abstractions

May 16 2008 Arrowhead Alpines Plants Wednesday the order from Arrowhead Alpines arrived. What speed! What packing! What lovely plants! I had faxed the order Saturday from the Staples downtown. Late. Very late in the year. And what came? Oh, a fair-sized Callicarpa dichotoma in such good shape that Jay, when he saw it in its new home last night, could not believe it had traveled from Michigan to live here. Gotten for its purple berries in the fall. Viburnum sargentii "Susquehanna" and Cornus officianalis round out the shrubbery. Both for blooms and berries. Plants: Clematis integrifolia and Clematis macropetala hyb., Anemone Japonica 'Pamina' (dark pink), and two Campanulas: C. Portenschlagiana and C. Portenschlagiana 'Resholts'. The first is blue, the second, purple. You may have seen this particular species, as I have, in full bloom in pots around Easter sold in up-scale grocery stores for $15.00 or more. (Gardening) Posted by jpm14 at 3 : 34 pm | Leave a note {0} May 07 2008 Young Things Tonight as I was planting carrot seed before the rain began, the girl was 'training' Hawthorne to be a horse for Elena, her dolly who regularly rode Zeke. Hawthorne would much rather chew on Elena's foot, or hair, or dress. So the girl had him down and up a lot. And I thought that perhaps a young, spunky, headstrong Airedale is the perfect animal for a similarly charactered girl to train. The girl also is training him to pull a sled/ge. Banner is very lumpy looking with six youngsters pulling on her. She is famished as well. The kittens are out of the box and running around most of the day now. They are quite entertaining. (Family) Posted by jpm14 at 8 : 57 pm | Leave a note {1} Returns Saturday I watched the first hummingbird early in the morning as I was weeding. He hovered and then sat on a small twig in a spruce tree for quite a while. Yesterday I confirmed Isabelle's Monday report that she saw an oriole. I heard two, flinging their fluting songs back and forth, then saw one in the apple tree. They are already at it early today again. The bluebirds won a box and seem to have set eggs. We see them rarely, and for only moment at a time. The tree swallows, which were warring with the song sparrows for a box, are now trying to decide which box to take. Isabelle shot the first pair of sparrows, then another moved in. She didn't want to kill the second pair. So she went back up in the hedgerow and reclaimed the bird box we had placed up there several years ago for flying squirrels and mice, fixed it up and placed it on the opposite end of the grapes. And cleaned out the sparrow nest once more from the first box. Isabelle reports seeing miniature hummingbird moths. We both saw a small sky blue butterfly yesterday. I have had at least four small weevils land on me. Even though they are charming in looks, I take off their heads. If that many are around to land on me--woe to my plants. The peas, edible and flowering, are up. So are chard, lettuce, herbs. Potatoes, broccoli, brussels sprouts, onions, poppies are in. Next: carrots. (Natural History) Posted by jpm14 at 6 : 42 am | Leave a note {0} May 02 2008 Garden Changes Jay wishes to have an ongoing series of snaps of one of the gardens so we all can see how things change as the year progresses. Initially, he wanted one photo per month taken from approximately the same place and day. But the weather has pushed plants from three weeks behind to three weeks ahead here in just over two weeks time, so the photos will be as noticeable changes occur. April 9th: Aconite, early iris, buds on the hellebores, crocus May 2nd: Hellebore second wave blooms are coming on due to the heat the past couple weeks, aconite is setting seed, tulips in bloom, lilies, peonies, clematis, monkshood, clematis, violets and just in the upper left you can see a bit of the gloriously in bloom flowering quince. Almost unbelievable how much greener and alive everything is in so short a time. It often is the same with life circumstances, I have found. (Gardening) Posted by jpm14 at 10 : 30 am | Leave a note {0} May 01 2008 Memory and Intelligence An article is in the NY Times today on research on memory training. The research abstract indicates gains in measured intelligence are possible with memory training. I have been thinking of memory training more frequently lately as I am rereading Jonathan Spence's wonderful book The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci. Ricci was a Jesuit priest in the 1500's who used his (to us) amazing abilities at building mnemonic memory palaces to gain hearers of the gospel in high levels of Chinese government and royalty. It is a fascinating, well-written, interesting book. One of my favorites. The girl studies violin via the Suzuki method, and comparing and contrasting what Suzuki says about memory and intelligence with Spence's reports of what Ricci and Chinese young men preparing for the governmental exams back then were doing is thought provoking and informative. I plan to read Suzuki's Nurtured by Love again, too. Although I do not agree with all his philosophical stances, the outworking of Suzuki's philosophy has been very beneficial for our daughter. The three also remind me of an article in the NYTimes a year ago about "How to Grow a Super-Athlete". A quote from it: "K. Anders Ericsson, a native of Sweden and a professor of psychology at Florida State University, is co-editor of "The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance," published in 2006. If talented people can be thought of as a singular species, then Ericsson is its John J. Audubon, and the handbook is his painstakingly annotated field guide. Every talent, according to Ericsson, is the result of a single process: deliberate practice, which he defines as "individuals engaging in a practice activity (typically designed by teachers) with full concentration on improving some aspect of their performance." In a moment of towering simplification, "The Handbook" distills its lesson to a formula known as the Power Law of Learning: T = a P-b . (Don't ask.) A slightly more useful translation: Deliberate practice means working on technique, seeking constant critical feedback and focusing ruthlessly on improving weaknesses. " And that seems to be the case with the new research, Ricci and other mnemonic devises, how the Chinese studied for their exams, and why the Suzuki 'method' works. Slow, deliberate repetition which concentrates on reducing error and improving technique will result in memory (and long-term intelligence) gain. It does not seem to matter if one is learning music, sport, scripture, scientific pathways, history, or pi to the nth place value. Incorporating all aspects of learning--visual, auditory and kinesthetic helps speed the process. But remember, slow is fast. The slower, more concentrated effort to do excellently, even for a short period of time, is more advantageous than a longer, sloppy effort. (Thinking) Posted by jpm14 at 10 : 23 am | Leave a note {0} April 30 2008 Postum No More I thought it was just my imagination, or the local stores. Have not been able to find Postum the past few months. Then last week at Wegman;s, where I went specifically to look for Postum, a young check out girl told me the sad news. Kraft has stopped making Postum. She knew because her parents drank it and were upset. Wah. Looks like there are a few substitutes . Blah. (Food) Posted by jpm14 at 9 : 22 am | Leave a note {0}

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