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| Meyer Lemon Tree |
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| Apollo and Daphne |
I was given a Meyer Lemon tree by a friend of ours (Rega) a couple of weeks ago; she helped me pot it and set it in a corner in the breakfast area where there is plenty of southern exposure. She has joked about naming the tree, Daphne, after the unfortunate maiden who, in order to evade the pursuit of Apollo, was transformed into a laurel tree. The Y-shaped lemon tree seems to bear a certain resemblance to the painting of Daphne pictured above. Within a few days after we potted it, clusters of small white buds began to appear on the tree, which blossomed into fragrant white flowers with delicate yellow anthers shortly afterwards.
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| Delicate Operation |
As I've never cultivated a fruit tree indoors before, Rega advised that I would need to take on the work of birds and bees outdoors and perform, so to speak, artificial insemination on the tree, i.e., assist in its self-pollination, so that it could bear fruit indoors. How fascinating! I was a little daunted by the delicate operation but with the help of on-line instructions, some Q-tips, and a magnifying glass at hand, I was ready for the task. I look forward to harvesting plenty of lemons next spring.
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| 10.22.2011 |
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| 08.17.2011 |
We went back to McCormick's Creek State Park last Saturday while there was still time to capture the leaves' slow transition from intense green to various shades of light green and yellow. The trees in the park were already much denuded at this time, which, to our surprise, unveiled a vista that was hidden from view before.
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| White River |
While rambling along one of the trails we came upon the bank of a sizable body of water, which turns out to be the western branch of the White River which runs through central and southern Indiana. Though land bound, Indiana is not entirely cut off from water after all. In addition to hiking and camping, they also offer guided horseback riding in the park. I can't wait to give it a try next spring.
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| Hikers |
We invited a visiting speaker, Margaret Gilbert, from UC Irvine to join us for the outing. A couple of hours of vigorous walking passed pleasantly amidst a gentle flow of conversation and reminiscences. The evening before I attended her talk, "Dark Duties: on the practical import of commands to do evil". It was a lot of fun seeing philosophers in action during the discussion period after the talk.
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| No Sweat |
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| +10 years post race |
I ushered in my 54th year with a 13.1-mile run this morning. We got up at 4:00 a.m., drove to Indianapolis, picked up our race packets at 6:30, then went back to the car to wait for the race to start but mainly to get out of the unseasonable, 20+ mph, bone-chilling wind. The temperature was at about 47 degrees Fahrenheit but it felt like 41. Despite the cold, more than 3,400 people came out to run. We were both pleased with our results which, though modest, exceeded our expectations. Kirk finished in 2:09:38, ranked 58 out of 90 in his age group, with a 9:54 pace; I finished in 2:34:06, ranked 40 out of 88 in my age group, with a 11:46 pace. You can see the half-marathon course in this you-tube video.
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| Daily Incense |
It has been my habit since August to light an incense stick every morning when I first sit down at my desk. I brought these 16"- long incense sticks from Taiwan; we found them in a specialty shop in an old district of Taipei where Chinese medicine stores congregate. The incense emits a very subtle scent with barely visible smoke when lighted. Each stick burns almost exactly an hour (the ember dies out in 01:00:55), and like sand through the hourglass, the passage of time is made visible through its diminishing length. I also use it to make sure that I get in my hour's practice at the piano every day. The charred stumps of the incense sticks planted helter-skelter in the incense cup in the picture are the remains of my days.
