tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37426026175101603272024-03-13T06:02:27.544-07:00Natural MusingsNo One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-39746495455517155662014-10-23T15:00:00.003-07:002014-10-23T15:00:47.226-07:00Hiking Angels Landing, Zion National Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After spending a year in Florida working as a horticultural intern for a public garden, I returned to my home state of California just recently on a 4-week cross-country road trip. I decided to take my time getting home, hitting up 18 states on my way home. One of the last stops on my trip was Zion National Park in Utah. I spent a lovely couple of days here a few years ago on a post-graduation road trip with a friend. We hiked the Narrows, which was one of the most enjoyable hikes I have ever been on. It's an 8 mile slog of a hike through a beautiful red rock canyon. You hike through the river most of the way. It was so enjoyable to be wading through a rocky canyon, passing rappelling rock climbers along the way. The hike really takes it out of you. My legs felt like jelly near the end, to the point where they rebelled against me, refusing to continue and causing me to fall awkwardly in the river, laughing loudly. <br />
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On my return to Zion I decided to try a different hike. This time I stayed at a ranch above the park, the Zion Ranch Resort, where I was able to tent camp for $11/night. This meant my journey to my morning hike started with a sunrise driving descent down the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, which winds through the park to the visitor center. I drove through several tunnels, including one which was over a mile long, which is a claustrophobic experience that is at once humbling and a bit troubling, but all-together wonderful! I was surprised as I passed by several cutouts in the rock- carved windows. It took all I had to not stop to peer through them. You can't stop in the tunnel, as traffic is difficult as it is. The road was created in the 1920s- I can't imagine the crazy blasting and labor that went into the creation of the road. On my descent down the grade the next day I saw a Desert Bighorn Sheep as I waited in the line for the exceedingly long and awesome tunnel.<br />
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This is one of my favorite drives ever. Every time I drove it the canyon looked different, under different weather and light conditions. With a rather large, stupid grin perma-stuck to my face, I drove like the tourist that I was, stopping at many of the turnouts to get out and take a million photos of the same landscape because there was no way I could encapsulate such beauty in any one photo. Finally I arrived at the visitor center. As I got out, exchanged my flip flops for my hiking boots and threw the ingredients for pb and j sandwiches in my Camelback, I spotted movement across the street. Some photographers had gathered to take pictures of a deer and two fawns grazing in front of the towering red rock landscape. I thought to myself "This place is frickin' magical!" I hadn't even made it to the shuttle and I was in love all over again.<br />
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I took the bus to The Grotto (no cars allowed on the main drive, by the way, unless you stay at the Zion Lodge). This stop is the jumping-off point for several hikes, including the West Rim Trail to Angel's Landing. On the bus ride up I became slightly concerned about taking this hike, considering the narrative being played over the loudspeaker, which strongly encouraged hikers to skip this hike if they are afraid of heights or are beginning hikers. The description in the guide distributed by the park states "Long drop-offs. Not for young children or anyone fearful of heights. Last section is a route along a steep, narrow ridge to the summit." I heard stories of many who turned back or waited for braver members of their party at a specific tree, where the trail narrowed and the chain trail began. They called the tree "The Widowmaker."<br />
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Still, I departed the bus with a great sense of excitement to start the steep ascent of the 5.4 mile hike. To get to the trail head you pass over a metal and wooden bridge over the Virgin River, with majestic rockscapes on all side of you and cottonwoods waving brightly in the breeze. The beginning of the trail made me feel a cow in a herd of cattle, winding in single-file with my fellow-hikers, slowly up the ever-increasingly-steep switchbacks to the top. I stopped to allow a tarantula to cross the path, pointing him out to the hikers behind me, with mixed reactions from the crowd. Many people are terrified of them, as if they think the tarantula will jump on them. I find them to be quite peaceful creatures though and have held them on several occasions.<br />
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After what seemed like a long schlep of panting and hiking ever-upward, the path cut through a canyon between two mountains. It felt cooler here as I entered an unusual riparian habitat. It was a nice change as the day was growing hotter and I was regretting my choice of jeans, rather than light hiking pants. The wall of rock to my right held odd formations that must have been formed from previous floods, with odd pockets and holes you could almost climb into. Then I got to a section of the hiker which I later learned was named "Walter's Wiggle," named after their creator, the park's 1st superintendent. They are tighter than the previous switchbacks and are paved in asphalt. There are 21 of them, leading to a plateau that I foolishly thought for a moment was the top. Oh no- we were just getting started.<br />
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I stopped for a moment to consider the compostable toilets present on this plateau- how did they get those things up here? I took a moment to consider the work that has been put into this hike over the years by trail crews- incredible. Then I took in the hike ahead of me-a single-file rock climbing adventure along the very narrow peak to the top. There is quite the procession of people ascending and descending, pausing to allow safe passage. I also noticed that here began the silver chain that was fated to become my instant friend. This is what you clung to in hairy points of the hike, where I thought I might fall some 1400 feet to my death. Nothing but air on either side of you, and no room for error. I considered stopping for a second, but quickly told myself I would make it to the top because I had made it this far and I am not one to turn back. I knew I would regret it forever if I didn't finish the hike.<br />
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I made it to the top, along with about 20 others. It was a bit of a
party atmosphere at the top. People took selfies, ate lunch and even
played music on speakers they brought along. The feeling began to dawn
on me as I at my pb&j that the journey was, in fact, only halfway
over. I still had the descent- and what a knee-shaking one it was! By
the time I got back to the bottom of the trail and crossed the bridge my
legs were protesting loudly. But I had done it! The hike to Angel's Landing had turned out to be one of my favorites of all the hikes I had experienced! <br />
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<br />No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-87033989726791790772011-10-10T14:38:00.000-07:002011-10-10T14:38:45.123-07:00Organic Produce ShoppingHello everyone and sorry for the pause in writings. I have been preoccupied searching for a job and the search continues! So if you are an employer checking out my writing skills, read on. And everyone else can read on as well.<br />
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The topic of the day is what fruits/vegetables are the most worth buying organic. I know that it is often financially impossible for people to buy all their food organic, but with some forethought we can buy what is best for us and still support local organic farms. I had been mulling this in my brain for some time now, when I came upon an article that talked about which organics are best to buy and which you should pass on. I think it gives a great framework to shop with. Here it is, in a nutshell:<br />
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The Dirty Dozen (Produce you would be better off buying organic):<br />
1. Apples<br />
2. Celery<br />
3. Strawberries<br />
4. Peaches<br />
5. Spinach- I have definitely tasted the difference between organic and non-organic spinach. My organic spinach lasted longer than the non-organic and tasted cleaner.<br />
6. Nectarines<br />
7. Grapes <br />
8. Sweet bell peppers<br />
9. Potatoes<br />
10. Blueberries<br />
11. Lettuce<br />
12. Kale<br />
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The Clean 15 (Produce that has lower levels of pesticides)<br />
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1. Onions<br />
2. Sweet Corn<br />
3. Pineapples<br />
4. Avocado<br />
5. Asparagus<br />
6. Sweet peas<br />
7. Mangoes<br />
8. Eggplant<br />
9. Cantaloupe- domestic<br />
10. Kiwi<br />
11. Cabbage<br />
12. Watermelon<br />
13. Sweet potatoes<br />
14. Grapefruit<br />
15. Mushrooms<br />
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<a href="http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/">Source: Environmental Working Group's (EWG) Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce</a><br />
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Essentially, if there is ever a question of where a product comes from in your produce section or at the Farmer's Market, feel free to ask the stockers/ farm representatives. In general, though, in the store it should be on the little stickers they label the fruit with.No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-17754228045578520302011-10-10T14:20:00.000-07:002011-10-10T14:23:07.095-07:00How I Hate Thee, Fremontodendron (A Poem in Two Fits)<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Not all plants you encounter are entirely pleasant. Many of them have defense mechanisms. Here's a poem I wrote recently out of frustration with a plant I ran into.</b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><b>Darn you Flannel Bush! (<i>Fremontodendron californicum</i> for those who care) I am sure you are the source behind the contact dermatitis on my arms (read: rash). Only poetry can truly express my hatred:</b></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">If nevermore should I see</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A plant that is so flannel...ly</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I shall click my heels together with glee</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For my clothes shall be hair-free.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As I wade through your prickly sea</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I find a foe in close proximity</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For from far away you look so nice</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But one close encounter will suffice</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">To train my brain to re-route my feet</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And beat a hasty retreat.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Your big yellow flowers are so pretty</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But on your leaves there is a city</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Of tiny hairs that stick and prick</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Which caused this lengthy rhetoric.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So learn your lesson straight from me</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Stay away from that downright wooly shrubbery</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Take heed, take heed of what I learn</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Or a distinct itchiness you may earn.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div>No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-4254488227342944342010-08-16T11:36:00.000-07:002010-08-16T11:36:36.538-07:00Website Alert: Mr. Smarty PlantsHere's a site I found that provides helpful plant answers. I love the name too!<br />
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<a href="http://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=2985">Mr. Smarty Plants - Are century plants (Agave spp.) poisonous?</a>No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-77001090108034580262010-06-23T17:17:00.000-07:002010-06-23T17:25:23.185-07:00Energy Conservation in the Heat of the SummerI am down in the desert of San Diego county visiting family for a while and thought I would expound on my top 10 ways to save energy down here (in no particular order):<br />
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<b>1.</b> <span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Swamp cooler:</span> </span>Never heard of it? Then you've probably never lived in the desert. A swamp cooler is a wonderful invention that re-circulates moist air through cooler pads into your house. It costs a lot less per hour than air conditioning and takes less energy. Good for when it's hot but not humid.<br />
<b>2.</b> <span style="color: #ffd966;">Turn off unnecessary lights:</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> </span>Currently I am sitting in the unlit kitchen quite comfortably thanks to natural light from the windows. Not only does it make energy sense it also keeps the house cooler.<br />
<b>3.</b> <span style="color: #ffd966;">Hang your clothes</span> out to dry on a clothesline. It only takes a millisecond to dry (ok so I exaggerate a little...)<br />
<b>4.</b> <span style="color: #ffd966;">Water plants in the early morning or late afternoon:</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> </span>Watering at high noon is fruitless, as most of the water evaporates. Also, remember most of our neighborhoods are on a water-restriction schedule. Make sure to follow yours. Here's a link to a website on the SD County water restrictions. It also gives some good tips to reduce your water use. <a href="http://sandiego.about.com/od/governmentcities/qt/water_tips.htm">Water Restrictions</a><br />
<b>5. </b> <span style="color: #ffd966;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Solar panels:</span> </span>if you can afford them, use what resource you've got the most of: sun.<br />
<b>6. </b> <span style="color: #ffd966;">Grow native plants</span> in your garden that are hardy and water-tolerant. Less maintenance required, less water. A win-win! Contact your local Native Plant Society if you have questions. They will be able to provide guidance and maybe even someone to come look at your current garden for natives and invaders.<br />
<b>7.</b> Hang out in <span style="color: #ffd966;">cool spots</span> in town, like the library. You get air conditioning for free and there is lots of entertainment there!<br />
<b>8. </b>Believe it or not, that <span style="color: #ffd966;">Google search</span> takes a little bit of energy each time you hit that button. Don't search or surf aimlessly when bored. In fact, when bored turn the computer off and go do something active and fun instead! (Swimming is popular this time of year.)<br />
<b>9.</b> Make sure your house is <span style="color: #ffd966;">insulated</span> so that hot air stays in during the winter months and cool air during the summer.<br />
<b>10. </b>When refueling with a big container of water, make it a cup or <span style="color: #ffd966;">reusable water bottle</span>, not a plastic disposable water bottle. You pay for the bottle when you buy it and it adds to the waste that is forever on this planet.Check out this link to learn more about the evils of bottled water. <a href="http://www.greenyour.com/lifestyle/food-drink/drinking-water/tips/use-reusable-water-bottles">www.greenyour.com</a><br />
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Resist the urge to sit in your fridge. Believe me-you won't fit. It wastes a lot of energy leaving the door open. Not like anyone would try to do that or anything...(Read-I've tried.) Feel free to add your energy-saving tips and comments. That's all for now.No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-1602066476063966262010-04-24T13:45:00.000-07:002010-04-24T14:03:48.232-07:00Nature's Complexity: The Winter Wren's SongLet me direct your attention for a moment to re-focus on the amazing-ness of nature. I was sitting by my window today and heard (and saw) an <b style="color: orange;">American Goldfinch</b> sitting on a tree. So I opened my window and played its song on my computer...lo and behold more goldfinches arrived. It reminded me of a lecture I heard in my ornithology class not too long ago about bird songs.<br />
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We were learning about songs and calls. Did you know that birds don't produce sounds using the same organs as we do? In humans we produce sounds via our vocal chords. Birds don't have vocal chords. Instead, they have a <b style="color: #3d85c6;">syrinx</b>, which is where two bronchi (tubes) come together. They make their calls and song by expanding and contracting the membranes of the syrinx and vibrating them. Because they have paired bronchial openings, birds can often sing in more than one frequency at the same time!<br />
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A good example is the <b style="color: red;">winter wren</b>. When you hear these little birds they sound so much larger than they appear. Their song is very rapid-fire or bubbly-sounding and highly complex. Below is a link from a great website that shows sonograms of different birds alongside their songs and even slows the songs down so the human ear can more fully appreciate their complexity. It blows my mind!<br />
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<div style="color: #f1c232;"><a href="http://www.musicofnature.org/home/category/birds/winter-wren/">Winter Wren Song and Sonogram</a></div><br />
If you want to hear a crazy bird sound, you need only search out the <b style="color: #38761d;">Greater Sage Grouse</b> or a <b style="color: #38761d;">Ruffed Grouse</b>. The male of these species produces his "song" by rapidly moving his wings and creating a <b>vacuum</b> which creates sound from the air rushing in and out of his air sacs. This is called a non-vocal sound. Below is a link to the sonogram and song. If you click the arrow on the Ruffed Grouse title it will take you to a video of the mating display that goes along with this sound. I also added a youtube of a Greater Sage Grouse in action, as this cannot be missed!<br />
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<div style="color: #f1c232;"><a href="http://www.musicofnature.org/home/category/birds/ruffed_grouse/">Ruffed Grouse Sonogram and Song</a></div><div style="color: #f1c232;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #f1c232;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9zKd3dfz8I&feature=related">Video of Greater Sage-Grouse Display</a></div><br />
If I find any more cool birds, I will post them here!<span style="background-color: white; color: #741b47;"> </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #741b47;">Stay tuned!</i><br />
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Cited:<br />
The Music of Nature: Celebrating Nature at Hand.<a href="http://www.musicofnature.org/home/%20"> <span style="color: #f1c232;">http://www.musicofnature.org/home/ </span></a> <br />
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YouTubeVideo. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9zKd3dfz8I&feature=related" style="color: #f1c232;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9zKd3dfz8I&feature=related</a>No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-19235019356242476802010-04-12T12:16:00.000-07:002010-04-12T12:16:52.103-07:00The Story of a Corn-Fed Feedlot CowWith the banana project on hold, let me talk instead of corn-fed beef and its origins. I just read an excerpt from Michael Pollen’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” for a class. It detailed the interesting process behind feed lots. Here are the main points and reasons I feel corn-fed beef should be avoided. Prepare yourself, and I suggest not eating while reading the following:<br />
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1. Cows are fed a mixture of corn, liquefied cow fat or blood, a protein substitute consisting of urea and molasses and a slew of antibiotics including Rumensin (an acidity buffer) and Tylosin (which lowers the incidence of infection of the liver). They are also fed estrogen.<br />
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2. Cows are kept lying and standing in their own feces all day long.<br />
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3. The corn itself is raised as a monoculture, raised and reaped by gas-guzzling machines. So our corn is backed by petroleum companies.<br />
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4. Even if cow products are not fed to cows, the chicken, fish and pigs are fed cow products and hence the circling back to feeding cow products to cows. The result of such cannibalism can be seen in Mad Cow Disease. <br />
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5. The cows are not made to eat mostly corn (Why?-because it's cheap). They are made for foraging. So we are force-feeding them food just to fatten them up faster. Veterinarians are kept very busy on the feedlots, dealing with bloated cows (which if untreated will suffocate due to an inflated rumen pressing against their lungs) and acidosis (literally killer heartburn due to the acidity of the corn). Cows only live about 150 days on the feedlots because any more could ruin their livers.<br />
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6. Due to the extensive use of antibiotics in animals, diseases are becoming antibiotic-resistant and we must therefore find more and more antibiotics to respond. These animals would have a lower incidence of sickness simply if their diets were changed.<br />
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7. The massive quantities are manure produced at these feedlots simply sit in lagoons on the property because they are so high in nitrogen and phosphorous that they kill any plants they are applied to. The waste which in smaller quantities could be used as fertilizer now just sits and sometimes ends up in the watershed due to leakage. Aside from high levels of nutrients, this waste also contains hormones, heavy metals, and chemicals. In essence, a natural fertilizer is turned into toxic waste. <br />
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8. Leakage of such manure into our watersheds causes dead zones, which are oxygen-poor areas with nothing but algae thriving there. The excess algae can suffocate everything else in the water. <br />
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9. Eating cattle in general is terrible inefficient use of resources. The ratio of feed to flesh is extremely high. <br />
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10. Feeding cattle a mainly acidic diet selects for new strains of high acidity-resistant bacteria, which would do some serious damage to our usually well-defended highly-acidic stomach. Normal bacteria are usually killed by the acidity in our stomachs, but if new bacteria evolve to tolerate such acidity they could be consumed by us and then cause an outbreak. <br />
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And so I’ve sufficiently freaked myself out enough to continue my practice of avoiding beef altogether. I hope this brief summary has made you think about what is in your McDonald’s hamburger. <br />
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Sources:<br />
"The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollen (Chapter 4)No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-83890936526462965212010-03-27T23:41:00.000-07:002010-03-27T23:41:38.240-07:00Contra Loma ParkThis last week I spent wandering from friend to friend in the bay area. On my way from Antioch to Sunnyvale I had extra time before I had to meet a friend, so when I hit major traffic I decided to just stop at the nearest park. This is how I wandered into Contra Loma Park in the East Bay area. I had already been to the Black Diamond Mines, just an exit or so away the day before and expected more of the same rolling green hills with cows. So I was pleasantly surprised when I turned the corner of the cow pasture to find a huge lake.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngbNaKF0M1c/S6734Po_qPI/AAAAAAAAABQ/LZnzAX4P2Hc/s1600/Spring+Break+2010+697.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngbNaKF0M1c/S6734Po_qPI/AAAAAAAAABQ/LZnzAX4P2Hc/s320/Spring+Break+2010+697.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Looking like such a tourist I walked around the lake, binoculars and all. I stopped multiple, multiple times to take pictures (some of which I have added to this post). I was so excited to be able to go bird watching! I got to see multiple Anna's Hummingbirds, Red Winged Blackbirds, Cormorants, ducks and Killdeer. I saw several American Kestrels- those cute little predators with the beautiful rusty red and powder blue. I saw what I think was a Cooper's Hawk and multiple massive Turkey Vultures gliding over the green hillsides. I stopped to photograph the many wildflowers that included California Poppies, Lupine and Phacelia. I stopped to watch the bumblebees covered in orange pollen flitting between poppies and watch ducks take off from the lake in their awkward splish-splash way. The park was clean. It even had bathrooms with soap! (Presence of soap in a park bathroom is a big deal.) I walked past a fenced-off lagoon which I heard would open soon as a place for people to swim.<br />
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All together it was a great experience and I highly recommend the park. I saw multiple other paths that went off into the hills which I did not follow- some of them great bike paths. The people I passed were all very friendly and greeted me. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngbNaKF0M1c/S67xv0M-kGI/AAAAAAAAABA/vXzGxjkya0M/s1600/Spring+Break+2010+655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngbNaKF0M1c/S67xv0M-kGI/AAAAAAAAABA/vXzGxjkya0M/s320/Spring+Break+2010+655.jpg" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngbNaKF0M1c/S671B-o8yfI/AAAAAAAAABI/-QbW6dDBf5E/s1600/Spring+Break+2010+662.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ngbNaKF0M1c/S671B-o8yfI/AAAAAAAAABI/-QbW6dDBf5E/s320/Spring+Break+2010+662.jpg" /></a></div>No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-11858018185380996112010-03-10T10:46:00.000-08:002010-03-10T10:47:21.292-08:00Natural Cold Remedies<div style="font-family: inherit;">So I have gotten sick lately, which is why the banana research has come to a screeching halt. Yesterday I received a care package of hometown grapefruit from <b style="background-color: white; color: orange;">my awesome mother</b> and was so stoked! Today I slurped half of one down, feeling much better already. This led me to wonder if in fact grapefruit has healing properties, aside from its high dosage of <b>Vitamin C</b>. Online I found that it is a good <b>detoxifier</b> and that it is suggested you not only eat the flesh but also some of the white pulp of the grapefruit to promote immunity. That being said, grapefruit can also interfere with certain medications such as terfenadine and astemizole- which are both antihistamines. It also interferes with some cholesterol lowering drugs and a list of other drugs. So I suggest thinking about what you are taking before you consume a lot of grapefruit juice. The site I found this info on is listed below.(1)</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">Aside from that, I suggest (<b style="color: #3d85c6;">as my mother has always taught me</b>) to gargle salt water. I think it actually does clear your throat. And as always drink LOTS of fluids. If you don't feel much like eating focus mostly on drinking fruit juice and water, with some soup mixed in. </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;">I suggest warm baths to clear your head or microwaving a wet towel to put on your head. Heating pads work wonders if you are sore also. </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">I've heard spicy foods work to clear to sinuses. Steer clear of milky substances, as they promote phlem. Tea works wonders as well- warm liquids help out. But since tea works as a diuretic make sure to keep drinking water. Keep away from too much coffee as it is a diuretic as well.</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">Sleep!...sleep! I can't emphasize it enough. </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">Alright then, I am off to sleep and/or hydrate! </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">(1)<a href="http://www.holisticonline.com/Herbal-Med/_Herbs/grapefruit-interactions-home.htm">http://www.holisticonline.com/Herbal-Med/_Herbs/grapefruit-interactions-home.htm</a></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">(2) <a href="http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/Flu/cold_nutrition-and-diet-for-cold.htm">http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/Flu/cold_nutrition-and-diet-for-cold.htm</a> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</div>No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-18665869815862188802010-03-03T11:20:00.000-08:002010-03-07T20:20:07.112-08:00Bananas and the Total Perspective VortexLet me begin my discussion of bananas with something seemingly unrelated. Please bear with me. I will connect back to the topic of bananas. I may skip around a lot because A) that is the current system my brain is running on and B)I've had too much coffee. If it gets annoying, just skip ahead to BANANA BIOLOGY, keeping in mind the basic idea of approaching all aspects of banana production.<br />
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I am currently reading Edward O. Wilson's <span style="color: #33ccff; font-weight: bold;">"Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge"</span> for my Natural Resources class. Wilson writes of how all disciplines of study- biology, the social sciences, ethics and environmental policy for example, really all intersect and should be utilized together. He calls this basic connection between all knowledge <span style="font-style: italic;">consilience</span>. In one chapter he draws a figure to describe the intersection of these fields. I have re-created it in order to make my point clearer. Keep in mind this figure is a reproduction of his and I do not own it in any sense. <span style="font-style: italic;">(Currently I am trying to figure out how to put this picture up)</span><br />
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With a cross-shaped <span style="color: #cc33cc; font-weight: bold;">intersection</span> between the four categories in the figure we see imposed divisions between the fields. If concentric circles are drawn in the middle of this cross we see how one could consider each field. As each circle gets smaller the problem between balancing the core of each issue increases.<br />
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I feel I have been struggling with consilience my whole life without being able to name it. It causes a certain feverish onset of chaotic thinking in which I jump around to different topics. I seem to be a bit of a <span style="color: #33cc00; font-weight: bold;">non-linear</span> thinker, but sometimes I connect seemingly unrelated issues together with non-linear thinking. Take something that happened to me recently: I was talking to a friend of mine who is a child-development major. She told me she wanted to rennovate a park near her house in order to make it kid-friendly. We both got excited about the project, talking about planting a little patch of native plants or making a community garden in addition to cleaning up the park. In that moment I felt the excitement of combining our two specialties together to synthesize something awesome! It would involve community organizing, a little work with policy, working with volunteers and working with our hands.<br />
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To me the process of consilience in thought reminds me of a torture machine in one of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books. This machine, called the <span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">Total Perspective Vortex</span> shows its victims everything in the universe and puts their small lives in perspective. In the book everyone died after exposure to the Total Perspective Vortex. I see consilience as cousin to this machine-though not deadly it can certainly be confusing and humbling. Making connections can lead in many different directions, just as this blog is heading in many directions.<br />
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I have always felt a passion about many topics of study and see no reason why <span style="color: #3366ff; font-weight: bold;">integration</span> between branches of learning cannot and should not occur. Therefore<br />
in approaching the subject of bananas I want to address all of these fields- what production of bananas is doing to the environment and how environmental policy is involved, the ethics behind the industry, how this affects people and the basic biology of bananas.<br />
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And so, thank you for your patience as I waxed a little poetic on the topic of consilience. On to bananas! <span style="color: #ff6600; font-weight: bold;">I will update this post as I obtain more information.</span><br />
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BANANA BIOLOGY (1)<br />
Bananas are interesting plants because they appear to be trees, but are actually large herbaceous plants. The reason it is called herbaceous is because after a banana plant fruits the above-ground portion dies back. Bananas produce many roots, rather than one big taproot like a carrot does. When harvest is over on a banana plantation the above-ground portion of the plants are often cut down.<br />
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The flowering portion of a banana plant, or the inflorescence, is composed of "male" pollen-bearing flowers at the base which are fully enclosed in a bell of bracts. Above that is an area of hermaphroditic flowers, then above that are the female flowers. Formation of the inflorescence begins in an upward direction, then as the inflorescence elongates it turns downward.<br />
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The main kind of banana grown for economic purposes is <i>Musa acuminata</i>. This is used as a "dessert banana," versus others that are used mainly in cooking. Of this banana there are different breeds. The bananas we eat from the store are greatly larger than wild breeds, due to our choice of breeding to make the bananas larger and longer. Wild bananas are generally finger length and full of seeds. The dessert bananas we eat today do not require any pollination- they just produce an edible pulp. The number of seeds in our bananas has also been reduced via breeding.<br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-weight: bold;">Soon to come:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">BANANA HISTORY</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">-</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; font-weight: bold;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">The name 'Banana'</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">comes from the Arabic '</span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">elbanan' </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">for 'finger' because wild bananas were the length of a finger. </span></span><br />
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BANANA SOCIOLOGY- Currently I am having difficulties determining what is fact and fiction when it comes to this and the following topics. I will continue to add on as I find more resources. <br />
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BANANA ECONOMICS/ETHICS<br />
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BANANAS AND THE ENVIRONMENT<br />
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SO...WHAT ARE YOU BUYING WHEN YOU BUY BANANAS?<br />
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WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?<br />
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LINKS<br />
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This is a link to the first Chiquita banana commercial. I claim no rights to it, just pointing it out. It took on the task of explaining bananas to people who didn't know how to eat them or ripen them. <br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFDOI24RRAE">Chiquita Commercial</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.vandamme.be/history.html#anchor610871">Banana History</a><br />
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<b>LITERATURE CITED</b><br />
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(1) Robinson, J., and C.A.B. International. <i>Bananas and plantains</i>. CABI, 1996. Print. No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-51290894836584406482010-02-28T22:45:00.000-08:002010-02-28T22:56:13.983-08:00Consciousness and the Story of the Solitary GrapeI have been researching bananas for my first issue topic on my blog. In the process I have found that the thing I am striving for the most out of this experience and the concept I want to stress the most is consciousness. How people use or ignore this newly-acquired consciousness is up to them. <br /><br />I want to be conscious of what I am buying, conscious of the effects of my actions. I want to inspire people to want to know where in the world their food is coming from and how it is grown. I want them to think about how food production affects people’s lives- especially those growing the food. And I want to feel grateful for what I have access to, in order to recognize what many do not have. <br /><br />I once went to a seminar in which each participant was given a single grape. We were told to eat it as if this was the last grape we would ever eat. In the span of a few minutes I looked at this grape, I chewed it slowly and focused on considering its flavor. This was the part of the seminar that I remember the most. I won’t say it was the best grape I ever had, giving in to cliché, but it was certainly the most conscious I have ever been while eating. I feel like most of the time eating involves shoveling down whatever you require to continue on with your day- maybe while watching tv or reading. Tomorrow I will challenge myself to consider what I am eating in the silent lack of entertainment such as tv or books. <br /><br />I will continue on with the banana research (which is turning out to be way more involved than I thought) and hope to have enough to create a posting by Sunday. Thanks for reading!No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3742602617510160327.post-25005862041536219312010-02-27T14:51:00.000-08:002010-02-27T15:19:17.748-08:00Who is this green girl and what is her mission?Hello to anyone who has stumbled upon my little blog. I'm starting this up as part of my mission to educated myself and others on the topics of gardening, botany, sustainability and life in general. I am a current botany major interested in taking what I have learned about plant biology and applying it to others fields to examine how we use plants (and other resources as well).<br /><br />The idea for this blog began while I was reading Wendell Berry's "Bringing It to the Table," for a natural resources class I am taking. Wendell talks about what it means to be sustainable, how we can farm sustainably in the setting of a small family farm and how consumers can affect the farm environment simply through choice of products. I highly suggest this book if you think little about the food you buy or wish to know more. Berry's suggestions are basic in their principles- relying much on older farming techniques utilized before our huge industrial revolution. I will definitely be pulling ideas from this book to examine in later posts.<br /><br />Having examined my thought processes when I began college and compared them to now I realize how much more I think about where my food comes from and what I am supporting by buying it. Slowly I have learned how to cook and how to shop. Eventually I want to grow my own organic garden, when resources become available. Though I am a botany major I tend to kill things, so it may be a long learning process. I don't know that I can ever claim that I am fully living a sustainable life, but I am making little baby steps in that direction. That's all for now! Whitney<br /><br />P.S. Coming soon is my first issue post- on the origin and production of bananas.No One Suspects the Butterflyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131904950283004207noreply@blogger.com0