Some houseplants thrive no matter what you do to ’em. My mother-in-law’s tongue seems to fall into that category. It’s an African perennial herb, Sansevieria trifasciata, and it has absolutely thrived under my regime of inattention. I toss it onto the porch in summer, toss it into the study in winter. I forget to water it, now and then I divide it, and generally it grows and grows and grows. It has bloomed for me a couple of times, and it is blooming now. The fragrance is lovely – floral, sweet, and light.
Author: Dunrie
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Mother-in-law’s tongue in bloom
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How young is too young for a laptop?
So, it is nearing Christmas, and I am remembering my intention to purchase gifts mindfully. I haven’t been able to arrange charity exchanges with everyone, but I have got a few takers, and that’s good.
A colleague at work told me about one laptop per child, an organization that is providing rugged laptops to third world children. It’s a cool concept, building a low-cost, efficient laptop for kids (so no expensive office oriented software). I’ve heard that it is programmable, but also comes with a reset button to undo mistakes.
The most intriguing part is that one laptop per child is offering a “give a laptop, get a laptop” promotion, allowing us to explore the form, function, and user experience of the XO laptop. It would be fun to touch it and play with it, but it seems to violate the spirit not to give it to a kiddo. I’m wondering if my four-year-old nephew Theo (pictured here eating his first s’more) is too young for it.
Is 4-and-a-half too young for a laptop?
11/25/2007 – After seeing him with Dave and Dave’s laptop over Thanksgiving (replacement photo at left) I think he’s going to love it.
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Gillies Lake Report
We drove north to take out the lake pump (it runs over the beach so is subject to freezing) and move my car from the airfield to the garage. We half succeeded.
The Jeep, which seemed just fine when we used it in late September, squealed loudly on starting, smelled like burning, emitted lots of white smoke, and quite quickly snapped the serpentine belt. Not sure if something froze up along the belt or if the belt was at fault. Either way, it is currently disabled by the side of the road quite close to the Tobermory airport. Not using a vehicle is hard on it. We’re trying to reach the local mechanic, Mike, but he doesn’t have an answering machine, so it is hard to do.
I was afraid we’d missed the peak color. Although the oak and the maple let go of their leaves, today’s warm sun caught the gold of aspen, the orangey yellow of paper birch, russet of sumac and dogwood, and the orange tamarack needles. In the warm late autumn sun, the leaves were spectacular against the evergreen spruce and white cedar.
The lake is higher than it was in September, but the Flume is low, diving underground before the log bridge. Today was so warm that butterflies flitted about on the Lighthouse Road. Buffleheads bobbed, dove, and surfaced on the waves in front of the cabin, grouse haunted the woods, scattering on sight or sound, and a fox darted into the brush off Meadow Road.
The people side of things is a little less active. We met some neighbors out for a walk with their dog. As I cycled to the lighthouse, I encountered only one car.
We did our chores (pulling some of the woodpile inside, pulling out the lake pump), Dave did some mighty fine cooking, and we had some lopsided games of honeymooner’s pinochle. I got in a bike ride and an afternoon nap. So the car doesn’t work. Still a wonderful day.
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Personality Profile – Considerate Creator
So, a bunch of us at work took the PersonalDNA online personality test. They seem to do it right, not asking for personal information up front, providing an interesting experience (not too many questions, not totally superficial, sliders, multi-way sliders, 2-D charts).
The results were interesting, grouping us differently than I might have predicted. Surprisingly, I grouped with our graphic designer (and others) as a “creator.” Now, I’m a project manager, I typically do not “make” much besides status reports and burndown charts on hours and budgets. I hold a little structure/the larger project view, but that doesn’t fit my idea of being a creative person.
The more I think about it, though, I do have several pastimes that involve making things – photography, gardening (though with all the change the past few summers, my garden is a bit worse for wear), journaling, blogging, knitting. I spend an inordinate amount of my free time making things, and I really resist structure in those activities. For instance, my favorite knitting reference is The Handknitters Design Book (apparently not pictured anywhere online!) which is a technique recipe book. Allison Ellen provides only a few start-to-finish patterns, but she shares lots of information and inspiration on how to assemble your own patterns.
Hmmmm. Do I need to get a bit more of that creative spirit into my day job?
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The power of retreat
Earlier this year, I took a week’s vacation and came back with a realization.
I went to Austria with my husband and friends in March. I left behind my cell phone, my laptop, email, IM, everything.
Just before I left, I feared my family was about to bust apart (stepmother and sister and I were in some deeply uncomfortable discussions about money and shared ownership). I dreaded going away for a week and brooding on the dissolution of my family. Somehow, we accomplished some major repair work by cell phone on the way to the airport. So, family as intact as it ever was, I was able to leave the country with a clear heart and be far away.
I had several books, the company of friends, and was able to hide out in the mountains in a country where I don’t speak the language. I tried to learn to ski, I went for long walks in foothills. We took a day trip to Italy. We tried several varieties of schnapps. And I didn’t think about home all that much, except to be grateful for the lack of worry.
After that most complete retreat, I saw the world differently. On the plane ride home, I realized that it was time for me to find a new job. It really was that simple, like crossing a threshold. Something about going away, about really taking a break, changed my perspective entirely.
The hard part for me is taking that practice and incorporating it into my everyday life. I don’t always have a week to spare to realign my head. The hard part about being an adult is that there is (often) no watchful responsible party to call a timeout. So, I need to look for little opportunities to restore my energies, whether through a nap, meditation, a walk, a bike ride, or taking a long bath with a copy of the New Yorker magazine. I need to become a better judge of when to give myself downtime instead of pushing through whatever it is that seems important.
I might never know what that rest might provide in terms of insight or new perspective.
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Cool planes at KARB
There were wonderful planes today at the Ann Arbor Airport (KARB).
The Stearman was out, but Chris is often there with it. He was offering flights in it as a fundraiser for Great Commission Air. Perhaps the jets were there for the same reason?
We went for a joyride to Marshall and back, and on our return we were surprised to hear of “traffic” landing before us that was currently at our 5 o’clock (that is, behind us). After the Alpha Jet completely dusted our Cessna-182, we landed, hearing a MiG talking to Ann Arbor Tower, arranging for a touch-and-go after our landing. Well, as we taxied back to the NW T hangars, the MiG buzzed the runway 2x, never even touching. It came in really fast and quite low (just feet off the ground), the second time it had its afterburners on. Wow!