"Adventure and geology? Awesome!" - from Red House Books
Click here to read the review!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Book Recommendations
Maddy here!
Everyone who knows me knows that I love to read. Naturally, I spend a lot of time reading and researching geology topics because I teach geology classes at the university here in Cavern City. I have to stay current in my field. I even keep a rock and mineral guide on my bedside table. Weird, I know, but it helps me sleep better.
I also read quite a bit of fiction. I've found a web site that brilliantly categorizes and recommends both fiction and non-fiction books. It makes the search for the next good read a snap. Now I spend less time figuring out what I want to read and more time actually reading.
The site is called Flashlight Worthy and they make book recommendations. ←Click and you will find 4,940 great books in 53 different categories and 383 unique lists.
Here are two lists I like:
Everyone who knows me knows that I love to read. Naturally, I spend a lot of time reading and researching geology topics because I teach geology classes at the university here in Cavern City. I have to stay current in my field. I even keep a rock and mineral guide on my bedside table. Weird, I know, but it helps me sleep better.
I also read quite a bit of fiction. I've found a web site that brilliantly categorizes and recommends both fiction and non-fiction books. It makes the search for the next good read a snap. Now I spend less time figuring out what I want to read and more time actually reading.
The site is called Flashlight Worthy and they make book recommendations. ←Click and you will find 4,940 great books in 53 different categories and 383 unique lists.
Here are two lists I like:
"5 Great Books for Strong, Adventurous, Smart Young Girls" http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com/Great-Books-for-Strong-Adventurous-Smart-Young-Girls/608
(Of course I like those books!)
"Good Books for Strong Girls in 3rd, 4th or 5th Grade"
http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com/Good-Books-for-Girls-3rd-4th-5th-Grade/406
(Remember - I'm still a 5th grader by day, geology professor evenings and weekends.)
That's all for now!
Maddy
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
May Apples in Spring!
Maddy here!It's the time of year for May Apples, being May and all. This year the mountains of Virginia are thick with them. Here are two pictures I took yesterday of what I call a May Apple Meadow, sheltered beneath a forest canopy not far from my house (Douthat State Park).
These May Apples (Podophyllum peltatum) erupted from the forest floor in April, bloomed their single white flower in May, and now their tiny fruit (see bottom picture) will steadily grow and ripen through the summer.
You can see that the plant has a single base stem from which a pair of umbrella-like leaves branch and rise up to shelter the fruit that forms at the leaf junction. Some plants in the picture above only have a single stem and leaf. These are first year plants and won't produce any flowers or fruit. No junction, no fruit. Cool, huh?
You can see that the plant has a single base stem from which a pair of umbrella-like leaves branch and rise up to shelter the fruit that forms at the leaf junction. Some plants in the picture above only have a single stem and leaf. These are first year plants and won't produce any flowers or fruit. No junction, no fruit. Cool, huh?
Supposedly, the fruit has a lemon flavor, but there is no way I'm going to taste test it. I've read that the May Apple fruit is edible and that some people eat them, but it is also reported that it is toxic in quantity. I choose to appreciate the plant only for its physical beauty and avoid ingesting any part of it.
Why? It's just a simple a safe rule for me. Since parts of the plant (leaves, stem and root) are definitely considered toxic, I avoid ALL of it. That's seems a logical approach for me since it's easy to do, and so far it's worked. No toxin issues with me.
My little brother, Mica, is safe because Mom can't even get him to eat a real apple. The Apple iPod is the only apple he knows anything about. Me, I'm a Granny Smith kind of girl. Tart and juicy!
This past summer when I was in Krybos, I nearly flipped when I saw my pet gopher, Digby, eating May Apples as fast as he could cram them in. I tried to stop him but he quickly pointed out, speaking in a Scottish accent, no less, that Krybos May Apples are not toxic at all. I was so stunned that he could speak English, I forgot all else. Still, I prefer to be guaranteed safe rather than hurling my guts up, or worse! And besides, Digs is a native of Krybos. Maybe he's just immune to any ill effects.
Below, I've included links to two great sites on May Apples.
That's all for now!
Maddy
- http://www.briartech.com/earlyspring/mayapple/may.htm
- http://www.altnature.com/gallery/mandrake.htm
"May Apple was once called the witches umbrella and thought to be employed by them as a poison, which may not be untrue! The English version of this plant has much lore told of it, being called Manroot (mandrake) believed to be alive and its screams when pulled from the ground would render a man permanently insane."
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Warm Weather, Finally
Maddy here.
Wow! It was warm outside today. I slathered on my 70+ sunscreen with Helioplex, donned my Serengeti shades, then went outside to read a new book. Bliss!!
I love to feel the warmth of the sun radiating across the surface of my skin and down to my very core. If I close my eyes, I can almost hear the soothing sounds of Caribbean steel drums not far off, and the cool waves lapping at the hot sandy beach. I can feel the . . . what? . . . rain?
Of course, the islanders had pirates to deal with, right? Now, I don't actually have murderous and thieving pirates skulking about, but I've got my little brother, Mica, running amok with a water hose!
Below is a link to someone else who likes to read outside:
The Joys of Reading Outside: "Today’s post is, quite simply, an ode to the loveliness of being ..."
That's all for now,
Maddy
Wow! It was warm outside today. I slathered on my 70+ sunscreen with Helioplex, donned my Serengeti shades, then went outside to read a new book. Bliss!!
I love to feel the warmth of the sun radiating across the surface of my skin and down to my very core. If I close my eyes, I can almost hear the soothing sounds of Caribbean steel drums not far off, and the cool waves lapping at the hot sandy beach. I can feel the . . . what? . . . rain?
Of course, the islanders had pirates to deal with, right? Now, I don't actually have murderous and thieving pirates skulking about, but I've got my little brother, Mica, running amok with a water hose!
Below is a link to someone else who likes to read outside:
The Joys of Reading Outside: "Today’s post is, quite simply, an ode to the loveliness of being ..."
That's all for now,
Maddy
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Happy A F Day!
Every year I step out into the world on April 1st with my guard up and my senses on red alert, determined not to fall victim to another silly April Fool's joke. This year my confidence was high. Throughout the school day I moved cautiously from classroom to classroom, checking my seat for gum and the usual stupidness. I was ever vigilant as I opened my locker, and as I ventured into the hallways and the lunchroom. So far, so good, I kept telling myself.
This was going to be a banner year for me! Only a few more hours to go, and I'd be safely back home where I had planned to finish the day sorting and slicing specimens from my box of Moroccan geodes.
That's right. A banner year.
Well when I got home, I went straight up to Grandpa's Attic where I kept my box of geodes. These particular geodes were from Morocco and said to have very good crystalline structure inside, even better than the geodes from Mexico.
Needless to say, I was excited to get started.
I grabbed my safety goggles and gloves, then hefted my box of rocks onto the work bench that Grandpa had set up for the messier jobs like this one I was about to start. I pulled the box flaps back and stared in horror at what lay at the bottom.
My box of beautiful Moroccan geodes had been reduced to a lumpy pile of brown dust littered with disintegrated white crystal crumbles. They looked like they had been through a meat grinder. Anger began to build and I knew if I didn't get control of it, blood would shoot out of my eyes. I knew what I had to do, and I knew where to find him.
I pulled my gloves on, stretching and snapping each finger into place. Then, I seated the safety goggles over my eyes and walked purposefully across the expanse of Grandpa's Attic to the spiral stairs. I usually ride the elevator, but Mica knows this. It was time to change my usual MO.
I found Mica in the backyard cavern. He and Digby were sitting, legs dangling, on the wall of the elevated stone pool in the center of our cavern. Perfect, I thought. I can pay him back for trashing my geodes and teach him a valuable lesson at the same time.
Mica is forbidden to be near the pool without either an adult with him, or me. But, there he was all the same. I sneaked in and came around behind the pool, staying low and out of sight. I could see that Mica was showing Digby something, a rock. No, it was a geode. A Moroccan geode!
This was going to be a banner year for me! Only a few more hours to go, and I'd be safely back home where I had planned to finish the day sorting and slicing specimens from my box of Moroccan geodes.
That's right. A banner year.
Well when I got home, I went straight up to Grandpa's Attic where I kept my box of geodes. These particular geodes were from Morocco and said to have very good crystalline structure inside, even better than the geodes from Mexico.
Needless to say, I was excited to get started.
I grabbed my safety goggles and gloves, then hefted my box of rocks onto the work bench that Grandpa had set up for the messier jobs like this one I was about to start. I pulled the box flaps back and stared in horror at what lay at the bottom.
My box of beautiful Moroccan geodes had been reduced to a lumpy pile of brown dust littered with disintegrated white crystal crumbles. They looked like they had been through a meat grinder. Anger began to build and I knew if I didn't get control of it, blood would shoot out of my eyes. I knew what I had to do, and I knew where to find him.
I pulled my gloves on, stretching and snapping each finger into place. Then, I seated the safety goggles over my eyes and walked purposefully across the expanse of Grandpa's Attic to the spiral stairs. I usually ride the elevator, but Mica knows this. It was time to change my usual MO.
I found Mica in the backyard cavern. He and Digby were sitting, legs dangling, on the wall of the elevated stone pool in the center of our cavern. Perfect, I thought. I can pay him back for trashing my geodes and teach him a valuable lesson at the same time.
Mica is forbidden to be near the pool without either an adult with him, or me. But, there he was all the same. I sneaked in and came around behind the pool, staying low and out of sight. I could see that Mica was showing Digby something, a rock. No, it was a geode. A Moroccan geode!
I dropped down and leaned back against the pool wall. It was over three feet high, so I remained hidden while my anger intensified.
Finally, I rose up and reached across the pool to drag Mica in. Just as I grabbed the neck of his shirt, Grandpa shouted my name. I turned toward his voice and drew my hand back, crashing face first into the pool, generating a soaking Free Willy-style splash. The cave averages 54ºF year-round, but the water always seems warmer. Not geothermal warm, but still warmer than the air. Thank goodness.
I bobbed to the surface, pushing strands of hair from my face and was greeted by Grandpa and Mica laughing hysterically at me, and Digby polishing his dripping fur. That's when I noticed in Grandpa's arms, a cardboard box. Digby hopped on top of the box and disappeared beneath the loose flaps. When he emerged, he held beautiful Moroccan geodes in each paw! My geodes.
"April Fool's!" and "You're all wet," echoed throughout the cavern as Mica jumped in the pool with me for a swim.
That's all for now,
Maddy
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