Sunday, 25 January 2009
Earlier, I looked at this picture and the word that came to my wandering mind was Fibonacci. This isn’t the right proportion to represent a Fibonacci sequence (I think—or at least it’s not a logarithmic spiral), but it is nevertheless quite visually appealing.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
I’m surprised the incoming White House minions haven’t done a better job of keeping the new administration’s website current. I know it’s a bit of a pain, but when design the site with sections that by definition will need frequent attention, it’s rather obvious when they aren’t being updated.
The WH blog is painfully scanty and out of date. They did get the first Proclamation listed fairly soon after Obama signed it. The Executive Orders signed yesterday, however, weren’t posted until, I think, this morning—really sub-par, I’d say. These signal important policy shifts.
Monday, 19 January 2009
Nandina in winter mode (berries are poisonous), glowing even on an overcast day….
I keep hearing that this inauguration will be historic….
However. I can’t imagine that the inauguration of any President of the USA, or even of Bolivia or Botswana, is not historic.
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Cypress knees are odd plant forms—function not quite nailed down….
This afternoon: sunny, pleasant.
This morning: rainy, overcast, grey.
Yesterday afternoon included fifteen minutes of snow flurries. No lie!
Sunday, 11 January 2009
I’ve seen three cherry trees with branches in bloom this week. Seriously. But they better watch out; it’s supposed to be pretty cold this week.
For some warmth, check out the hot (mostly meaning electric—your tax dollars at work, I guess) cars at the Detroit Auto Show. I recommend Nancy’s blog for well-rounded reporting including videos, and the NYTimes for totally conventional (haha) coverage.
Sunday, 4 January 2009
Today has been so overcast that the outdoors seems like it just quit raining, although it hasn’t really rained since the dark hours. Droplets still cling to vegetation, signs, vehicles—no significant evaporation under these conditions!
In the meantime, I’m trying to track down a good bread machine recipe that uses lots of flax (aka linseed) meal, which is high in omega-3s and fiber, yet tastes good. Historically, flax was a darned important plant in the Old World, for both food and fiber (linen* is flax-thread cloth).
* A bit of etymology: lingerie is from the French linge, referring to washable linen clothing, thus undergarments.
Saturday, 3 January 2009
The lichens and mosses are very happy to soak up our winter rains.
We walked to the Saturday organic farmer’s market (with real farmers, even if they use hydroponics and greenhouses) this morning, and I lost count of the houses we passed with “for sale” signs in front of them….
The common technical term for this kind of market is the (weekly—or similar; periodicity varies) periodic market. They concentrate marketing, and are perfect if the vendors or buyers have to invest considerable travel time to reach the marketplace. Traditional market systems feature periodic markets, which allow vendors to be part-time or small-scale. In areas where most market activity is conducted at periodic markets, the market day rotates among major communities/market locations across a region.
Personally, I think periodic markets are pretty darned interesting when you think about their origins and development…. Bunching up trading is advantageous in multiple ways: e.g., it’s easier to tax by spatially and temporally bunching market activities, it’s safer for participants, it frees everyone for non-market activities (especially production) on the intervening days, it allows different communities to have markets with no simultaneous competitor in the immediate area.
* Apologies; this refers to the Mother Goose nursery rhyme: “To market, to market, to buy a fat pig…“.
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Much as I liked yesterday’s autumnal clematis (thanks for the ID, Janet!), I’m going for it today. Here’re some glorious tulips from several years back.
Somehow I failed to put on my to-do list to gather a few bulbs from the local hardware store for forcing. Usually I prepare a small display of paperwhites for Mom for Xmas. Can’t believe I forgot….
Monday, 22 December 2008
No new pictures today (oh, wait, there is one, but it’s still incarcerated on the iPhone—but I digress), so I went digging in the archives, thinking the weather’s nasty, I’ll find a fine flower picture to brighten everyone’s day. So, I looked at a bunch of flower pictures, but decided that given the weather it may be a tad depressing to see a lovely lush out-of-season flower. Then I spotted this autumnal dry something-or-other from late September, and decided that it might strike the right note.
You be the judge. Does it?
Saturday, 20 December 2008
Honestly, this picture is from today; sorry for the iPhone non-focus….
Atlanta’s in one of those weather quirks that happen every now and then. The high today was almost 70°. What a contrast to the white winter we saw earlier this week in the Midwest!