Saturday, May 17, 2008

A lot of volunteering going on

This week--3 days at the Botanic Garden--2 in science sleuths, which are children's field trips and one at the plant sale.
People must have thought I was a wacko--while I was waiting for a group of students to come to my station--which was to study pond water and look for macro invertebrates, I studied the water myself, looking for bugs and other creatures to stock their containers of pond water. This involved staring at a tub of dirty water, complete with decaying leaves and other vegetation. After a while, the creatures make themselves known, and I swooped in with a spoon and moved them to a smaller tub. Actually, the kids just love this activity, and by the time they arrived, the water was warm and still enough for them to find lots of material.
The other day was in plant parts, which involves talking about the life cycle of a plant, and then looking around the fruit and vegetable island for examples of plant parts, which also entertains the students--and for me, changes every time I go to the garden.
The plant sale was so successful this year- it was about half sold out the first afternoon. I got a yellow apron, labeled plant expert--which was somewhat humorous to me--and got to answer questions about sun perennials--letters h to i (arranged by botanic names). This was mostly hibiscus, iris and day lillies. The sale was so busy, the weather was great, and I answered plenty of questions, and much to my surprise, I did know most of the answers. I also bought a few plants for myself. So today, I get to plant them--and the weather is great again--I'll be in the garden all day!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

A BIG Weekend

Alan, Pauline and David after the graduation
Back from Houston on Sunday. It was a fun and eventful weekend. First of all, David graduated from Rice University with a Master of Music degree on Saturday. The graduation ceremony was very impressive--everyone, bachelor's, masters and PhD's had their name called as they crossed the stage.

We also visited the Johnson Space Center, which was very interesting--we saw the original mission control room, where the famous phrase "Houston, we have a problem" was first said. The most surprising fact that I learned was that the main frame computers used to get the missions to the moon and back had far less power than today's cell phones have.

The original Mission Control at Johnson Space Center

After the graduation, we went out to lunch, then went to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and saw two shows, John Alexander Retrospective and Pompeii. I enjoyed both, but especially liked the John Alexander show because of the great variety of his work. Which ranged from abstract to very representational, all with great humor.

We ate in some interesting restaurants--Houston is a good restaurant town, first, Ruggles Cafe in Rice Village for lunch, then Lupe's Tortilla for dinner--great fajitas. We had dinner at Mark's American, which is a very fine restaurant, and has the reputation of being the best in Houston. Finally, we ate at Americas, which is a popular place, but a disappointment, not being as good as the first two.

We also went to Herman Park, saw the Japanese garden and the Rose Garden. So, you will have to agree, it was a mighty big weekend!
Herman Park in Houston

David and his teacher at Rice, Norman Fisher.












Wednesday, May 07, 2008

School is over

Yesterday was my last day of teaching at Oakton CC for the semester. I held a conference with each on my students and I felt that they went well. I really enjoy teaching college. For one thing, the students seem to appreciate what you do for them, and don't take school for granted. Funny what having to pay for your own education will do for your attitude.
Today I volunteered at the Botanic Garden. It was a rainy day, so we did the program inside. My group of 2nd graders liked the program and showed a lot of enthusiasm for the life cycle of plants, dissecting flowers, and observing macro invertebrates from pond water. They really didn't mind being inside since they had a lot to do.
The rain has washed off all the petals on my star magnolia, the azalea and the amelanchier. My Korean spice viburnum and the red bod are still going strong. I hope that they last until I get back from Houston.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Lots of little things

A lot has been going on for a person who basically does nothing. In the past several days I have
Seen a wonderful show at the Art Institute--Hopper and Winslow Homer.
Went to see Made of Honor
Graded my students and final conferences with them
Went to the Botanic Garden for a Roadside Flower show and sale meeting.
Enjoyed the spring days we are having.
Found out that I have lost 3.5 pounds and was the biggest loser at my WW meeting.

In the next few days I will
go to Houston for a long weekend
See my son receive his Master of Music degree from Rice University.