in others, evidence of erosion were evident - creating cliffs up to 4 or 5 feet tall near the water. It was interesting to see the cross-section (took me back to my soil science days) - and to see how deep the roots of the sea oats went into the sand. No wonder they're so perfect for this habitat. The beach was beautiful as usual - I had forgotten how white the sand was - pretty amazing stuff.
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~the Pointer Sisters, home from the Paw Plaza Hotel~
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So - when I flew back to Charleston on Monday morning, I went to the Paw Plaza Hotel to pick up Stanley and the Pointer Sisters. Much to my horror, I learned that while there, the young Dan (the pointer with the yellow bandana) jumped the exercise fence. I'm sure it freaked out the folks working there, but fortunately (and luckily) they were able to capture her as she ran down the road. She did there what she has done twice here (but this time with an even taller fence): she goes up to the fence, stands for a minute, and then jumps over it - clears it - without even needing a running start. Now this new-found skill terrifies me, and so the young Dan is back on a leash. Plus, I'm sure she's now on a 'list' at the Paw Plaza of difficult guests. I adore the Pointer Sisters, but they are indeed a challenge.
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Now, back to bed for me.
~shells on Santa Rosa island~
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I got back from my long weekend at the panhandle of Florida yesterday, only to come down with something that has me shivering under a layer of blankets.
It was a nice weekend, cool - but I got to spend time with good friends, and my talk on Friday was fun - I had alot of good questions, which always makes you think that perhaps - just perhaps - they were listening to you!
Time to go find all of those blankets again.
~Intergalactic Conference on the State of the Environment, Pensacola Beach, FL, 1993~
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Heading to the airport in a bit, and a flight that will take me to the panhandle of Florida - I've got an invited seminar tomorrow, followed by a weekend spent with friends from my postdoctoral days. It'll be nice to walk on those white sandy beaches and spend time with some good friends. I hope it's warm.
I'll be staying with my friend Barb - the one who 'gave' me (aka asked me if I wanted her, after I had consumed a few beers on my 50th birthday...) Annabelle Lee. Perhaps I should be an obnoxious, high-maintenance house guest in return? :)
Back soon. Have fun.
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~my Mother, before I was born~
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Today my Mother would have turned 76 years old.
Since her illness and death, I've learned a few hard lessons. The main lesson is that when you lose someone close to you, you never stop missing them. I miss my Mother everyday. The only thing that changes is that missing her is integrated into the everyday, into the fabric of my life. I brush my teeth, eat an orange, miss my Mother. I've also learned that losing an integral member of a family is hard on the remaining family unit - resulting in another set of challenges, as everyone shuffles around, as if playing a game of musical chairs. No one is sure where they should sit, so they depend on the music to tell them.
I miss my Mom.
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~Annabelle Lee aka Bella~
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There's nothing like a good, hard-working editorial assistant - someone loyal, who pays attention to details, and is always at the ready. Yep - that's Bella Banana, sound asleep by my side as I edit a manuscript.
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