Summer is almost gone, in our world. Astronomically, we have at least another month. Realistically, two weeks. If we are lucky, an “Indian Summer” in October for three or four weeks before the clouds close in permanently and the rains wash all the remnants of sunlight away. A week ago, I was in “Beautiful British […]
Category: travel
Vacation on Vancouver Island
Yesterday, took the Black Ball ferry (MV Coho) to Victoria with Mother. Most rolling crossing ever. The swells were huge, very litlle chop. Not bad, just a little hard to walk with the deck heaving like that. Then a marvelous visit with our dear friend, Hetty. She recommended a book by Henry James, which I […]
Day Trip to the Volcano
Mount Saint Helens. I was a young teen when she blew her top for the first time in living memory. Recently returned to the Pacific Northwest, I remember some inconvenience due to ash fall, and my parents’ worried expressions, but nothing like the people on the other side of the mountains for hundreds of miles. […]
New favorite restaurant in Seattle
Bamboo Garden just two streets north of the Seattle Center. It’s vegan (except the fortune cookies) but you would probably not notice it. The food is filling, tasty and very nicely presented. Prices are reasonable. Parking was adequate, but it’s not really accessible. I think there is a ramp (not sure, came at it from […]
Vacation in Victoria
Took the elder stidkid with me this past weekend to give him a chance to visit friends and see the sights of Victoria, British Columbia, in the winter. Unfortunately, the same snow that hit us hit them also. So we were unable to meet up with some of our friends. We did however get to […]
More pics from the trip
The pics below show a biofilm near the Longmire Mineral Springs in Mt. Rainier National Park, followed by a few mushrooms (at least three types, I think) at one place along the trail around the springs. The next few show the Tatoosh Range, a small brook with interesting biofilms and lichen on a rock, the […]
Three Years on Mt. Rainier
On to the main topic, the field trip for the class I am taking on Microbial Ecology…. We went to explore the mostly untrampled flora around Mt. Rainier. The primary focus, lecture-wise was pretty much on mycorrhizal fungi: how they work with trees and other plants to provide nutrients, and occasionally how they are parasitic or otherwise pathenogenic. However, we were also able to explore some bacterial biofilms, lichens (a symbiote between bacteria and algae), and a couple of “charismatic megafauna” in the form of a black bear and some deer at Paradise on Mt. Rainier.