February 29

Happy Leap Day!  Steve Hanke and Richard Conn Henry from Johns Hopkins have suggested a new permanent calendar and a single global time zone.  It's very intriguing and definitely challenged my unconscious assumption that it didn't need changing.  And yet they make some very good arguments....  Mary

February 28

Today is my friend Terri's birthday.  We've known each other since kindergarten.  We were friends through high school and roomed together our first year of college.  Terri has lived in Alaska for many, many years.  We've always stayed in touch through each of us raising two daughters, sending Christmas and birthday cards.  Last winter we were able to both be in our hometown of Streator at the same time.  It was the first time we'd seen each other in nearly 30 years.  What a treat that was!

Forget-me-nots are my favorite flower and the Alaskan state flower.  The photo is of Park Street in Streator with the steeple of Immaculate Conception Church in the distance.  We both sat through many a Mass in that church.  Happy Birthday, Terri!  Mary

February 27

We are almost to the end of February, even with its extra day.  On Wednesday it will only be three weeks until the first day of spring, ending the winter-that-wasn't.

The paper whites are in full flower and full scent in the kitchen.  This will be that last batch until next winter.  But soon there will be lovely spring bulbs blooming in the yard.... Mary

February 26

The family reunion was wildly successful.  The food was amazing.  The water park was fun for the kids.  But mostly it was just great to be together.

It was all made possible by and celebrated in honor of Kate and Con.  As Eileen said when we were looking through family pictures after the funerals, "Who knew we were descended from movie stars?"

February 25

So much fun, so much yummy food!  This is about half the food.  There's all the food in the kitchen fridge, the non-perishables that don't need the fridge, and the food that's cooked as needed like pasta....  Mary

February 24

Posting first thing in the morning today rather than last thing at night so I don't forget once the fun of having the whole family together begins.  Of course, after the winter-that-wasn't, we got snow last night.  All the roads should be well cleaned off before everyone starts out.  And we're all intrepid Midwestern drivers so shouldn't be a problem.

Last night Rick and I finally faded off to bed at midnight leaving Anne in the kitchen.  It will be interesting to know just how late she stayed here cooking.  Thankfully, she had the good sense to leave the brownies and corn bread for me to bake this morning, from a mix so not hard.  I don't think I mentioned, Anne is cooking for 16 people for three days!  Mary

February 23

Anne is over tonight cooking and cooking and cooking for the family reunion.  She will have everything ready so that it can just be put in the oven to bake when folks get here.  This is the French toast breakfast casserole for Saturday morning.

There's nothing this girl can't do!  There are spreadsheets of ingredients to procure, timelines for preparation, recipe printouts, and instructions on each pan for baking  Anne says she just approached all this as though it were a big project at work.  That may be true, but she's still the most competent person I know at organizing and making things happen....  Mary

February 22

My mouth is still a bit sore today, but drugs help a lot.  Monster helped me in the studio tonight, too.... Mary

February 21

Today I had an emergency root canal.  Ouch!

Because of my hip replacement I'm required to pre-medicate with an antibiotic dose before I go to the dentist.  It's just a precaution against the possible introduction of infection to the blood stream.  The pharmacist had mentioned that they had a different source of the amoxicillin this time so the capsules would look different.  I didn't pay any attention to them at the time, but they were certainly colorful when I opened the bottle....  Mary

February 20

It's Presidents' Day.  I'm watching PBS' American Experience on Bill Clinton.  A fascinating, if flawed, man....  Mary

Mt. Rushmore

February 19

It was another lovely, sunny February day in the winter that wasn't.  We're more than halfway through February and still no serious snow.  Let's hope the messy mix they're predicting for this coming week turns out to be minor.

Nebulae are some of the most beautiful images that NASA brings us back from space.  I know nebulae are basically dying suns, but they certainly go out with a spectacular show....  Mary

Planetary nebulae

February 18

It was a lovely, calm day.  The cat experiment worked fairly well.  For the most part Duvy and Monster just stay downstairs, wandering upstairs from time to time to have a look around.  I got to see my friend JK for coffee, and we had a such a lovely time.

While looking for something else on the Internet, I came across this image of the Cat's Paw Nebula.  How amazing.... Mary

Cat's Paw Nebula

February 17

Two years ago, Eileen moved back to Madison and has been living with us while she goes back to school.  She brought her two cats, Duvy and Monster, with her.  Our old cat Mittens was very clear that she would not be sharing her house with any interlopers.  So Eileen's cats have lived with her in the lower level of the house.  This has worked out very well.  Now that Mittens is gone, we are attempting the grand experiment of opening the door to the lower level and letting the boys come upstairs.  It will be an interesting weekend. 

I can't believe I got both of them to stand still long enough to be in focus.  Of course, they were waiting for treats.  Duvy is the big panda bear of a cat, and Monster is the odd eyed Turkish angora who we believe to be part space alien....  Mary

February 16

The second round of paperwhites are in flower.  Just intoxicating....  Mary

February 15

It's been one of those days when I've felt like I'm going around in circles and not getting anywhere.

Anne and I picked up Mitten's ashes today.  The lovely folks at the animal hospital made a paw print for us.  It was very sweet and thoughtful of them....  Mary

February 14

A big Valentine wish for my sweetie of 37+ years....  Mary

February 13

Back to the weekly routine....  Mary

February 12

It's always a good day when I learn something I never knew before:  Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day, February 12, 1809.  Two men who certainly changed the world.

Rick and Eileen are huge fossil fans who have boxes of them in the garage.  And this is after we thinned the collection when we moved.  We set up tables and benches in our front yard with fossils, crystals, and rocks on them with a sign that said, "Please take one."  We had folks coming from blocks away who had heard about the rocks.  Little children made their parents walk them over every evening after dinner for a week so they could choose another rock.  Finally, a grade school science teacher came and took all that were left for her classes.  It was a wonderful experiment in sharing with the neighborhood.

The fossil in the picture was a Christmas present to me from Rick years and years ago.  It's an eons old ginko leaf that sits in my studio....  Mary

February 11

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.  The Catholic church only recognizes ten of the more than 500 apparitions reported over the centuries.  Bernadette Soubirous experienced the Marian apparition at Lourdes in 1858 when she was just 14.  I find it interesting that these apparitions appear to poor shepherd children, an unemployed miller's daughter, an indigenous Mexican, not to popes, cardinals, or theologians. 

The blue enameled medal is from Lourdes.  There is a plastic well on the back of the medal that originally contained holy water from the shrine.  It has long since dried out.  These two medals are on my rosary.  The rosary is often described as the Catholic mantra.  Having been raised Catholic and attended Catholic school, saying the rosary is second nature.  Of course now I use gender neutral language in the prayers....  Mary

February 10

It's the end of rather awful work week, so it's nice to be to the weekend.

Today is the feast of St. Scholastica, the twin sister of St. Benedict.  Scholastica founded a women's monastery near Benedict's monastery.  The Rule of Benedict is the basis for much of Western monastic life.  Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB, wrote a wonderful commentary on The Rule and is an amazing teacher for our fragile and fearful times.

Every day we make our souls new again. ~ Joan Chittiser

Each morning we are born again.  What we do today is what matters most. ~ Buddha

February 9

This afternoon I had some very minor foot surgery.  It will be interesting to see what it feels like in the morning when all the numbness wears off.  At least I'm feeling a little more grounded today....  Mary

February 8

Very much a brain fuzz day.  Definitely need to go to bed soon.  Cannot think any more....  Mary

February 7

This morning my coworker's father died very suddenly, very unexpectedly.  I sure hope Rebecca and her family are doing all right tonight.

This afternoon we had to put our 18 year old cat, Mittens, to sleep.  She had an adorable pink nose and wonderful whiskers.  I keep expecting to see her around every corner probably because she always was for years and years....  Mary

February 6

There was a review of a book, Connectome by Sebastian Seung, in this weekend's Wall Street Journal.  The reviewer, Daniel Levitin of McGill University, described the book as "the best lay book on brain science I've ever read."  Since I'm a lay person working with neuroscientists all day long, I figured it might be a good read so I ordered it from Amazon.  (The library doesn't have it.)  I came across a cool electron microscope image of a myelinated neuron on Google, so it inspired today's circle.

Eileen brought this lovely glass piece (1.25" x .75") from the oldest voodoo shop in the French Quarter.  A local New Orleans' woman artist makes these tiny pieces.  It has a lovely feel in the hand, cool and smooth.  Like all glass, it is slightly heavier than you would expect for its size.  The weight of my beaded pieces always surprise me.  All those tiny seed beads add up....  Mary

February 5

The hardest working birds in the world are chickadees.  They stay here all winter and work our bird feeders endlessly.  Probably anthropomorphising but I swear when the feeder at the kitchen window is empty, the chickadees land on it and scold me until we fill it again. 

We're two nights away from the full moon, but the sky was so gorgeous tonight.  What a shade of blue.... Mary