Gleanings of the Week Ending March 02, 2013

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Point me to a brain area - neuro-anatomy (head - neck- brain - spine) tutorials

Shimmering Mosaic of Earth Made of Stained Glass and Jewels

The World's 20 Most Amazing Tunnels - lots of photos

Windows On Nature: The Ten Best National Park Webcam Sites In America - A list from National Parks Traveler. The collage of pictures at the right shows the snow and fog from earlier this week….a virtual tour of the parks!

4 surprising lessons about education learned from data collected around the world - TED talk

Want To Be In The Dark? Death Valley Is Among 20 Recommended Places

More Antioxidants In Your Diet May Not Mean Better Health - not all antioxidants are equal

Choosing Wisely Lists - information on when medical tests and procedures are appropriate…good information to have before you see your doctor

Jagged Worldviews Colliding by Leroy Little Bear- an introduction to the differences between Indigenous and Eurocentric worldviews

Technology Upends another Industry: Homebuilding - doing the same amount of work with half the staff

Walk around Centennial Lake

Yesterday morning was cold but sunny - a good morning for a brisk walk around Centennial Lake in Columbia, Maryland. There were quite a few other people that took the opportunity to get outside after the previous rainy days.

Of course - the park is still mostly in the grips of winter. The trees and their reflections were full of browns and grays. The paddle boats were stored on the dock. The birds were the ones acting as the harbingers of spring: 

• Red wing blackbirds were calling back and forth from their trees

3 Free eBooks - February 2013

The Internet has a growing number of online books…and many of them are free. This is my monthly post highlighting 3 that I have enjoyed most this past month.

Bulliard, Pierre. Flora Parisiensis Volume 2. Paris, P.F. Didot. 1776. Available here. This is a botanical text that was produced in France while the American Revolution was happening. Multiple volumes are available at the Internet Archive and all contain many color plates like the one to the left of a tulip. This must have been a very expensive book when it was produced!

Ernst, James A. Drawing the Line, Fine and Commercial Art. New York, Reinhold Publishing Corporation. 1962.  Available here. Skipping ahead almost 200 years from the first book, this book does not contain color. It is a book that encourages action…it's a great way to build up your motivation to make some drawings. Any book that causes me to do something is one that goes on my favorites list!

The last item for this month is not a specific eBook. It is a reminder that many public libraries offer eBooks via their web presence that can be checked out for 2 or 3 weeks. Check to see what yours offers. Many libraries use the Overdrive service to drive their selections;  search the Overdrive list of participating libraries to see if your library is on the list. I’ve read over 100 books on my Kindle from my local library. Right now I am working my way through the mysteries written by Nevada Barr!

Brookside Gardens Conservatory - February 2013

The Brookside Gardens Conservatory is a warm, lush place for a pleasant winter afternoon. There are lots of colors to enjoy - dominated by greens. I always look for the spirals of ferns unfurling. There was some construction going on at the main door when I was there so it was more noticeable than usual that the smaller plants are moved around.

The tropical fruits I noticed in January - pineapple, bananas, and chocolate - were still there. And I noticed the star fruit ripening. The begonias always seem to be blooming and the variegated crotons fill their corner with their bright leaves. Camellias were full of buds - and a few early blooms. They’ll be spectacular in March. I even found myself appreciating the lettuce for its translucent green leaves with reddish margins. I usually photograph the bird-of-paradise flowers that are dominated with orange but this time I tried the white ones instead; they are very large and produced by one of the oldest plants in the conservatory.

As I was leaving Brookside an older woman ask me what there was to see at the gardens and I recommended the conservatory as a richness of plants to see and an easy walk. She was in her 90s! I hope she enjoyed her outing to Brookside Gardens.

Brookside Gardens Outdoors - February 2013

Much of Brookside Gardens is still in winter mode when I was there earlier this week - lots of browns, mulch washed onto the walkways from the last rains. It was a sunny day and large sycamore was at its winter best against the blue sky; it’s easy to identify these trees in winter with their white trunks. The snowdrops were up but most of the other bulbs were just peeking through the soil.

The small trees that were the highlight of my walk were the witch hazels which were blooming. There were at least three different flower colors - two of which are shown below.

Arizona Senna and Solanum

My daughter sent me senna and solanum pictures. I am appreciating that technology makes it so easy to increase the vicarious experience. I’ve been hearing about these plants since last summer when my son-in-law obtained them for his study of native pollinators and the pictures have taken the experience to a new level!

They have been moving the plants into their apartment during the frosty nights in Tucson this winter. This is quite an undertaking since there are over 20 pots of senna (yellow) and solanum (purple); the pots must fill in almost all the available floor space in their living room. Fortunately it has only been a few nights. And the plants have survived and thrived - blooming continuously.

Enjoy the senna and solanum flowers in the slide show below….little bits of weedy color when seen along the roadsides….cheery in macro photographs.

senna_covessii

senna_covessii2

senna_covessii3

solanum_tridynanum_female2

solanum_tridynanum_male

solanum_tridynanum_male3

Aloe Blooming

The aloe plant I purchased for my daughter when she went off to college (and returned to me when it got too big for her apartment) has been repotted several times in its 5 years with us - and now it is blooming again. The first time it bloomed was in mid-summer when it was out on the deck. After it finished blooming, many small aloes came up around it. We bought a larger pot and separated some of the small ones from the parent as we moved it to the larger pot. The next time it bloomed was almost a year ago in May when it was still indoors. It was quite a challenge to move it outdoors with its tall spindly bloom while the painters were working! Now it is blooming in February - while it is trapped indoors (the picture to the left was taken 1/24 and the one to the right was taken on 2/9). The dried remains of the stall and bloom from last year are still standing too.

The blooms are mostly green but this time of year I appreciate any color other than brown. I am celebrating that I have something blooming before the hyacinths and crocus this year!

Thinking of Hyacinths

I noticed that the hyacinths are already peeking through the leaves caught in the flower beds and I am anticipating that they will start blooming before winter is gone just as they did last year when this picture was taken on February 11th. The hyacinths are sturdy, waxy flowers that can withstand the cold and snow. The pale colors - pink, and purple and white - on a spire coming up from green leaves that circle around to frame the flower from the brown of winter still dominate for a little longer. They, along with crocus, are the first flowers in my garden.

I like them for being early but even more for their smell.

The smell of hyacinths wafting in the breeze is the fragrance I associate the most with early spring. It is so rich and overpowering that I have previously refrained from buying a pot of hyacinths to put on the kitchen table. Maybe I’ll take the risk this year. If the wonderful smell gets too strong being contained in one room I’ll simply move it around the house.

Around our (Maryland) Yard in February 2013

There was a dusting of snow of fell after dark - that made the yard look cold and brittle on the morning I walked around to take the pictures for this post. The tumbled cairn of rocks and shells was almost covered. The neighbors’ blue spruce and pines still held tufts of snow as did the dried flowers of the hydrangea and onion. The old logs of the abandoned wood pile at the edge of the forest were buried under leaves and snow. I left muddy footprints in the pristine snow that had filled the dip in the yard that drains away the melt and rain water.

tumbled cairn

blue spruce

pine

hydrangea

onion

abandoned wood pile

Tree Trunks

Winter hikes in deciduous forests are sparse in so many ways - full of browns and grays, stark tree branches without the softening of fluttering leaves, sometimes very quiet with even the birds and squirrels hunkered in their nests. I tend to look more closely at thinks that I may not notice during other times of the year. Thinks like the trunks of the trees themselves.

How many trees can you identify just by their trunks? These three are probably some of the easiest.

American Beech

River Birch 

Sycamore

January 2013 Doodles

It was wonderful to be come home in early January after being away for almost 6 weeks. I found myself relaxing and enjoying the time indoors while the weather was cold - celebrating being at home. Doodles were a part of the return home too. I found myself drawn to old-fashioned pencils and colorful pens….and the flowers and clouds motifs were included in every doodle in January. I’ll have to pick something different for February.

Enjoy the January 2013 doodles below! Doodle posts for previous months are here.

Chocolate and Pineapple (at Brookside)

I check the banana palms every time I visit the Brookside Gardens conservatories; they usually have bananas in various stages of development. This past visit two other plans from warmer climes were bearing fruit as well:

Pineapple. I had seen pictures of the plant but had not actually seen one before. The fruit was well along in its development.

Cacao (chocolate!). I had seen a tree with the pods in another conservatory but finding one at Brookside almost hidden in the other tropical foliage was a pleasant surprise. The change in color that comes as the pods ripen was clearly visible.

Both plants are so different looking than plants that are native to Maryland. What a delight on a winter’s day to feel the warmth and be surrounded by tropical plants in the Brookside Gardens conservatory!

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - January 2013

Back in August 2012, I posted about finding something to celebrate each day. It’s an easy thing for me to do and the habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. Here are some ‘little celebrations’ I’ve noted this month:

Reorganized kitchen. I helped a family member re-organize their kitchen and was surprised at how easy it was to streamline their everyday cooking. Now maybe I should reorganize my own kitchen and celebrate again!

Home again. After being away for more than a month - I celebrated being at home for more than a week after returning.

Brookside Gardens. Always one of my favorite places but this time the conservatory was the celebration….flowers and lush greenery in winter.

A cold day indoors and indulging in all those introvert favorites - reading a good book, watching birds from the window, sipping hot tea laced with chocolate.

A sliver moon above the sunrise. Starting the day with a scene of beauty is such a joy.

An uncrowded grocery store. I go early to get my shopping down before a lot of other people are about. It easier to relax and read labels to buy exactly what I intend.

A sunny day. It seemed like January was going to stay cloudy, dim and cold…and then there came a sunny day. I sat in a sunny window and celebrated the brightness.

Snow. I like seasons. Snow is my favorite aspect of winter and I celebrate the beauty of it before the plows come…before the deer track up the yard.

Cream of tomato soup. Even when trying to take of some weight, good food is something to celebrate. Homemade soup is one of my favorites on a cold day.

The first day of a class feels special - so full of potential...exciting to be starting something new.

Previous ‘little celebration’ posts can be found here.

The Magic of a Little Snow

We got a little over an inch of snow one of the days last week….and it made our yard a magical place:

The tracks of an animal (probably a cat) close to our front door; it didn’t stop to look in window.

The cedar holding a handful of snow - perfectly balanced until breeze should come along. 

The dried hydrangea looking almost like a cotton boll. 

The snowball held by pine needles.

And the deformed branches of the tulip poplar outlined by snow on every near horizontal branch.

Details Seen in Photographs

In my last walk around Brookside Gardens, I took my usual large number of pictures - and then enjoyed the detail of what I captured after I got home and could look at the images on a large screen.

I didn’t notice the imperfections in the succulent pictured below when I took the picture; the colors and the frame filling shape of it was what caused me to take it. Now - it is the imperfections that cause it to be one of my favorite images from this visit to the gardens.

I held my camera upside down and took the picture below blindly - pointed upward into the angel trumpet flower. The light from the conservatory roof was bright enough to give the flower a central glow. The delicate fibers within the flower show through. The green core of the flower looks like an asterisk pinned to the stem by the flower parts and framed by the fused petals.

Did I say that it was a sunny day? The photo below is the only image in this post that was taken outdoors. The shadow and burn out areas are what makes this image a favorite for me.

Last but not least, the coiled fronds in the center of a fern. I always like to catch the spirals of nature since they are never that way for long; they’ll unfurl into the outer ring of green while new fiddleheads form in the center.

3 Free eBooks - January 2013

The Internet has a growing number of online books….and many of them are free. This is the monthly post highlighting 3 that I have enjoyed most this past month.

Shin-bijutsukai (2 volumes from early 1900s). Kyoto: Yamada Geikido. Available here. Art from Japan of the early 1900s. The red leaves at the left is a portion of one of my favorite images from the books.

White, John and Michael Dennin. Science Appreciation: Introduction to Science Literacy. ComPADRE. 2010 Available here. This is the text for Coursera’s Science from Superheroes to Global Warming offering. Even if you already consider yourself ‘science literate’ it is worth perusing for an update on how the issue of illiteracy in this particular topic area is being approached in our colleges.

Leonard, Anna B. and Adelaide Alsop Robineau. Keramic Studio periodical (volumes 2, 10, 13, 16 and 20 from 1900 to 1919). Syracuse, NY: Keramic Studio Publishing Co. Available here. Keramic Studio was pioneering periodical for ceramic artists and potters in the early 1900s. It was full of wonderful images that were emerging in that heady time when so much was changing just before World War I and immediately thereafter. The variety of work depicted - from drawings to finished works - is quite broad. Some of my favorites are the images of peacock feathers in volume 10 show in the clips to the right.

The previous eBook posts can be found here.

Brookside Gardens Conservatory Flowers - January 2013

The conservatories at Brookside Gardens are lush with greenery and flowers - a welcome contrast to outdoor vegetation this time of year. Begonias and bird of paradise…crown of thorns and petunias. Today is a celebration of the flowers!

The Sun Coming Down from the Trees

Years ago - on an annual fall foliage camping trip - we got up at dawn because it was too cold to stay in the tents any longer. As we built the fire to cook breakfast - someone noticed the sunlight in the tops of the trees. It looked so warm compared to where we were at the forest floor - still in deep shade. And the description of what was happening became “the sun coming down from the trees.” We all watched as the light made its way down the trees and anticipating the day warming up.

I caught the same time of morning behind my house this week. The tree tops were glowing with the reflected light of dawn - much more colorful that the washed out light later in the morning that reached all the way to the forest floor.

On that cold morning almost 40 years ago - we bundled up, had a hot breakfast and took a hike. We still have some of the prints of sumac seed pods from that morning!

Waiting for Snow

The forecast was for snow - but instead we continued under heavy clouds and mists in the same pattern as the past few days.

There is too much brown in the outdoor scenes - bare tree branches and dried hydrangea flowers.

The tuffs of green grass are a bit of relief and the colors of the shelf fungus on the oak stump provide some relief.

And then - I check the pots left on the deck from the summer and discover that both pots of parsley are surviving!

Still - I would enjoy a big snow….one that would keep me at home for a few days, give me a physical task (shoveling the driveway), and change the scenery through the window to a white wonderland.

Flower Parts

Flowers are often the most studied part of plants. They are usually colorful and intricate - forged to propagate their kind. I decided to photography the part of an Alstroemeria flower on a recent rainy day. I cut a flower from the bouquet I posted about last Friday and then used several light sources to rearrange the petals. The shape and curvature of the petals are still appealing even when the flower it taken apart. No wonder the botanical prints that were so painstakingly made in the 1800s have such an appeal even today.

I used two different light sources. One gave the flower petals and warm glowing color while the other turned them cool. Which did I prefer? I'm including both in the slide show below because I can't quite decide.

And finally the inner parts of the flower - looking fragile away from their surrounding petals. It is easy to see these as the models for delicate spirals in even our earliest art.