Fruit Facts

"The banana was introduced at the 1876, actually in Philadelphia, at the Centennial Exhibition. That's where it sort of had its coming out party to the masses. But this was a Victorian era, and the idea of eating a suggestively shaped banana was considered uncouth. And there have been some other banana historians who've uncovered old recipes that show bananas must be cut and served in foil, anything to disguise their shape." -Read more at NPR.org.
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Jungle Van

I'm not usually a fan of mini-vans, but this one is pretty amazing. As seen in the co-op parking lot.
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Defining Self

"My father was brilliant, embarrassed, funny, handsome. My mother was plain, serious, principled, kind. My grandmother was intelligent, lonesome for her other life, her dead children, silent. My aunt was beautiful, bitter, angry, loving. I fell among these adjectives in earliest childhood and was nearly buried with opportunity. Some of them stuck to me; others, finding me American and smooth, slipped away." -Grace Paley, "Family."

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Zou Hoo

"iPads and laptops have replaced satchels and quills, but students still sign honor codes, dress up for football games and vie for coveted spots in secret societies at the university Thomas Jefferson founded in 1819." -description of UVA in Southern Living's list of the best college towns in the South ... (good ole Mizzou also made the list).



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Yeehaw

Cute book.
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Higher Ground

"Don't ask Jesus to save you. Be your own Jesus." -advice from a costal hazards specialist about surviving the eminent quakenami on the Pacific Northwest coast. I fact checked this story for Outside. Read it here.

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South of the Border

"The Library of Congress -- our country's official storehouse of knowledge -- had mailed my check to 'Albuquerque, Mexico.'" -once again, New Mexico falls off the map. Read the whole story in New Mexico magazine.

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Fundamentals

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Liberal Arts

"So, if I understand, you'll study several years to earn a degree...on the small chance that your degree might someday help you get . . . discovered." -from The Kite Runner; a father's thoughts on pursuing a creative writing major.

Been there.

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Dog Days

"The days continue hot. At dusk the shadows are as blue as the lips of the children stained with berries or with the chill of too much swimming." -The Ordinary Weather of Summer by Linda Pastsan

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12,632 feet

Photo from last Sunday's hike up Santa Fe Baldy.

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into the trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." -John Muir

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Fat Fuel

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Lone Star Laughs

"It may not be the First Rule of American Journalism, but it's certainly in the top 10: The participation of a Texas politician in any race at all, whether it involves the presidency or even just jumping around in sacks, guarantees good times for reporters." -an editorial by Glenn Garvin in yesterday's Miami Herald (and other papers, including the New Mexican).

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Bueno

"When I was a kid, I always played school." -profile of my high school Spanish teacher in the September Outside.
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Go Local, Go Organic

"Co-ops typically start at the grassroots level with one or two people wanting to replicate another co-op." -great article about food c0-ops in today's Washington Post; that's pretty much how the Los Alamos co-op started!

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Einstein the Eagle

"They had to bang on the back of the box, and then they dumped him out." -- a 12-year-old's description of the not-so-majestic release of a bald eagle back into the wild. Read more in my latest Inside Columbia article.

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Live

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Feline Food

"They're service cats." -two young girls holding stray kittens who were determined to bring the animals into the grocery story (to their credit, the girls wanted to buy cat food). I didn't stick around to find out if it worked.
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Parade Route

A few images from today's Los Alamos County Fair:

"While the spirit of neighborliness was important on the frontier because neighbors were so few, it is even more important now because our neighbors are so many." - Lady Bird Johnson

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Fat fat fat fat

"Everything tastes better on a stick." -a woman at the Iowa State Fair. Apparently the newest addition to the line up is fried butter. Yuck.

Hear more at NPR.

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Inner Strength

"There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise counsel of people we trust. But we lean forward nonetheless because, despite all risks and rational argument, we believe that the path we are choosing is the right and best thing to do...this is the kind of passionate conviction that sparks romantics, wins battles, and drives people to pursue dreams others wouldn't dare. Belief in ourselves an din what is right catapults us over hurdles, and our lives unfold." -Howard Schultz in Onward.
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US of A

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Flowers vs Weeds

"You can't compare their character any more than you can compare an orchid to a dandelion...An orchid is more finely designed, and built, and delicate, and subtle, and aromatic. And a dandelion is something you kick up with the heel of your shoe if it's going to take over your grass." -Dorothy McKibbin's comparison of Los Alamos scientists Robert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller. Love the language.
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18 Miles Round Trip

"After the race is over, run or walk back down the trail to the start line. This is the approach to use if you are one of those macho mountain ultrarunners." -an option for how runners should get back down the mountain after running up Sandia Peak for yesterday's La Luz trail run. Of course this is the option we chose. I guess this means I'm macho.

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Sky High

Today: Nine miles and 10,678 feet up Sandia Peak for the La Luz trail run.
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Talk to Me

"In fact, as languages go, English is pretty user friendly. If you look at a tiny language spoken somewhere that most of us have never heard of, chances are it's going to be so complicated that you have a hard time imagining how people can walk around speaking it without having a stroke. I find massive wonder, and just fun, in that." -linguist John McWhorter, as interviewed on NPR.

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Pretty Much

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Purrfect

Conversation about the recent Los Alamos evacuation between two women at the bus stop:

Lady #1: "He goes everywhere I go."

Lady #2: "Your cat or your husband?"

Lady #1: "Not my husband."

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Yay!

"After 36 days, firefighters have fully contained the Las Conchas Fire, the largest wildland fire in New Mexico's recorded history." -LA Monitor
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Deep Breath

"This is boring." -an announcement from an annoying lady in my pilates class. Shortly thereafter, she got up and left.
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LA

"Being in the desert was brilliant and it was hard." -Toni Collette. Recently, though, it's been more brilliant than hard.
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