April 13 -- color in the landscape

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We've had some green all winter, thanks to all the evergreens.

So green in the landscape, at this time of year, isn't quite as exciting as yellow or purple.  Nevertheless, I'm glad to see green on the ground.

And blue/purple.  Squill.

Sunshine, on a cloudy day.

Daffodils, almost.

Maple tree flowers.  This whole bunch was less than one inch across.

Not much turquoise in the natural landscape, here in Michigan......  (If we look closely, we can see a little green in the shrubs behind these chairs.)

I've seen lots of tulip leaves, but this is the first evidence I've seen of tulip blooms.

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epigenetics

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It's almost time for my Coursera epigenetics class to begin.

They sent us to brush up on basics before the class begins.  This page has the most interesting of the videos I've seen so far.  (The others were cool to see, but lacked narration, and so were less useful to me than they could have been....)

It's mind-blowing how much we know about genetics, now, that we had no clue about 20, 15, or even 10 years ago..................

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April 13 -- grocery-store flowers

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Busch's, on Ann Arbor/Saline road.

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watch puppies; raise money

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The more views this video gets, the more money is raised to help dogs. 



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peanut brittle

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I love Zingerman's peanut brittle, and I'm not alone................ 

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....................

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Not so Silly Putty: UM researchers use one of its components to turn stem cells into spinal cord cells

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Ok, this the research described in this article is really cool............

Not so Silly Putty: UM researchers use one of its components to turn stem cells into spinal cord cells 

Not that the research actually has anything to do with Silly Putty, but still.

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April 11

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Heading to the airport, before the sun was high in the sky.  My daughter was going off to Maryland to visit friends.

Driving to the airport is not one of my favorite things, but it was as stress-free as that trip can be.  I-94 is in pristine shape, compared to Ann Arbor roads, which are very, VERY bad at present.  I had wondered how 94 would be, but it was lovely.  Just a few bad patches, which aren't nearly as bad as much of Huron Street (which I drove on to get to the highway).  And there was surprisingly little traffic, for rush hour........

Hardly anyone else was getting dropped off at 8:30 am.  The sky was cool, but you can't tell from this pic, alas.  Looking north.

Looking north, again.  Another not-so-great pic, but you can at least see that there was a lot going on........

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April 10

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We've seen rather a lot of the dog's shadow, lately.  Here's mine, as I headed downstairs with my tea cup.  Note I am only wearing a tshirt with my sweatpants!  No fleece jacket; no bathrobe.........

I enjoyed breakfast with my friend.

I happened to look out the window and notice the jet trails............

I walked home.

This tree had a lot of these cones with the spiky things (are those the seeds,I wonder?).

Crocus.

Sky over the Slauson back field.  More jet trails.

I couldn't decide if I liked the above better, or this one....

THAT's what I'm talking about.  Green, and PURPLE.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.............

With some interesting houses to look at.  I believe the white-painted decoration on the pediment is raised, as well as painted.

Triangular pediment, supported by columns.  Very Greek and Roman.

I am still listening to Roman Architecture.  One of her favorite themes is Roman architecture being "a model, and a spur" to those who came after.  It is surely true that one sees "the common vocabulary of Roman architecture" here, there, and everywhere............

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heartbleed

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I feel like I was one of the last to hear about the heartbleed vulnerability.

Having worked in IT for 30 years, I'm used to being more on top of things, and was surprised to only hear about heartbleed from my daughter after "everyone" had known about it for some time.

I still have yet to see or hear anything about it that I wasn't looking for.  I do not regularly listen to news, but I am surprised to have not heard even a whisper on the interwebs.

Heartbleed is for real, y'all, and if you haven't yet changed your significant passwords since before last week, you might want to get right on that.................

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translate-a-thon

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Here's a cool idea -- the University of Michigan held a translate-a-thon, inviting volunteers to do translation for non-profit groups.

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April 9

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Walking to yoga.  Clouds over West Park.

Ok, the color both of these pics is pretty odd.  No thanks, Blogger, for messing with my pics!  Please (please, please, please) just leave them as I have them!  Sheesh!



The pond in West Park isn't very deep.  I saw something on the weather channel, back in February, maybe, talking about how the snow over the ice on shallow ponds or lakes might result in a lot of fish-kill, as there wouldn't be much light getting through to enable any plants down there make oxygen for the fish.

This pond is neither big nor deep, but its resident goldfish seem to have weathered the very cold, very snowy winter just fine, thankyouverymuch.

I wonder about the muskrat. 

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April 8

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Early-morning sun, reflected by wet street.

This time he was awake when I started,

and fell asleep as I was taking pics.

Walking, late afternoon.  It wasn't really this dark.  This is the camera doing its best to make sense of a very bright sky and very dark trees.

Crocus!

Winter aconite!

Blue sky.  Not too much wind.  Hooray.

This pile of snow was probably working on 2' tall.  It was in a pretty shady place.

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April 7

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Walking me.

It was the crocus that caught my eye -- a spot of gold in a sea of brown.

Then I noticed this.  I wonder what it was.

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April 6

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It is difficult, and not at all gratifying, to try to take care of someone whose only wish is to not NEED anyone to do anything for him.

While we are completely sympathetic to *not wanting* to deteriorate and become less and less able to do things, it is trying when needed help is strenuously rejected.

I believe he wants so badly for recent setbacks to be temporary that he can't acknowledge any other possibility.  I don't suppose he can see that his behavior and his choices have him going head-long toward the next fall, and the next hospitalization.

He's still plenty coherent enough that no one would declare him incompetent, but on some topics, I'm pretty sure incompetent is the only possible true conclusion.

I am reminded of an elderly person I knew 50 years ago, who was completely coherent on the topic of what a "papal encyclical" was, but who thought it was reasonable that I (at 13 years of age) should move into his house, because he apparently believed my presence there would mean it was ok for him to go back home (from the retirement community which was required for his safety)..........

Sigh.



Have you ever noticed how the main topic of a tv detective show may be familial relations between the victim of the crime and his/her family, and then, often, a sub-plot is about the detective's own family issues?

While we shop for raised toilet seats and electronic pill-taking-reminder gadgets, at home the dog is losing his marbles.  Eating more random stuff he'd never have messed with a year ago -- aluminum foil from the top of a yogurt container and hazel-nut shells he finds on walks.

Taking care of him is getting more annoying......  At least I am the boss of him, and can prevent him nosing around where I know there are hazel-nut shells......  Whether he likes it or not. 

Watching a dog like a hawk, so he doesn't eat anything he shouldn't, is no fun.  I'm thinking I need to shop for a muzzle.  One that will let him pant and breathe easily, but one that will make it more difficult for him to ingest things he oughtn't............

Raised toilet seats, muzzles -- do I know how to have fun while shopping, or what???

Sigh.


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April 5 -- shadows, mostly

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Bert and Peter and I, out for a mosey.

It was bright and sunny, but it was too windy to really be experienced as "nice."

Crocus!

Snow, with my helpful model for scale.

I like to watch what happens with his feet and his shadow's feet.....

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April 5 -- grocery-store flowers

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Busch's, on Ann Arbor/Saline.

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