pointless jabber

Lately I’ve been wondering why the oyster shells we see on the beach at night have no barnacles on them. None at all. I’ve been wondering what kinds of clam we have down there that extend itself out of the sand enough that it looked like it could have its own porno movie. How far did that Doug-fir tree sail before it washed up on the beach at La Push, and what kind of storm would that have been?

But even more distracting, Master Gardeners needs a lot of publicity these days, and the grants cycle is underway. My friend May finally got a carpentry job. I’ve been increasing my power walking with my neighbor. I’ve had meetings, doctor appointments both work and social, lectures to attend and plays to enjoy.

Hence the “lazy” part of the name.

’round the mountain

This evening we needed to drop hobbitt’s “blue” car off at the mechanics for its 50k service. When we got back from our evening dog walk, I dropped him and the dogs off, and we drove both our cars over to Circle and Square. For some reason unknown to me, I began to sing as I drove down Prospect Avenue.

“She’ll be comin’ ’round the mountain when she comes…” I could remember the second verse and I thought I remembered the third, but it was a stretch.

How many times had I sung this song at Girl Scout camp? Two, three thousand? Why hadn’t it been stored in my long-term memory?

So after hobbitt dropped off his car and we returned home, I started Googling.

Turns out the song is believed to come from the late 1800’s, though the first version appeared in 1927, in Carl Sandburg’s The American Songbag. I’m not sure how I feel about the word songbag. It sounds vaguely dirty.

Anyway, prior to this song there was a “Negro spiritual” called “When the Chariot Comes” using the same tune and form. Its introduction into Appalachia brought about the lyrics change and it was often sung by railroad work gangs in the 1890’s.

Carl Sandburg has suggested that the “she” in the song is a reference to Mother Jones, who was promoting labor unions in Appalachian coal mining camps.

A German song, “Tante aus Marokko”, shares the melody. Of course, my favorite rendition is Bender from Futurama:

Well, I’ll shoot her with my ray gun when she comes,

Yes, I’ll shoot her with my ray gun when she comes,

Yes, I’ll shoot her with ray gun, oh, I’ll shoot her with my ray gun

Oh, I’ll shoot her with my ray gun when she comes

When she comes!

I’ll be blasting all the humans in the world,

I’ll be blasting all the humans in the world,

I’ll be blasting all the humans, I’ll be blasting all the humans,

I’ll be blasting all the humans in the world,

In the world!

Anyway, now I have no idea what to cook reheat for dinner, and I still haven’t called the insurance agent about combining our home and auto policies within one company. The kitchen is a mess, since I made peanut-butter cookies today. I should have been brushing my old doggy Inti’s matted coat. Another lost evening. And you know why.

the roots of epiphytic plants

You know what a plant root is, right? I thought I did. After all, I am a WSU-trained master gardener. Never mind that I detest gardening.

Roots are the main water-absorbing structures of plants. And while they’re present on most plants, it’s not true for all. Wolfiella, the tiniest of the duckweeds, for example, never forms roots, nor do whisk ferns. Or Spanish moss, which isn’t even a moss.

By definition, a root must have vascular tissue, xylem to transport water, and phloem to transport sugars. Rhizoids are present on lichens and liverworts, which are non-vascular plants, and while they do conduct water, they have no actual vascular tissue.

Aerial roots allow climbing plants and epiphytes to anchor to rocks and bark. Attachment is their primary function. The other structures of epiphytic plants capture, absorb and store water and nutrients. Think of the “cup” of a bromeliad. It turns out that mosses get their nutrition from water vapor and air – clouds, mist and fog.

This information, in turn, led me to look into autotrophic organisms, pneumatophores, and lignotubers, and before you know it, it’s time to take the dogs down to the beach for their night walk, dinner is in no way near to being ready, and I’ve forgotten to eat. Again.

winding trails

hobbitt and I attended a lecture by Nalini Nadkarni today as part of the School of Athens series. To say that she was a brilliant speaker is an understatement. She talked not so much about her work (specifically, the study of epiphytes living in rainforest canopies and their role in nutrient absorption and distribution) but about her ideas to bring science out of its place in academia and into the lives and hearts of ordinary people.

And yes, she richly deserved the standing ovation she received.

While we were walking back to the car, hobbitt wondered aloud about what the differences might be between ground plant roots and epiphytic plant roots.

So I  spent some time doing your basic Googling on the subject, and the result was a lost afternoon. And this new blog. Here I will attempt to share the incredibly random thoughts that enter my head, reach out into the information superhighway, and waste just about all of my time.

Enjoy.