Mendocino Botanical Gardens

Over the 4th of July we took a trip with some of our friends to an RV park near Ft. Bragg, on the coast.  We have made this trip before, and each time one of the highlights for me is meandering through the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.

I will include here just a few of the photos that I took there recently.  It is an ideal climate for lush gardens of beautiful flowers.

 
I happened to catch this flower just at the right moment, when a ray of sunlight was illuminating its center.  It looks like it's glowing from the inside.

At first I thought it must be some exotic species, but it's common enough.  This is a variety of Hypericum (St. John's Wort).  It was growing along the path in a damp area called Fern Trail.

This is one of my favorites, a fuchsia variety.  They grow profusely over there
--in many colors--in that cool, damp climate.









And here's an "artsy" photo--my tripod lying beside
some dandelions along the trail.

Follow Up - Temple Grandin

After my last post my sister-in-law Marie Gieszelmann pointed out that the July-August issue of Smithsonian has a one-page article written by Temple Grandin.  Those of you who subscribe to this magazine will want to check it out on page 10.

Grandin makes some interesting observations about the different types of thinking styles.  She herself thinks in pictures, not in words.  That is why she is so successful in her business of designing livestock facilities.  She sees the whole project in her mind before she even draws it.


She says that "[I]n addition to visual thinking, there is pattern thinking and word thinking."  Each style has its strengths, and, working together, they complement each other in accomplishing various objectives.

Temple Grandin

Sometimes I have to ask myself, "Where have I been all my life?"  You would think that, with all my reading on various subjects, and especially being involved with persons with disabilities, that I would know something about Temple Grandin, presently one of the world's best-known individuals with autism.

Actually, I believe that her name passed by me some time ago, but it obviously didn't make much of an impression.  So, when I read about her recently in one of Dr. Oliver Sacks' books, (An Anthropologist on Mars 1995), it was like entering into new and exciting territory. 

I have to admit to very limited exposure to and understanding of this condition.  In recent years it is being talked about increasingly in the media, but usually children are the ones featured, very little said about adults.  We know that autism interferes very seriously with the child's ability to learn, to speak, and to function socially.  As for adults with autism, my first thought would be of the strange character played by Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man."


Now that I have done some reading, I can think of some adults I have known who probably have the characteristics of autism.  Most of us might label them as odd, weird, loners--not able to interact normally in a group.  Maybe we need to learn more.

Temple Grandin was born in 1947 and diagnosed with autism at age 2.  Little was known then about the condition, and at that time doctors were busy putting the blame on mothers for their failure to bond with the child.  Apparently her mother didn't know about, or didn't bother with, such theories because Temple was enrolled at an early age in a structured nursery school and given intense speech therapy, so that she began speaking at age 4.  She was very intelligent, but her middle school and high school years were extremely lonely and difficult because of her inability to relate normally with peers.


Because of the special kinship she has always felt with animals (beginning as a child with the horses and cattle on her aunt's ranch), she followed that line of study, earning a doctorate in animal science from the University of Illinois.  She is now a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior.  And in 2010 she was named one of Time Magazine's 100 People who most affect our world.

Temple Grandin is quite an amazing person!  She is very much aware of how different she is from others.  She herself is the one who says that she often feels like "an anthropologist on Mars," having to make a conscious study of the ways to fit into normal society.  This has never come naturally to her.  Knowing how to speak and act around others has always been a learned behavior, never something she picks up naturally, as the rest of us do by just living among people.  She cannot internalize the social signals that pass effortlessly between others.

In spite of her differences, she comes across as quite likeable.  She is friendly and talkative, although Dr. Sacks notes that in their conversations Temple tends to speak with an unstoppable intensity and fixity, as though once a sentence or paragraph is started it has to be completed, nothing left hanging.  


Since the mid-1980s she has been lecturing, on the subjects of both autism and animal husbandry.  Dr. Sacks reports that, when she first began public speaking, Temple tended not to have eye contact with the audience, sometimes even looking in a different direction.  She has gradually developed a much more fluent style, although she could still not be described as relaxed, as a 2010 video attests.  The video is 19 minutes long, so you may, or may not, decide to watch all of it.  It certainly shows much about the person she is, though.  And I found it fascinating to see how she ends her lecture.  She simply stops her rapid-fire delivery, saying, "Well, that's the end of my talk.  I just want to thank everybody for coming.  It's great to be here."  (at 15:50 min.)  Then she stops and just stands there.  Here is the video, "The World Needs All Kinds of Minds."


While doing all this research, I was impressed by how driven she is to make a difference in the world for good.  In Dr. Temple Grandin's Official Autism Website, she says that the "true meaning of life is if you do something that makes real change for somebody or for something.  That's what matters." 


As their visit was drawing to an end, Dr. Sacks writes that Temple spoke very intensely, wanting to tell him about something very important to her.  She wept as she told him that she wants to leave something of herself in the universe. 
       
      Most people can pass on genes--I can pass on thoughts or what I write.
      I've read that libraries are where immortality lies. . . . I don't want my
      thoughts to die with me. . . . I want to have done something. . . . I'm 
      not interested in power, or piles of money.  I want to leave something
      behind.  I want to make a positive contribution--know that my life has
      meaning.  Right now, I'm talking about things at the very core of my
      existence.

Dr. Temple Grandin is perhaps not typical of individuals with autism.  She certainly stands out from the crowd.  But she makes us realize that we can never try to fit any person into a mold.  Never see only the limitations of the disability.  You just don't know who, with the right help and circumstances, might be the one to take off and soar.
=========================================================================

There is so much more to say about Temple Grandin.  I learned much from reading about her and watching the videos.  She is someone I admire and would love to meet.  If you have any interest in going further, here are some things to check out:

 Wikipedia article

A film was made in 2010, starring Claire Danes:  Temple Grandin
I haven't seen it yet, but will be getting it from Netflix.

Temple has written several books, including her autobiography, Emergence, Labeled Autistic.
 




 



 

Eyes--Ya Gotta Love 'Em

Dear old eyes!  They serve us well for many decades and, we hope, for several more.  But that's where we first begin to notice those extra lines--WRINKLES!  Oh no!  They show that I am getting to be an old person!  They no longer look like this:

(They never did, actually--but you get the idea.)

Well, let me tell you (says I to myself)--Just be happy that they are working.  I've had occasion to face the alternative lately. 



Because of extreme nearsightedness I have worn contact lenses for most of my life.  They have served me very well, with a minimum of inconvenience, giving me very satisfactory visual acuity.


Several years ago, though, I began to notice that my right eye just wasn't giving me the same clear distance vision as before.  Even though the eye exam in the optometrist's office showed that I was seeing 20/20, that just wasn't the case in real-life situations. When a cataract was diagnosed in that eye, I readily agreed to have that corrected with the now-common, painless, relatively simple type of surgery available . (Yes, it's covered by Medicare).


It helped, but it obviously wasn't the whole solution.  No amount of prescription change would give me good acuity in that eye (outside of the doctor's office with black letters on the white chart).  During one exam I did tell him that, although I could identify the letters, they were "dancing," the best term I could find to explain the fact that they did not follow one after the other in a straight line.  He was amused, saying that he had never heard anyone say that before, but he didn't know what to think of it.


My husband was going to a different optometrist, who diagnosed in him a few mild symptoms of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), so Ed had a small Amsler Grid hanging on the fridge to monitor his eyes for any changes.  Looking at it with one eye at a time, my left eye saw a regular pattern of straight perpendicular lines.  With my right eye (the one in question) it looked like a chain link fence! (see Amsler Grid)

So I went to see Ed's optometrist who, when I described my symptoms, immediately gave me a 3D retinal scan (OCT - Optical Coherence Tomography).  This new technique, which visualizes the retina in depth on a computer screen, showed that I had some significantly large drusen (fatty deposits) behind my retina.  The retina, where light is focused for vision, is supposed to be completely smooth.  The drusen, however, make it bumpy--like something wadded up under a tight sheet, he explained.  Since my retina doesn't have a completely smooth surface, the light can't focus as perfectly as it should.  (I like to think of it as trying to focus the light rays on a head of cauliflower).  So that's why I was seeing dancing letters and chain-link fences!


With age, almost everybody develops some drusen.  But they can become symptomatic if they get large enough.  There is, as yet, no direct treatment to eliminate them, but nutritional supplements have been found to help the body reabsorb them.  The doctor suggested that I take AREDS2 (which contains a high dose of Omega-3 fatty acids) and additional Lutein/Zeaxanthin.  Yes, a diet high in these nutrients is great, and is certainly recommended as a preventive measure.  But a person already finding symptoms of macular degeneration would have to eat enormous quantities of them in order to equal what is in the supplements.

I started the supplements almost a year ago and have had several followup retinal scans.
There has been a significant improvement (shrinkage) in the size of drusen!

Some of the cones on my retina have already been damaged (they enable us to see in color) and will probably not recover, so I will always have some difficulty in distinguishing slight color differences (contrast sensitivity, he calls it).

But there is definite hope that my macular degeneration has been halted.  I certainly look forward to having adequate, clear vision for many, many years--thanks to a timely diagnosis.

Whether our eyes still look comparatively young and unwrinkled

or show the years of life that we have been fortunate enough to enjoy,

we can just be thankful that they enable us to see the beauty all around.
                        It's what's inside that counts!

If you are young and unconcerned, you've probably had enough of all this!
But I just wanted to share my experience.  I am so grateful that I found a doctor with the equipment to diagnose this and with the information on how to slow or arrest the AMD before it progressed to serious vision loss.  

If you can relate to any of these symptoms, please do yourself a favor and follow up on them.  
Here are sites for more information, if you wish:
Facts about Age-Related Macular Degeneration
and a newsletter written in layperson's terms, WebRN Macular Degeneration News

 

Before I die I want to . . .

You never know when something is going to come out of the blue and hit you with its significance.  That happened to me recently while listening to NPR on the car radio.

The host was interviewing a young couple from Washington, D.C., about a project they had done.  I didn't catch all the details about its exact location, but I remember that it was in a heavily populated, non-affluent area of the city.  A graffitied wall, or maybe an old run-down former store-front, served as a place to put up sheets of black chalkboard, with lined columns where passersby could finish the statement, "Before I die, I want to . . ."

They purposely installed it in the middle of the night, so that their activity would attract the least attention.  By early morning they went home to sleep but were awakened at 11 AM by a friend calling to say that half the board was filled up already.  The day saw a steady stream of people contributing their hopes and dreams.  When all the spaces were filled, people would write on the edges, add to other comments, or even erase someone's wish and write in that space.  I don't know how long they left the project there, but every night they would erase the board, and it would fill up the next day.

...I want to pilot a plane

The things people wrote were of an amazing variety!

Of course, there were the usual sentiments: "write a great novel," "see my granddaughter married," "go skydiving" (a lot of this last one!)

But many were beautiful and altruistic: "start many free health clinics," "impact a child's life," "tell my mother I love her."

One that struck me as truly heartfelt: "be the one that she thinks I am and I know I am."
Naturally there were a few, but definitely the minority, who wrote things like "get rich" and "get even with ------." 

This couple was actually following the lead of New Orleans artist Candy Chang, who started this cooperative art work in her city.  The project grew out of some tragic losses she had suffered several years earlier.  Chang says, With help from friends and neighbors, I turned the side of an abandoned house in my neighborhood into a giant chalkboard to invite people to share what is important to them. Before I Die transforms a neglected space into a constructive one where we can learn the hopes and aspirations of the people around us.

 

See the original Before I Die project in New Orleans here

They are popping up in many different cities, some in Spanish if that is the predominant language of the neighborhood.

Of course, in the true entrepreneurial spirit, someone has made it available as a toolkit for purchase

Anyway, I just think it's a fascinating idea--a way for a person to dig deep into his/her dreams and desires, and a positive opportunity for people to connect with others in their neighborhood.

If you've had enough of all this--I hope you enjoyed learning about it, and thanks for stopping by. 

If you are like me, and always want to find out more, here are a couple more sites to check out.

1) There is also a Polaroid Before I Die project, in which people write their comment on their instant photo--while Polaroid film is still available.

2) And the lady who started all this has her website at candychang.com

Answering Hatred with Roses

It was all over the news today!  A huge crowd (est. 40,000) gathered in a central square of Oslo, Norway, to nullify the actions and words of Anders Behring Breivik.  

Breivik, who expresses no remorse for his cold-blooded killing of 77 defenseless people (mostly teenagers), testified that he hated the song "Children of the Rainbow" because "it is an example of how 'cultural Marxists' have infiltrated Norwegian schools and weakened its society."

"Children of the Rainbow" is a Norwegian translation of Pete Seeger's "Rainbow Race," written by him in answer to the social upheavals of the 1960s and released on his 1971 album of that title.   

Since I wasn't familiar with "Rainbow Race," I looked it up on Youtube.  I found it to be a wonderful song, especially moving in light of this story.  Here's a video of Pete singing "Rainbow Race" in 1971.

In 1975 Norwegian folk-singer Lillebjoern Nilsen translated it into his native language and it has been very popular there ever since, especially among school children. This accounts for Breivik's statement that it has "infiltrated Norwegian schools."

In response, Norwegians of all ages gathered yesterday (April 26) by the tens of thousands as Nilsen led them in singing "Children of the Rainbow."  Afterwards they walked to the Oslo courthouse and carpeted the steps with red and white roses.

Norwegians by and large feel that the best way to react to the gunman is by demonstrating their commitment to everything he loathes.  Instead of obsessing on feelings of rage and violence, they choose to show support for tolerance and democracy. One youth group leader said, "We aren't here because of him, but because of each other."

 And here you can see Norwegians singing "Children of the Rainbow" yesterday in Youngstorget, Oslo.

 The chorus to Pete Seeger's original is:

       One blue sky above us, one ocean lapping all our shore,
       One earth so green and round, Who could ask for more?
       And because I love you, I'll give it one more try
       To show my rainbow race it's too soon to die.

This is the Norwegian translation:
        A sky full of stars, blue seas as far as you can see,
        An earth where flowers grow, Can you wish for more?
        Together shall we live, every sister, brother,
        Young children of the rainbow, a fertile land.

As the Poet Hears and Sees

What do you see here?

Flowers?  Violas, to be specific.

Yes, but....
     anything else? 
















I ran across a poet recently -- well, didn't actually run into her because she died some years ago.  But she was quoted in a book (by an author that I'll talk more about at another time). 

The quoter is Ellen Gilchrist, and she was talking about how, over the years, she came to understand what was of real value to her.  Early in her life, when having to choose between nice clothes and works of art, the clothes often won.  But, with time and maturity, she thought differently and found herself living happily in a small house filled mostly with paintings and sculpture and photographs.  She never locked the door because "anybody that wanted to steal the things in that house would have been someone I wanted to meet."

She is musing over the fact that life will not give us everything we want, but perhaps it will give us some special things like, (and here she uses the words of the poet Elinor Wylie), "a very small purse, made of a mouse's hide.  Put it in your pocket and never look inside." 


For some reason, I just love the image of that small mouse purse--although I'm not sure exactly what she meant by it.  I looked up Elinor Wylie, but, of all her poems, I could not find one with that line.  I did, though, find the story of her life (1885-1928), which was not altogether happy.  She was from a well-to-do family and appreciated for her beauty and intellect, but she was never able to maintain a stable relationship.  


I see the small purse as something lovely but fanciful, not quite real.  You put it in your pocket to keep it safe and close, but it's best never to look at it too closely, for fear that you may find its existence to be only in your mind.


Her poem, A Proud Lady, must be somewhat autobiographical when she writes, 
     "You have taken the arrows and slings
      Which prick and bruise
      And fashioned them into wings
      For the heels of your shoes."


Another poem, Pretty Words, seems more light-hearted:
     "Poets make pets of pretty, docile words:
      I love smooth words . . . .
      Which circle slowly with a silken swish . . . ."

    But there is still a pained undercurrent in the last stanza:
     ". . . .and honeyed words like bees,
      Gilded and sticky, with a little sting."


Somehow I think that Elinor Wylie would see more in the photo than just flowers.

And you will, too, if you sit back a little distance from the computer screen and let yourself concentrate on those two red and yellow figures.  What do you see?


Would you like to know more about Elinor Wylie and her poetry?  Click here
 

Easter Greetings

Every sunrise is a blessing from God
--new life
--new hope
--new opportunities

  May this Easter bring you 
  a special reminder 
  of this newness.









  

  Blessings and love
  and appreciation 
  of the beauty around you

And maybe a bunny and a few jelly beans!

 

Flowers the Color Purple

Throughout the world the color purple tends to have many positive meanings--both now and in history.  The Bible sees purple as signifying wealth and beauty.  In many cultures purple represents nobility and ceremony.

For whatever reason the color purple is lavishly displayed among the flowers of spring.  

 
 

One of the most recognizable
is the iris--or "flag lily" as my 
Mother used to call them.

This specimen shows the glory and power of a very dark shade of purple.

The vinca displays a lighter shade, lavender, which is related to youth and beauty.

The hyacinth (above)
and the grape hyacinth (right)
each has its own tint of beauty.

   The crocus

            
      and the freesia



      can emphasize the
      reddish tint of purple.


Whatever the shade of purple, these flowers are a lovely
and welcome sign of the beauty springing up as the earth opens its arms to a new cycle of life.
 

3-Dimensional Printing

I've been hearing and reading about a topic that brings me smack-dab into the reason I started this blog.  I love to learn about new things, to mull over ideas, new and old.  Anything that stretches and challenges the mind.

We are by now accustomed to seeing 3D images, even though they really aren't 3D.  They may look as though they have depth, but that's just an illusion.  No matter how real they look, they are still just 3-dimensional representations on a 2-dimensional medium.

Here is a 3D picture of the St. Louis Arch.  It's really two slightly offset 2-dimensional images.  The picture looks pretty weird unless you put on the special pair of glasses to merge the images so that your brain interprets it as one image with the illusion of depth.









Photographs, no matter how well they capture a beautiful nature scene, are always flat on the page.  And a printer--at least the ones most of us have ever encountered--can only put ink down on a flat piece of paper.

That, however, is no longer true.  We now have 3-D printers.  Maybe you already knew that, but it seems that I am just waking up to that fact, even though my research tells me that they have been around for a couple of decades.  At first, of course, they were very expensive and limited in their use--mostly for prototype models in manufacturing applications.  Now, however, we probably have many products in our daily lives that are made directly from printers.  These are only a couple of the thousands of such items.

Cell phone case

Toy car

A computerized model with all dimensions (length, width, depth) is sent to the printer, which deposits ultra-thin layers of powder onto a surface, one on top of another, until the final product is made.  The powder is held together using a binding liquid that's deposited during printing.

And such items as these are only the tip of the iceberg.  What is really mind-boggling is the way 3D printing is becoming indispensable in the medical field. 

Applications in dentistry are becoming more widespread.  Crowns, bridges, and implants can now be made from a 3D printer right in the dentist's office.  No more living with a temporary crown--it can be scanned, manufactured, and put in your mouth all in the same visit!

The most amazing related medical story I have come across was done in June, 2011, in the Netherlands.
An 83-year-old woman had such a terrible infection in her lower jaw (mandible) that it had to be surgically removed.  Her age precluded the trauma of complex reconstructive surgery that would give her a new mandible, so the doctors decided to try something new: a 3D printed implant.

The project required a team of researchers and designers, as well as a company to handle the production.  But the actual printing took only a few hours.  A laser beam melted thin layers of titanium powder, one on top of the other.  Thousands of layers were necessary to build the jawbone (33 layers = l mm of height).  The printed jaw then got a bioceramic coating and was attached to the woman in about four hours.  She was talking and swallowing within a day.

This all sounds pretty amazing to me!

Next Post to Come:  FOOD PRINTING