Tales from the Microbial Laboratory

~natural cycles~

~the Microbial Lab and Friends, 'blebbing' in honor of Ben's newly minted doctorate (Ben is the one holding the bottle of champagne)~

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What is 'blebbing' you ask?  You can see an image of our model organisms here, a Gram-negative organism (the rod shape in the middle of the image) - surrounded by smaller, spherical 'blebs' or membrane vesicles.  What does a group of geeky scientists do in such a festive photo opportunity?  In honor of Ben, they form their own silly blebs...since much of his work focused on these fascinating exosomic structures.

Silly scientists...

It was fun.  An hour seminar - followed by a three hour defense.  Then a fun lunch with pitchers of margaritas.

Another student successfully makes its way through the Microbial Lab...

~~~~~

So what did members of the lab do next?  Well, I left with my colleague who was in for the defense (we went downtown to a rooftop bar to further discuss science and life...) while other members of the lab went and painted the 'boat' on Folly Rd in honor of the new Ph.D.  The lab's 'new' senior graduate student sent me the image below of the boat - I love it!  The 'terminal masters' was related to an earlier incident when a member of Ben's committee suggested that he go for a 'terminal masters' if he couldn't get something to work.  It was one of those 'you have to be there' kind of dry jokes, but one that has obviously stuck...but what I love is the smiling rod-shaped microorganism on the boat - surrounded by blebs!  Yes, geekdom at it's very best.

~the boat on Folly Road~

~~~~~

And what did I do today?  First, it was a simply spectacular day.  Low humidity, crazy-blue sky - a breeze that reminded you that the Atlantic Ocean was just over there.  After a mid-day seminar I decided to go and see the Folly boat for myself - but when I got there, it had already been painted over (and by the way, Happy Birthday to Allison, whoever you are!).  Then - since I was already at the boat - and the day was just too too nice - I went onto Folly Beach, and sat and ate shrimp by myself at the Crab Shack (I've never been there - and basically stopped (because I wanted to eat outside and there was an easy parking spot).  After I was done - and walking to my car - I couldn't resist a shot of Planet Follywood.  It always makes me laugh.

~Planet Follywood, Folly Beach, South Carolina~

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I made it back to the lab in time for another seminar - and then I left for home.  I've been enamored of late by the roadside 'ditch' flowers blooming - the ageratums and goldenrod and helianthus - and couldn't resist pulling over and taking a photo or two.  I want to go back, maybe over the next few days, to get some more shots - to drive home slowly and admire how beautiful a low spot and the right amount of neglect can be.

Sometimes, perhaps we work too hard.

As for work, and working too hard - I've got an invited review to work on.  The lab's Poet Laureate (from a distance) and I are writing it together.  She's gotten together the craziest, most impressive table that I've seen in a long time - as for me, I've got some writing to contribute - and the one reality of the Microbial Lab (and most labs, for that matter) is that there are natural cycles and a student's defense is one of them.  Another bottle of champagne is on my shelf, signed and dated by a new PhD.

Today I took a breather, and tomorrow the cycle begins again.

~roadside ageratums~

~~~~~

~a thank you to Annie~

~Thunbergia grandiflora, blue sky vine~

~~~~~

The late September garden is filled with flower vines - the perennial morning glory has finally decided to bloom again (and again and again...) - the cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) is starting to reach up to the first branch of the nearby live oak tree - and the blue sky vine is starting to bloom on the front fence (and climb the nearby ash tree, climbing the trunk almost to the top).  I love Autumn in the southern garden, it's as if all of the garden's occupants do one big exhale, and start to grow once again.

~~~~~

I need to say a big thank you tonight to Annie in Austin of The Transplantable Rose fame.  She kindly suggested my name to Associate Editor Michelle Gervais at Fine Gardening - which resulted in my writing a small piece for their Regional Reports on 'Three Garden Wishes' for my own southeastern garden (November/December 2009, Issue Number 130).  It was alot of fun to write - and so, thank you Annie, and thank you Michelle for letting a microbiologist-by-day rant about florida betony in Fine Gardening magazine.  It was a thrill.  

~...sometimes you're the cicada shell on the rear tire of your new home~

~Cicada shell on an Airstream tire~

You know the kind of day I'm talking about.  The kind that you can't wait to be over.  Remember the Mary Chapin Carpenter song 'The Bug'?  Well, it was the song that came to mind today as I was driving home.

Yep, I felt just like the cicada shell on the rear tire of my new home...and if that isn't a country music song, I don't know what is.

~~~~~

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~a petal-less zinnia~

~~~~~

I was never a big fan of Gone with the Wind, but right now, one memorable quote (by Scarlett) comes to mind:

I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow. 

~~~~~

one of those days

~lamb's ear~

~~~~~

Traveling...you've just gotta love it.

My 8 am return flight was cancelled.  They re-booked me on a flight that was delayed.  I got into Atlanta late - and got booked on another flight.  I arrived in Charleston, but my luggage didn't.  On my drive home from the airport a car rear-ended me at a stop light - no damage to my car, but his bumper got stuck on my boat hitch and it took awhile to get our cars 'unstuck'.  Thankfully, my luggage was delivered to my house tonight.

And tomorrow is Monday.  Yikes.

~~~~~

 

~euphoria~

~Salvia buchananii 'Show Girls', Eupatorium purpureum 'Gateway', Colocasia esculenta 'Elena', Stachys byzantina 'Helene Von Stein'~

~~~~~

Today I was driving home from work, thinking that my plant habit might be awhole lot like a crack habit.  Now, I don't have a crack habit - and for that I am grateful.  Crack is destructive and messes with peoples lives.  I don't think that a perennial, no matter how hard it tries, can be destructive.

~~~~~

But, as the eclair-making postdoc (yes, the one who hasn't made eclairs in a long, long time...) mentioned after our (brief) visit to a plant nursery after lunch today:

'You really do have a problem don't you.'

(Note that his comment wasn't said as a question, but as a statement).

~~~~~

So tonight I thought I'd look at the effect of plants crack on a person's life.  Taken from this website:

The short term effects of crack include but are not limited to:

• Magnification of pleasure, euphoria
• Alertness and in some cases - hyper-alertness
• Increased and sometimes a grandiose sense of well being
• Decreased anxiety
• Lower social inhibitions: more sociable and talkative
• Heightened energy, self-esteem, sexuality and emotions aroused by interpersonal experiences
• Appetite loss; weight loss

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Now, I'm saying all of this sounds good - and the weight loss, that's a bonus indeed!  Plus, I am thankful to report that the longterm effect of plants crack do not apply (as you might see for yourself here). 

~~~~~

So yeah, I might have a problem.  But life - work mostly - is pretty dang stressful right now.  There's change, risk, and alot of wishful thinking blowing in the wind.  If four new plants - much needed additions to my garden - help me navigate these new winds, then a crack plant addict I am.  And like I said, I've never seen a perennial (or two...or three...) ruin a person's life.

~~~~~

Update (Wednesday morning, 10 June):   The nutty new dog (who is now no longer 'new'), Annabelle Lee, was scared of the new Lamb's Ear this morning.  It was funny - she must not have seen it last night, because when she saw it this morning, she backed up and started slowly crouching toward it - checking to see if it was 'alive'.  Once she considered it 'dead' - she pounced on it, and bit off a few leaves.  The garden is now safe from the threat of a Lamb's Ear attack.  I feel safer...don't you? 

Mon.

~Stokesia laevis~

~~~~~

Changed the oil, put in fresh gas - a new air filter and a new sparkplug.

The lawn mower still doesn't start.

A fuel line problem?  The carburetor?

~~~~~

Today was a Monday.

One of the ultra low temp freezers was on the fritz.

A former summer undergraduate, now almost finished his PhD, came to the lab and gave a fascinating seminar.  Ever think about a lunging...whale? 

Finished edits on a student's manuscript.

Had a meeting.  Then another.

~~~~~

Came home.

The lawn mower still wouldn't start.

Weeded instead.

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.  
  

~sigh~

~ 'Heritage', a David Austin Rose~

Have you ever had one of those days...one of those days when you've pretty much got back-to-back meetings all day long and during one of the meetings you're so bored you could cry and during another meeting you get interrupted and irrationally yelled at for something that you had absolutely no control over and then following the last meeting of the day you get yelled at again by a different person about something equally as frustrating because basically you were right but they realized they were wrong and were scared about getting caught and so they ask you to do something STUPID and you questioned it and they blew up at you?  And to top it off, all of the rain that seems to be falling all around is not falling on your garden?

Well, it's been one of those days.

But tonight I roasted beets - beets harvested from my own garden.

Harvesting makes me happy.

~a day, just~

~the front garden, by the gate~

~~~~~

Meetings.  Good ones.  Bad ones.  New grants discussed, pondered - ideas discussed and some decisions...almost made.  Just move forward, right?  Interesting analyses shared, enthusiasms shared, problems shared.  Just a day.  Rich days...a richness that encompasses both sides of a hastily tossed coin.  

After such a day, there is nothing sweeter than returning to a garden that is in bloom, that is emerging, that is filled with new well-worn paths made by happy pointers - with cedar waxwings visiting in the morning as I left for the day - and still around upon my return.  The garden as a much-needed sanctuary from the richness of the day.