The Periodic Table Table

Theo Gray collects elements like some people collect shot glasses or spoons. I find the table with display compartments to be rather genius. I wish more of his specimens could actually be displayed in there!

Water, Water, Everywhere!

For the past few months I've been watching updates of flooding in the Bismarck-Mandan area and hearing about my friend's flood fight in Burlington, ND. It's been a bit eerie and has certainly sent me into a spiral of Flood of '97 flashbacks. Yesterday I saw some sweet pictures young students from Grand Forks made to send to the kids in Minot to show their support. They were a lovely gesture, but a few of them made me laugh out loud with the irony of it all.

I have to share my three faves. The whole collection can be found here!

The typed message at the bottom is the BEST. It reads: "I'm sad because of what happened to you. I don't like major flooding." .............. as opposed to minor flooding. That's okay. :)


This was just sweet and then I looked at WHO created the picture. It has Biblical allusions. Tee hee.

Yep. Move to Grand Forks. It NEVER floods here!

The 86 Days of Summer

Grand Beach, Manitoba

Some people create New Year's resolutions.

I create a list of...

68 things to do in 86 days of summer!

Here's the approximate breakdown:

10 items are food related
5 are related to exercise and wellness
17 of them are sports/leisure/hobby type activities
7 are literacy related
at least 12 of them involve travel
11 will help me build some mad skills
and 9 of the list items are purely indulgent

I'm sooooo looking forward to summer!

Happy Solstice.

I have a fascination with the equinoxes and solstices. I'm a time oriented girl who operates on many schedules and calendars -- the school year, the fiscal year, the passage of the moon and the broader calendar nature provides with the equinox and the solstice.

Those happy seasonal landmarks draw nearer the days I'm longing for or grant me the satisfaction of knowing that I'm saying goodbye to the days I want to be done with. The winter solstice smacks of the latter. I find that dark mornings make it increasingly difficult to leave the shelter of my cozy bed and I crave morning sunlight. What's funny is that Dec. 21st is the first day of winter, but for me it's a reminder that each day's dose of sunshine increases from that point forward. The Winter Solstice reminds me that spring is coming...nearer and nearer every day and that seems like a reason to celebrate.

Community.

Via Loobylu

Wordless Wednesday -- Spring in the Cities-- Conference Center Style

Fetch me an Ark.

And while I've been consumed by cleanliness and order or the lack thereof in my apartment I've been worrying about my brother in his ground level apartment in Fargo, ND. The city was all over the national media for it's record breaking high waters. It was starting to look like the flood of 1997 all over again.

Photo by Shawna Noel Photography posted 3/26/09
of submerged obelisk marking the height of the '97 flood

I was surprised to discover I was feeling anxiety over the whole thing every time I heard updates or saw pictures of our own river rising. As bridge after bridge closed in Grand Forks I began to wonder if our flood walls would truly work if they were needed.

the dry side of the flood wall,
two blocks from my apartment

Last Thursday and Friday some students chose to volunteer at Sandbag Central making bags for families in the Burke addition or north of town. I buried myself deeper in my projects and tried to pretend it wasn't happening.

In Fargo, my brother who lost all his worldly possessions in Grand Forks in 1997 seemed rather unconcerned and hadn't packed a thing. Despite the fact that he was living just blocks from the river. He claimed that the whole town would have to be flooded for the water to reach him. The dike would have to break or the crest would have to exceed the 53 feet they'd built up the dike to. The good news is that the National Guard came in and took over. The city was shut down in many ways and people were home preparing and some evacuating... My brother was watching Smallville. Sigh.


Here are some stats on sandbags in ND found here as of April 6th (see, I'm ahead of myself here... this back posting is hard to do):


The North Dakota National Guard says volunteers have filled more than 4 million sandbags around the state for flood protection.

To get an idea of the numbers, Guard officials came up with some comparisons.

They say: _ The 4.3 million sandbags would equal the height of 1,720 Empire State Buildings if the bags were stacked one on top of the other.

_ Placed end-to-end, the bags would stretch from Bismarck to Oklahoma City, Okla.

_ The weight would be equivalent to about 360 Boeing 747s.

The Guard also says the 10,920 miles of dike patrols equal almost half the distance around the world.

Bird by Bird.

Last week's snow day has done little to weaken my thirst for spring. I changed out my festive red flowers from the welcome basket on my door and with some of my extra spring sprigs, I decided to freshen the top of the china hutch too. Bring on the spring, O nature, bird by bird.

Dragonfly Fashion?

On Saturday I helped at my mom's garage sale. For the first hour or so there were hardly any customers. In fact, it felt a wee bit slow for a Saturday. I think it might be due, in part, to a huge estate auction going on in town. Still we did have THIS little visitor drop in and stay awhile.

For part of the morning we had swarms of dragonflies swooping around us. I felt like I was at a lake or that my mom had hired them or something for mosquito control. Not a nasty biter in sight. I just couldn't resist taking a few shots of this guy who actually blended in with the houndstooth pattern... a kind of natural camouflage. By the end of the day we'd sold some of the bigger items and my things kept selling 50 cents here and 50 cents there but I'm not sure it was worth my time.

Hip Hop I Can Appreciate.

Emma, this bunny's for you.

At Matt and Anna's last night we discovered five baby bunnies scampering 'round their flower bed. Crazy. It reminded me of last summer and the window wells on campus. I couldn't resist a picture or two.

A little Madness in the Spring is wholesome even for the king -- Emily Dickinson

Lines Written In Early Spring
by William Wordsworth

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:--
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature's holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

Wake up, World! It's Time for a New Perspective.

Happy Earth Day!

Mooning over the Night Sky.

I found this image and more here. On my Wednesday night I was at trivia at El Roco and I must admit it was sort of cool to see so many bar patrons periodically dashing outside to monitor the progress of the eclipse. It looked a lot like these pics of the moon in various stages even though this person recorded the times using the Eastern time zone. It's hard to explain to others the thrill I get from this sort of thing. I heart space and stars and Jupiter and even cold little former planets like Pluto.

Propogation of Pothos

Pam told me the that Pothos can break through stones if left untended... Lately my bedroom has started to look like something out of Jumanji. I have vines trailing everywhere from my two plants. The one at the foot of my bed has a tangle of vines spilling down the pot and twisting into a remarkable mass of leaves all over the carpet. What I only recently realized was how it was starting to shoot up between the wall and my heating register... in three places... in its efforts to get through it was starting to push the register away from the wall and one can see the strain on the screws in the spots where it succeeded.

A few days ago I noticed a vine where once there was none... about 6 feet from the plant .... maybe 8. The new vine was headed for my dresser. I decided I needed to learn how to give my plants a haircut.

Now they are trimmed and I have a ton of clippings all sitting in my window waiting to take root. I rather like the effect. I might need to get a long window box to fit that space and see if I can get a lovely waterfall of vines down from my window.

Stop Planetary Discrimination!

I found this tee shirt site full of terrific shirts in support of Pluto. I love the little planet, myself. I was just so impressed to discover I could buy a shirt showing my love, and that I'd have a CHOICE. I particularly like the Heidi Klum spoof... "Pluto, one day you're in, the next day you're out. Auf Wiedersehn"

My Fear of Tornadoes

When I was young, I used to have nightmares about tornadoes and sometimes rabid skunks, actually. On Sunday as I was doing final preparations for my first day of school we were hit with a pretty powerful thunderstorm with crazy lightning. It wasn't until I got in my car that I heard the panicked voices of the radio deejays urging people to abandon cars and seek shelter... giving the minute by minute countdown of where the tornado was and in what path it was moving. I raced across town and found shelter at my mom's, never knowing that this tornado was doing so much damage southwest of my home... For the residents of Northwood, my nightmare had come true... except there were no rabid skunks. Thank goodness. When the 35W bridge collapsed near the U of M campus in the Twin Cities, my friend Rebecca pointed out how that horrible event was going to "do wonders for her mother's fear of driving on bridges." I'm afraid this event is only going to strengthen what I'd mostly dismissed as a childhood obsessive concern.

Today there were pictures in the newspaper that made me gasp with horror. Uprooted trees, houses without roofs, bricks ripped out of buildings, cars from a car lot crumpled. Of course, folks in Kansas see this sort of thing all the time in the summer, but not me. My heart goes out to the folks in this small North Dakota town. 57 homes utterly destroyed. 18 people injured. 1 fatality. And truly everyone, every piece of property within the mile wide path of the tornado suffered at least some damage. May every one of those impacted find peace and hope in the helping hand of a neighbor or friend.

***Update***
Here is a link to some pictures of the Northwood Tornado and damage it caused.

Browsing Bonanza

Today I found myself with a wee bit of time to browse... here are some of the fun little things I discovered.

this rather funny doormat.

this book, which I pulled off the shelf at Waldenbooks a couple days ago because of the great cover. Today I read a review on a blog that praised it and I have to say I am intrigued.

another sewing book is calling my name and I've not actually sewn anything in months. I need to get a grip.

you can create your own Simpsons avatar here or upload a picture of you and get Simpsonized!

if you are depressed easily, don't read this article on plastic.

how cute are these? I do love fortune cookies!

Miranda July. No one belongs here more than you. What more can I say?