Windblown sand in Ganges Chasma, Valles Marineris, Mars via NASA
“When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.”- John Muir
“Beside the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.” ”-Lin Yutang
An interesting quote by someone who was born in the 19th Century and wrote a book called, The Importance of Living. Do you ever feel like there are many things you should be doing? To have To do Lists to accomplish, to be industrious and a person of action, out in the world fighting for a cause, is what we are told is ideal. I have begun to question if that dynamic person is really who I am, ever have been, and even should aspire to be. For one I am naturally a slow starter in the morning. For another I really don’t like rushing around in a whirlwind of activity. Why is there this great admiration of so-called productivity? Why is running around doing things, or the appearance of, held in such high esteem. There is a lot of satisfaction to be had in following your own path and pace, to savor and appreciate life. So I will put off saving the world for now.
Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt for today is “-inter. Featured image of ‘Supergirl’ by Erika Wittlieb on Pixabay.com
“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.”-Albert Einstein
Don’t assume because someone is older they have nothing to teach you. And don’t assume because you are older you are incapable of learning new things.
One Liner Wednesday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Featured image of Owl by Gellinger on Pixabay.com
“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” -T.S. Eliot
I was rushing across the Middle School yard looking for my classroom. This was to be the first day in the classroom of my mentor, of the first semester of my Accelerated Collaborative Teacher ( ACT) Preparation Program. My aim was to obtain a Special Education Teaching Credential. I was returning to college after 35 years and taking 21 units this first semester. It was an accelerated program after all and I was to complete the course work in two semesters. As I rushed along across the school yard, balancing on my narrow high heeled wedge sandals, arms full of binders, and dragging a rolling backpack, my ankle turned.
I felt a sickening disorientation as I saw the ground rising up toward me. I fell face down on the tarmac. A student came over to ask if I was all right and helped me up. A staff member came over as well to make sure. I felt embarrassed that I was this lady falling down in the middle of the school yard. I said I was OK and was looking for my classroom. He gave me directions and I hurried on. I met my mentor and sat in to observe her class. It wasn’t until the end of the class that I realized I couldn’t put weight on my foot. I had skinned both knees as well. They had to wheel me to the main office in a wheelchair. Later that day I found out I had broken my foot. Maybe this should have been a warning that I might be rushing in the wrong direction with teaching. I went on to complete the semester, with a boot on my foot for a good part of it.
Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Prompt word for today is ‘yard.’ Image ‘Teacher’ via Pixabay.com
” You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” -Jon Kabat-Zinn
One Liner Wednesday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Featured Image ‘ Beach, Pacific Coastline’ by Roger Mosley on Pixabay.com
“When I am constantly running there is no time for being. When there is no time for being there is no time for listening.”-Madeleine L’Engle
Does activity spell virtue or worth. Just because you are not doing anything does not mean you are doing nothing. Why is activity such a virtue? To be bustling around looking busy, saying to the world I have important work to do. One can be standing still and still doing a lot….of thinking.
Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted Linda G Hill. Word prompt for today, “spell.” Featured image ‘Texture’ by cocoparisienne on Pixabay.com
“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.”-Pablo Neruda
I have noticed that some of my rose bushes in the front yard are under aphid attack. I was busy pruning when I noticed a lady bug on one of the leaves. It was a bright red one with black polka dots. I stood there admiring it for several minutes and I said hello and thank you. I was thinking if a neighbor heard me talking to the lady bug they would think I was a bit crazy. I took the ladybug as a sign of hope.
Lady bug on a leaf by Alvesgaspar
One Liner Wednesday is hosted by Linda G Hill.
We started doing some landscaping of our property last year. We had the help of a contractor which is good because neither my husband or myself are handy that way. There is a small section in the backyard, that once was lawn, where I wanted to have something low maintenance and drought tolerant. I did not want to have to hire a gardener again or mow and water a lawn. So for the small plot in the back, I picked out ground cover , and my husband and I chose plants, and some fruit trees to add to the succulents and trees that were already there. We put in more succulents, sage, and few other flowering plants. I planted the woolly thyme ground cover myself. On the whole, everything we planted seems to be doing well. Some of the trees and bushes in our backyard were already there when we bought the house many years ago, and I did not know anything about them. I decided I wanted learn and I started doing some research. My daughter recommended an App for my android that helps to identify plants and trees. So I started making observations and taking photos to see what I had growing in my yard. There is a tree, near one wall, that a gardener had said was a Manzanita. Every winter it has small red berries that the birds and squirrels like to eat. I noticed the tree was starting to flower again with small unopened buds. I took a photo of the tree and used my new App to see if I could get it identified. The App was not able to give me an answer so I had to take my research online. I looked at many websites, studying many descriptions and images of leaves and trees. I had noticed that there was this cotton-y like fluff scattered on a few branches. At first I thought it was part of the tree. I was excited when I finally identified my tree as a Pyracantha. One thing mentioned in the description of the tree was thorns which I hadn’t noticed initially. It does have sharp thorns. I found out what the cotton-y fluff was too. It was not part of the tree but something produced by a type of aphid called woolly apple aphid. Yikes, how was I going to get rid of these aphids? Further research led me to aphid predators. I found out there are wasps who lay their eggs in the aphids and turn them into aphid mummies. Other predators of the aphids are syrphid or hover flies, ladybugs, earwigs, and green lacewings. I found something else on a few of the leaves, a reddish dusty looking coating. Turned out that was spider mites. This was getting upsetting because I did not want aphids and spider mites to eat my tree. I did decide to prune a small branch that had more aphids and spider mites than some of the other branches. I wanted to control these little invaders without using pesticides. More research led me to Neem Oil, which is organic. I have to be careful with it because it can hurt the ‘good’ insects and bees. I have decided to hold off on the Neem Oil a bit because I have observed natural predators on my tree. I have been so excited to see syrphid flies and a few green lacewings landing on the branches. I have gone from being a novice gardener to an amateur entomologist in just a few weeks.
My contribution to the My Stuff Writing Challenge on Almost Iowa @almostiowa.com. Featured image ‘Juene femme lisant dans un jardin’ by Henri Lebasque via Wikimedia.
Sarah Bernhardt via Wikimedia
Her dress was a fantastical frou frou fantasy, covered with a collection of geegaws, dodads, and whatnots. It could stand up by itself in the closet of her dressing room. It rustled so loudly that it drowned out the voices of the other actors. It was almost like another character in the play. It took all her acting skill to keep the dress from upstaging her. It was so heavy that it was hard for her to even moo….ve.
Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Word prompt for today ” moo” or a word that rhymes with it.
“You need to live in a dome initially, but over time you could terraform Mars to look like Earth and eventually walk around outside without anything on… So it’s a fixer-upper of a planet.”
― Elon Musk
That would be the scary part, living in a dome with no air to breath outside. NASA has been funding studies on how humans would tolerate living on Mars by recreating a similar environment on Earth. Do you think we could really live on Mars?
It is argued that life on Earth may be destroyed by an asteroid impact and we need to find other planets to live on to ensure that man will survive. It would be a good idea to work on ways to prevent asteroids from hitting Earth. Maybe that should be the priority. There is the argument that this is about science and some say there is a wealth of resources on other planets, moons, and asteroids. The science part interests me most.
On a lighter note, will we have Mars Bars on Mars? This is making me hungry. Not sure about Deep Fried Mars Bars, though. I like frozen candy bars better.
One Liner Wednesday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Featured image taken by Mars MRO Orbiter, NASA, of ‘Yardangs‘ or sand dune formations created by wind.
