How long since you read this classic?
According to Italo Calvino*, “Classics are books which, the more we think we know them through hearsay, the more original, unexpected, and innovative we find them when we actually read them.” Also “A classic is a book which with each rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading.”
If it’s been a while, maybe it’s time for a re-read!
*Why Read the Classics, 2001
Galls, also known as cecidia, are abnormal swellings that form on the outer tissues of plants, resembling benign tumors or warts in animals. These growths can be triggered by a wide range of parasites, including viruses, fungi, bacteria, other plants, insects, and mites. The scientific study of these structures is called cecidology.
Galls come in many different sizes, shapes and colours; I’m always looking out for them. Our native arroyo willows display at least two different insect-triggered galls. The sawfly/midge lays its eggs under the surface of the leaf/stem. Cecidologists are still trying to figure out how the plant’s genetic instructions cause the responding structures, which provide shelter and food for the insect’s larvae when they hatch.
Bodie quickly learned that if she wants the DELICIOUS canned food, she has to tolerate the ear drops first. I don’t know what she’ll do when this 10 day regime is over. While I’m sure she won’t miss the ear drops, how long it will take her to be satisfied with plain kibble again?
Nearly everything I now own was given to me as a gift.
I spent today worried about Bodie, who was at the vet. In the end, the worst did not come to pass, and she is likely to heal just fine with the right meds. The vet said her blood work was as good as a 2 year old dog’s (she’s 13, so that’s saying something.) In a week of enormous loss, this news was a most welcome gift.
Processing my feelings around my friend’s passing.
Rest in peace, dear friend. You will be so very, very missed.
hashiworks 