Grading until my Brain Turns to Mush, and Garlic Mustard
I've been trying not to be distracted by interesting things so that I can finish my grading for the semester. I've been moderately successful. I have a line of thought that I'll hold off on developing until after I finish, related to self-regulation in the absence of regulation and external authority.
I'm trying to get as much done as possible with the grading because we'll soon be leaving for our road to Colorado and Utah, with the highlight of a camping trip in the Utah desert and a visit to the hot springs. In preparation, I went to the used bookstore to look for some deeply engaging novels. I don't think I managed to find a single one; instead, I ended up with several biographies.
One of my finds was Fifty Acres and a Poodle by Jeanne Marie Laskas, an imaginative kid who grew up in the suburbs, a freelance writer now living in the city, who more or less on a whim purchases a farm with her boyfriend. I didn't care for the tone of the book at first--it was a little too cutesy-humorous, just not my cup of tea, but by the end I admit I was deeply engaged in the lives of the characters---pets, livestock, and humans, whose lives she describes in the book. I got hooked and even shed some tears. It was a good way to de-stress and take my mind away from grading.
The garlic mustard is insane this year. I've been pulling the ones I find in my yard, but there are so many flowering in close proximity that it seems pretty damn hopeless. Garlic mustard is an invasive species that is a threat to native plants and animals. It inhibits the growth of native plants by competing for the same resources, and releasing chemicals that inhibit the growth of fungi that native trees need for optimal growth. It's a possible threat to two types of native butterflies who lay their eggs in it instead of native plants. Unlike the native plants, garlic mustard is toxic to the eggs and larvae. Read more here from the Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group (now that's a mouthful of name for a group).
I'm trying to get as much done as possible with the grading because we'll soon be leaving for our road to Colorado and Utah, with the highlight of a camping trip in the Utah desert and a visit to the hot springs. In preparation, I went to the used bookstore to look for some deeply engaging novels. I don't think I managed to find a single one; instead, I ended up with several biographies.
One of my finds was Fifty Acres and a Poodle by Jeanne Marie Laskas, an imaginative kid who grew up in the suburbs, a freelance writer now living in the city, who more or less on a whim purchases a farm with her boyfriend. I didn't care for the tone of the book at first--it was a little too cutesy-humorous, just not my cup of tea, but by the end I admit I was deeply engaged in the lives of the characters---pets, livestock, and humans, whose lives she describes in the book. I got hooked and even shed some tears. It was a good way to de-stress and take my mind away from grading.
The garlic mustard is insane this year. I've been pulling the ones I find in my yard, but there are so many flowering in close proximity that it seems pretty damn hopeless. Garlic mustard is an invasive species that is a threat to native plants and animals. It inhibits the growth of native plants by competing for the same resources, and releasing chemicals that inhibit the growth of fungi that native trees need for optimal growth. It's a possible threat to two types of native butterflies who lay their eggs in it instead of native plants. Unlike the native plants, garlic mustard is toxic to the eggs and larvae. Read more here from the Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group (now that's a mouthful of name for a group).
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