Pleasing to the Senses

Three reasons I love my job:

(1) The view from my window

(2) The smell of the Conservatory: rich, earthy, spicy, full of oxygen and perfume and dew

(3) The sound of the red robin, spring peepers and children laughing

Baby Beckham

My little star, filmed by my big star:
www.annarborusasoccer.com.

Click on the first link (the one that says "video highlights").


Photos by fellow soccer mom Kirsten Carr

Why Knox?

You may not be able to tell from the picture, but Knox gives hair the consistency of a Playskool figure's. Did you know that it can take up to two weeks to comb it out?

Why, oh why?

Day Off

So I took the day off on Wednesday to put in the plants I'd bought at the plant sale. It had hardly rained a day this month, and it has not rained a day since. I needed to take a day off to work in my own garden because I was at the Botanical Gardens every day during the plant sale, and I had to be a mother at synchronized swimming meets every day the weekend before and the weekend after.

It rained. And rained. And rained.

The dog stood on the deck, occasionally scratching the screen door, giving me wet backward glances. He was dreaming of the brown sofa, where he might have spent the day, if only I'd gone to work as usual.

Unusual Harvest

We've been asked to find a use for the "harvest" from the School of Natural Resources and Environment's composting toilets. Apparently when their facilities manager called another gardening spot with the offer, the reply was "Can't you just flush it down the toilet?"

When I worked for the LSA Dean's Office on the fourth floor of the Dana Building, each and every one of my co-workers refused to use the composting toilets. In contrast, some SNRE employees will use nothing but.

We definitely won't use the harvest in the food gardens at MBG, but where should it go? Another question: does this call for an interpretive sign? Or not?

If we do it right, kids will love it. Not sure about the docents, though.

(Drawing from Oikos Green Building Source: http://oikos.com/library/compostingtoilet/)