CSA Week 11

It’s a good thing that some of the veggies this week do not need to go into the refrigerator (onions, garlic, potatoes) because we got both a watermelon and cantaloupe along with 3 kinds of tomatoes (3 heirloom, a pint of cherry, and 2 pounds of romas) and 2 kinds of peppers (1 bell and 4 snacking (since I traded my 2 jalapenos for snacking)). I decided to put the thyme in water on the window sill since I am using it up pretty quickly (I’ve already finished the bunch I got a few weeks ago). I had to make two trips to the car for this share since the watermelon was so heavy it had to be carried by itself; the same thing happened to me last year.

I am enjoying the herbs from the CSA (thyme, basil, chives and oregano so far) and the ones I have in my garden (basil, chives and mint). They - along with the garlic and onion - definitely add a lot of flavor to foods very quickly. Stir fry sauces are not needed when there are so many herbs readily available around the kitchen!

Am I to the point of freezing the cherry tomatoes? Maybe. I did it last year about this time and they were very easy to pop into soups - still frozen - to provide tomato flavor and color in the dead of winter. I like to just make sure they are clean then put them into a plastic container to freeze. Usual their skin does not break - or if it does the tomato is already frozen enough that the juice does not leak out. For me - it is the fastest way to save the goodness of summer tomatoes until winter.

Found Feathers

Back in June I posted about finding a lot of feathers on a walk around Centennial Lake. It probably resulted from a sad ending to the bird.

Most of the time I find only one feather at a time and feel happy about finding it - a little treasure. The blue jay feather I found in Texas is a good example. It was still in near pristine condition so I must have found it shortly after the bird lost it.

Feathers get bedraggled very quickly after they are lost. It’s an indicator of the effectiveness of the preening birds do.

This feather was in grass that had been recently mowed. I wondered if the feather had survived the mower or whether it had been already scruffy looking with the bird lost it.

Beautiful Food - August 2015

With the bounty of fresh veggies in August, it is easy to prepare a beautiful plate - full of color, great flavors, and nutrition. One of my favorites is a large heirloom tomato with cucumber….a little sprinkle of salt and a few leaves of fresh oregano.

Apples are often not so good in August because it is just before the new harvest. I had a bag of apples that should have been great for eating fresh but they had too many brown spots - so I made a huge apple crisp to use them up. I modified the recipe to give it a summer flavor by replacing the cinnamon with lemon and mint. And I replaced the flour with flaxseed meal and teff flour since I already had them on hand.  There is beauty in the ingredients, the big skillet in the oven, and the finished product! I always like the hint of red in from the cooked apple skin.

Topping:

• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
• 3/4 cup teff flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• Pinch baking soda
• Pinch baking powder
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Apples+

• 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves (or 1/4 cup dry mint) --- optional
• 10 cups apples
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 cup water

Spray the pan with cooking spray. This recipe will take a large one!

Process/grind the oatmeal if you want a fine texture topping. Combine topping ingredients in a bowl and mix with a fork until the lumps are small.

Cut the ends from the lemon and then cut into 8 wedges. Take out the seeds. Put the wedges (pulp and skin) into the food processor along with the mint leaves. Process until pureed.

Use the slicer on the food processor to slice the apples. I cut an apple into 8 wedges, cut the seeds/core and any bruise away, then start the food processor. Drop the apple wedges through the smaller opening in the top of the processor to get even slices (this was recommended in the booklet that came with my Cuisinart food processor).

Heat the oven to 350⁰ F.

Place the apple slices with the lemon/mint pulp into the pan. Use a spatula to distribute the apples and lemon/mint evenly in the pan. Sprinkle sugar and flour over the apples then drizzle the water on top.

Arrange the topping mixture on top of the apples.

Cook for 45 minutes.

Enjoy just out of the oven or cool from the refrigerator. It is good any time of day - for breakfast, snack or dessert!

Through the Kitchen Window

We have a goldfinch that frequents our deck - getting a drink at the bird bath and

Enjoying the Black Eyed Susan and Zinnia seeds forming on the plants growing in pots. I have enjoyed watching the bird - at least I think it is the same one - for the past few days. Rather than going outside to photography him I’ve been attempting to capture his activity through the kitchen window.

The seeds must be very tasty!

Energy Saving Days

Our local gas and electric provider notifies us the day before an Energy Savings Day. The idea is to encourage people to use less energy between 1 and 7 on those days - usually the hottest days of the summer.

My husband and I make a game of thinking of things we can do to reduce our energy consumption on those days….and still be reasonably comfortable. We are usually at home in the afternoons during the summer - and usually entrenched in indoor activities.

• We close draperies or blinds anywhere the sun might be shining in (the west facing windows) primarily. This is something that has become a habit even on the days that are not Energy Savings Days.
• I switch to battery power for my laptop and tablet….usually the battery power lasts for as long as I want to use the devices during the energy savings hours.
• It is easy to not run the dishwasher or washing machine/dryer on those afternoons.
• We eat our big meal of the day (the one that might need the stove) at noon rather than the early evening or plan to cook everything on the grill for the evening meal. Eating cool salads or raw foods helps us feel cooler too.
• We turn up the thermostat by 5 degrees and move down in the house (sometimes to the basement) as the house heats up enough on the second story to be uncomfortable.
• We wear lightweight clothing (for me that is usually a skirt and short sleeved top and go barefoot (Somehow I always feel cooler when I am not wearing shoes!).
• I always have something cool to drink nearby. My favorite this simmer icy cold lemon water (no sugar…just the hint of lemon).

The feedback we get the day after the Energy Savings Day has been positive…we are generally in the top 10% of savers. There is a double benefit in that we actually use less energy and we get a rebate from the electric provider. Energy Savings Days are becoming just an integral part of life in the summertime.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 8, 2015

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

Washington, DC sinking fast, adding to threat of sea-level rise - Evidently the sinking is not due to human influence (like groundwater withdrawals)…but the effect of the long ago glacier further north --- a bulge under the Chesapeake Bay from the weight of the ice sheet that covered the area north of Long Island NY. The bulge is now settling back down and will continue to settle for a long time to come.

Money Talks: New Climate Pledge Enlists 13 US Businesses worth $2.5 Trillion - The American Business Act on Climate Pledge. The companies are big ones: Alcoa, Apple, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Cargill, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, Google, Microsoft, PepsiCo, UPS, and Walmart.

Why to babies laugh out loud? - Lots of people (Darwin was one) have been interested in the question. This article talks about a recent study. One finding: babies are far more likely to laugh when they fall over, that when someone else does.

NRDC: EPA’s Clean Power Plan Is Economically Beneficial for USA Due To Health Benefits - The Natural Resources Defense Fund report can be found here. Some of the focus areas in the report are: extreme weather, the health imperative, benefits (which far outweigh the costs), business opportunities, and the moral imperative.

The Healthiest Cities in the US - The criteria for choosing these cities is interesting. But does having higher percentages of people with insurance always mean a city is ‘healthier’ than a city that does not? I am not convinced.

Bering Sea hotspot for corals and sponges - Endangered by bottom trawling…maybe before we even fully know they are there. The research points to Pribilof Canyon as an area that could be conserved without disproportionately impacting the commercial fishing industry.

A Simple Guide to Neurotransmitters - You’ve probably heard the names of the neurotransmitters - the graphic provides a nice summary of their role and structure.

The Wild Alaskan Lands at Stake If the Pebble Mine Moves Ahead - A photo gallery from this area of Alaska.

Black Bears of Yosemite National Park - Includes a video…with lots of bear action about what happened when the park closed the trash heaps in the 1970s….and the continued challenge to keep bears from becoming acclimated to getting people food

Growth (2015) - I enjoyed this video. It is just a little over 15 minutes long...photographyed from overhead.

Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy - August 2015

We made a second trek to the see the butterfly exhibit at the Brookside Gardens conservatory - a great outing for a guest in town for the weekend.

Often the contrasting colors of the flowers and the butterflies prompts me to take a picture.

Sometimes a tree trunk seems to be a favorite resting place for butterflies. One had at least 6 on it as I walked by.

I wondered how this morpho was still flying. Parts of both wings are missing.

There were several that hung gracefully upside down on their flowers.

Others fluttered to keep their place or move slightly to the next flower. Sometimes the slightly different motion of the two parts of the wing can be detected.

Some butterflies are more colorful on the underside.

When butterflies perch close to each other - resting - I often wonder if they are aware of each other.

Last but not least….I am always on the lookout for Monarchs. I wish we had them in our neighborhood like we did 20 years ago…but now I seem them most often in exhibits like this one.

CSA Week 10

About all I have left from the week 9 share is chives, onions and leeks…a few purple skinned potatoes. But I think the week 10 share is a bit overwhelming.

The variety and amount of tomatoes skyrocketed this week: 2 big heirloom tomatoes, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, and 2 pounds red tomatoes. There was some fresh oregano which encourages me to make homemade tomato ‘something’ - soup or sauce.

We also got potatoes - this time with red skins. Fortunately potatoes last long enough that they won’t go to waste even if we don’t eat them this week.

The assortment of peppers went up: snack peppers of all colors (I got red/green ones), bell peppers, and jalepenos (which I promptly exchanged for another bell pepper).

We had a choice between cucumbers and summer squash; I picked the squash to I can make squash hummus again.

We had our choice of cantaloupe, red watermelon or yellow watermelon this week. I got a red one - just to be different from last week’s yellow one (which we enjoyed).

One of the items available on the overage table was lettuce….it will go well with the tomatoes and peppers for summer salads.

Once again - the next week is going to have a lot of good eating --- enjoying the bounty of summer foods!

Nature Photography for Summer Campers

Yesterday I lead a Nature Photograph Introduction for summer campers at Belmont Manor and Historic Park. It was an exciting and gratifying volunteer gig - exceeding my expectations in just about every way. I worked with 5-8 year olds in the morning and 9-12 year olds in the afternoon. The campers became so engaged in taking photographs that they were surprised when it was time to stop! And they took some excellent pictures.

I used 8 pictures to introduce nature photography before we hiked into the forest - tailoring the discussion a little for the age group but both groups had a lot to say about each image and used some of the ideas in their photographs during our hike. I’m including the ‘priming’ images in this post and a few notes about how I talked about them.

Image 1: What story does this picture tell? Concepts: leading line (path), foreground/background, person for scale

Image 2: How was this picture taken? (Remember you don’t have to always point the camera straight ahead or down!). Concepts: bright spots, attention to light

Image 3: What is this? (birds nest fungus) Concepts: scale…approaching macro photography…get as close as your camera will focus, different stages of fungus development in the same image

Image 4: What is it? (blue bird)  Concepts: zooming, introduce possibility of cropping (older group)

Image 5: What is the butterfly doing? Concepts: photograph butterflies when they are still (eating or drinking), zooming

Image 6: What is it? (blue jay feather) Concepts: photographing things you shouldn’t pick up, get as close as your camera will focus

Image 7: What is it? (mouse ears) Concepts: get as close as you can, if you want to identify the flower later - take pictures from several perspectives and at least one that includes the entire plant

Image 8: Let’s review some concepts - light (some overload)…leading line…hints of color

Then we reviewed how to hold the camera (strap around the wrist at all times), how to turn it on and take a picture, and how to zoom…..how to hold the camera while we were walking (turned off, camera in hand, strap around wrist).

And then we were hiking and finding a lot of the natural environment to photograph!

Brookside Gardens Walk

When we went to Brookside Gardens last weekend, the parking lot at the conservatory was already full just after 9 AM…so we parked in the Nature Center lot. I will be glad when the main lot is finished but the estimate now is late fall or even into winter. We walked over the boardwalk that traverses the woodland and stream between the Nature Center and Conservatory.

Hibiscuses are blooming where the boardwalk joins the Brookside path.

Instead  of turning toward the Conservatory - we walked toward the Tea House with woodlands on the left

And the renovated ponds on the right. A dove was getting a drink from the rocks where the overflow water from the ponds runs off.

We walked to the far end of the gardens and out the gate toward the larger pond in Wheaton Park in search of dragonflies. We saw the insects but they were not sitting on anything long enough for photography. I liked the islands of vegetation in the pond…and their reflections.

Occasionally there were leaves already changing color. It’s a little early for that but it is not uncommon to see colors like this pop out of the greenery.

Back in Brookside Gardens we saw a toad crossing the path

And pink lilies like my parents have in their garden in Texas. These are near the visitor center and there were more in the woods seen from the path between the visitor center and conservatory.

The Wings of Fancy exhibit is inside the conservatory but there were a lot of active butterflies in the gardens. This tiger swallowtail is reaching way down into a petunia.

Some flowers were very popular. Even the mothers that often look rather drab - are photogenic with a pink, yellow, and green background.

The most butterflies I got in a single picture was three!

Zentangle® - July 2015

It’s hard to fathom that I have been doing ‘a Zentangle a day’ for 6 months already. The ‘Zen’ part of it is a welcome part of my day and the art that it produces is gratifying. I have collected the June and July tiles in a file box and am contemplating what to do with them - whether I should put more under the plastic on the breakfast table or make a cover for a scarred desktop with clear contact paper holding tiles in a long ‘runner.’

The tiles made in July include some work with colored pencils, pens and markers….but I find the black pens (various thicknesses) are still appeals to me the most. I occasionally give in to make something more ‘real’ looking - like a dragonfly.

I have a red pen that is not as good as the black Micron pens…but I like using two colors. I’ll add some high quality colored pens to my Christmas wishlist.

There is still a lot of experimentation to do with pencils and markers to add color - but I am not as please with the results most of the time.

Sometimes I get ideas from looking at pottery or design books on the Internet Archive.

Sometimes I start out with a botanical idea…other times I realize that what I’ve done looks botanical even if I didn’t start out with the intent.

Looking at it again - the pink and purple floating flowers appeals to me more now that right after I created it.

--

The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Online Classes - August 2015

After a hiatus from Courses for about 6 weeks - I couldn’t resist starting Geodesign: Change your World from PennState. The topic appealed to me and I am enjoying the short introduction videos, guest lectures, readings, and activities. These days knowing something about geodesign comes close to basic literacy because so many of the issues we have  are only understood if integrated spatial relationships are considered. This is far beyond the basic map reading I learned in school 40 years ago and the statistical analyses I specialized in during the 1980s and 1990s. Geodesign thinking is helping everyone cope with the increased complexity in the world.

In a departure from Coursera courses - I also did a Creative Live course while it was recorded (and free): Outdoor Photography Experience with Chris Burkard. They are recorded on the west coast and I am on the east coast so watching it ‘live’ means watching from noon to 7 for two days! My husband and I watched it together….he is interested in everything; I am more interested in composition and locations than equipment. These video courses are different in that they are all video - no embedded quizzes, no readings, no web based activities. I take notes while I watch….still learn something…and they motivate me to learn more about my camera and try new things photographically. In the particular class - the discussion about water housings got me thinking about getting one for my camera…using it when we travel to waterfalls in western New York and in a few months to Hawaii.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 1, 2015

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

The art of the interchange - Where megahighways cross….17 interchanges seen from above.

Mammoths killed by abrupt climate change - Rapid warming….rather than sudden cold…appears to have been the cause of massive extinctions in the past. The research is based on DNA analysis of ancient DNA and improved statistical processing of the data.

Dumbledores and Bumblebees - Take a look at the great pictures…then read the article. Did you know that Dumbledore takes his name from an Old English term for the bumblebee? And this is an upbeat article…pointing to ways individuals can help out the bumblebees! There are about 250 species of which 25% are in that ‘steep decline’ category.

Explore 25 Lost Cities with This Video - How many of these lost cities have your heard about before?

U.S. breast milk is glyphosate free - Good to know.

Summer Bugs that can Bite You - A summary from a medical perspective. I was disappointed that they didn’t suggest Epsom salts soaks and/or baking soda to reduce discomfort. I often find the calamine lotion and/or hydrocortisone cream ineffective for bites - particularly chiggers.

Sea Otters Use Tools and Archaeologists Are On the Case - ‘Tool making’ used to be thought of as a uniquely human trait…but now there are other animals that make tools. In the Sea otter’s case - they use rocks as tools to break open shells of their food. This article discusses how archaeologists are figuring out how far into their past the animals have been using tools.

The Subway Stop to the Underworld - A beautiful spot in Zion National Park.

Link between intelligence and longevity is mostly genetic - The study involved comparisons of fraternal twins….and probably raises more questions than it answers.

Here's the Weird Reason You Get Tartar on Your Teeth - The info about calcium in this article is more interesting to me than the tartar aspect.

CSA Week 9

Hurray! The share this week included a small watermelon! I had a choice between yellow and red….and chose a yellow.

There were also two kinds of peppers (bell and snack), two kinds of tomatoes (cherry and heirloom), two ‘onions’: chives and purple, purple skinned small potatoes that were still wet from a rain a few hours before our pickup time. I had a choice between lettuce, eggplant or okra and I chose lettuce. And I chose leeks from the overage table.

I envision all kinds of good meals this week…the ones I am thinking of right away are:

Large salads with lettuce, tomato, pepper, chives (edamame or peanuts for protein to make it a meal)

Hash browns made with shredded potatoes (leaving on the purple skins), onion, and bell pepper

Eggs with chives or leek

Stir fry with leek, pepper  and mushrooms (the last ingredient from the grocery store)

Mint Harvest - June 2015

The mint beds are growing profusely this summer - getting an extra boost from the rains in June. I’ve harvested about 70% of the first harvest at this point and will do the rest in the next few days. I put off the harvest because I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to be using it for since I am no longer drinking tea of any kind (part of the behavior change required to eliminate artificial sweeteners); I’ve discovered I like adding dried mint to stir fries and soups! It makes the kitchen smell wonderful and adds a delicate layer of flavor.

The two areas of mint I’ve cut so far are quite different. One is a flowerbed in the front of the house where the mint is concentrated in a huge mound backed by day lilies. It was growing rapidly

And blooming too! I processed both the leaves and the blooms.

The other area was the deck garden. There were several pots thick with mint. One had mint growing on tall stalks. I’ve included and before and after shot.

I rinse off the pile of cut mint in the sink and then strip the leaves. It is a time consuming and tiring process. The NINJA processor is a bit easier to use that then Cuisinart food processor that I finally wore out after many years.

The last load of mint in the processor was combined with 2 lemons (with skins) to use for the apple crisp I plan to make later in the day.

And now the mint is on my white drying tray in a prominent place so that I remember to stir it a few times a day so that it will dry evenly. And then it goes into small soup tureen with a lid; I’m already thinking ahead to all the dishes it will enhance.

Beautiful Food to Savor

It is easier to eat well when food looks appetizing…looks beautiful either on its own or in the way it is presented. Over the past 5 years or so as I’ve gone from overweight down to ‘normal’ weight, I’ve become more thoughtful about making food that is beautiful and tastes good at the same time. It is easier to savor food and be satisfied these days. Here are some ways I have done that for myself:

Beautiful dishes. Even something as simple as hummus with pita bread wedges can look beautiful served in my Blue Tulip glassware!

Prepped to eat. Cutting up the pita into wedges as part of the preparation makes it easier to enjoy the act of eating. I cut of salad into smaller pieces that the regular bagged salads for the same reason; I dislike having salad dressing dribble off a too-large piece of greens.

Make it colorful. Spinach - strawberry - carrot - almond salad…beautiful in a clear glass bowl. The vibrant colors and melding of flavors made this one of my favorite salads in June. In July the ‘red’ veggie can be tomatoes. In the fall, the ‘red’ is apples with the skin left on.  I almost always add carrots or sweet potato for ‘orange’. When the leafy greens are scarce in the hottest weather - I use mint or basil or rosemary to contrast with the white cucumbers (if their skin it too tough to provide the green). Stir fries can be colorful in the same way.

Eat with a view. My favorite way to enjoy an orange for morning snack is to look out the window over my kitchen sink at the deck garden while I am eating. I cut it into wedges and then just observe the birds at the bird feeder and bath…the insects at the flower…the breeze moving the trees in the background.

Fresh is best. Now that I’m on the second year of belonging to a Community Supported Agriculture, I am a believer in the beauty and taste of just harvested produce. I love to eat seasonally.

Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy - July 2015

Brookside Gardens has a live butterfly and caterpillar exhibit in their conservatory running from July 1 to October 25. We tried to go last Saturday but it was too crowded; parking is very limited because of ongoing construction of the lot associated with the visitor’s center. Sunday was better; we arrived at 9:30 AM when there was still plenty of parking and took a look at the outdoor gardens before the exhibit opened at 10.

The exhibit was warm and humid - wonderful for butterflies and only a little uncomfortable for humans. I was glad the space was not overly crowded. My husband and I managed 45 minutes in the sauna like conditions!

There were lots of butterflies to photograph and we made several rounds spotting butterflies that were feeding or resting at every turn. I challenged myself to try capturing butterflies in different poses than the usual wings-spread/from-the-top view.

The patterning on the underside and the intricacy of the head parts show up better in many of these views.

Sometimes a bit of structural color shows up that wasn’t noticeable before…like the bit of blue along the lower edge of the wings (below).

Sometimes it is not clear how they are balanced on the plant…and I’m always surprised when they look ‘hairy.’

I was trying to capture butterflies but noticed that this plant looks a lot like a fiber optic light! The butterfly seems so precariously perched but it was stable enough feed on the flower.

Many of the butterflies looked battered but could still fly effectively and continue to feed.

The one with the pale green area and darker green iridescence might be my favorite for this year.

The large morph butterflies are difficult to catch with their wings open. This one feeding on watermelon had lost part of one wing so the blue color of the other wing was revealed. I saw several with wings like this - and they were still flying!

A clear winged butterfly sat on an elephant ear leaf…and sipped at a water droplet.

3 Free eBooks - July 2015

The three picks for this month are all biologically oriented - flowers, quadrupeds and birds…and they are all a series of books (so instead of just 3 books - the total is more like

Knowles, George Beauchamp and Westcott, Frederic. The floral cabinet and magazine of exotic botany. London: William Smith. 1837. Three volumes available at the Internet Archive: volume 1, volume 2, volume 3. Keep in mind the date…and enjoy the colorful renditions of flowers - some of the very familiar like the poinsettia I clipped as an example.

Audubon, John James; Bachman, John; Audubon, John Woodhouse. Quadrupeds of North America. New York: V.G. Audubon. 1851. The volumes available at the Internet Archive: volume 1, volume 2, volume3. John James Audubon is famous for birds but this series - published at the end of his life - shows that he was interested in more than birds. His son did some (maybe most) of the artwork in the series. Some of the animals are posed awkwardly - just as some of the birds were in earlier work. I liked the chipmunks.

Wilson, Alexander. American ornithology, or, The natural history of the birds of the United States : illustrated with plates engraved and colored from original drawings taken from nature. Philadelphia: Published by Bradford and Inskeep. Printed by Robert Carr. 1808. There are 9 volumes on the Internet Archive: V 1, V 2, V 3, V 4, V 5, V 6, V 7, V 8, and V 9. Wilson was the greatest American ornithologist before Audubon.

Blog: Ten Days of Little Celebrations - July 2015

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. Here are my top 10 for July 2015.

Fireworks on the 4th! -Fireworks are often use as a ‘symbol’ for celebration….I like them in small doses and not too frequently. Somehow the 4th of July is always my favorite event to enjoy fireworks and this year is was so simple - walking about a block from my Parent’s house after spraying myself with insect repellent. It was 15 minutes of summery celebration.

Goldfinches - We have goldfinches that are frequenting our bird feeder and the plants on our deck. I always celebrate seeing them - both for their color and their loopy flight pattern.

A new Coursera course after a hiatus - I had about 2 months of absolutely no Coursera courses….and celebrated starting a new one about Geodesign this month. I’ll ramp up again in the fall probably - but I’m setting three as a maximum. I enjoy the courses tremendously but more than three concurrently is overwhelming.

A day at home - Now that I am post-career, I look back on the time of my life when I left home for work every weekday and some weekends…and I wonder how I did it. I find myself frequently celebrating a day at home these days…it is my favorite place to be!

Hydrangea on the desk - I like having flowers or something else from outdoors as a focal point on my desk even though the view from my office window is wonderful. When I close the drapes to block the afternoon sun - the piece of outdoors that I’ve brought in side sustains me until I can see outdoors again.

A new computer - Not for me…for my Mom.  She has had hand-me-down computers before…so we both celebrated a new one just for her (and that I was there to configure it the way she wanted).

A hike to the Patapsco River - I hiked to the Patapsco River from Belmont with summer campers. It was a hot day and we all celebrated wading in the river before we hiked back. I celebrated when I got home and discovered I’d already gotten the 12,000 steps for the day!

Bug Blitz - Another activity with Belmont summer campers. It was a warm (not too hot) sunny day - perfect for finding bug. The elementary school aged campers were very good at capturing the insects for a photo into iNaturalist. Their enthusiasm was contagious! My favorite was a small moth with orange markings - a chickweed geometer.

Blue jay feather - I found a blue jay feather. It was mostly black but has a rim of blue and black on one edge - unusual looking. I celebrated finding it…and realizing what it was.

Red highlights - We painted a concrete floor - base coat then sprays of green and copper. The final touch was some streaks of dusky red made with a paint coated marble. We all celebrated how great it looked!

Wishing you something to celebrate today!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 25, 2015

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

It's official: Workplace rudeness is contagious and Kids expecting aggression from others become aggressive themselves - For some reason the results of these two studies seemed similar to me. They both found that our environment - and expectation of our environment - have impacts on our own behavior.

This New Map Shows Your Risk of Catching Lyme Disease - Maryland it in the dark blue - not a surprise. I hear often enough about people in our area discovering they have Lyme Disease. Wearing long pants tucked into socks is difficult when it is a hot day.

Iron: A biological element? - Much of the iron of our planet was deposited by bacteria living two and a half billion years ago. At that time in Earth’s development there was little oxygen in the atmosphere and many organisms metabolized iron instead of oxygen.

Intensive End-Of-Life Care on the Rise for Cancer Patients - As the population in the US ages, end-of-life discussion are important to more and more people - not just cancer patients.

What Happens to Your Blog when You Die? Why You Need to Appoint a Social Media Executor NOW - Another ‘end-of-life’ consideration…then one developing because of modern technology.

Let This Video Show You How Air Bubbles Form, Rise, and Erupt in Sand - For anyone that has ever wondered about craters or sand…..high speed video captures more than the eye can detect.

Organization of North America's bird species: List updated - The update includes some reorganization…but also some species new to North America!

E-waste: What we throw away doesn't go away - A problem for just about everywhere in the world…and it is about more than old phones and computers.

5 Simple Tips to Turn Your Yard into Pollinator - Some good basic tips.

The Women Who Rule Pluto - Good to hear that there are technical women behind parts of the Pluto stories in the news recently.