Spring Kisses

SPRING IS HERE!! What a lovely feeling! Hope all my budding saplings are loving this weather as much as I am! I love watching everything and everyone coming to life in Spring. I used to be able to run and barely see anyone - now I'm constantly dodging bikes, children, dogs, and frisbees. At least it makes for an entertaining run! Speaking of runs - I've been piling on the miles lately. Last Saturday, I did a 6 miler, Sunday a power mile in 6:40, Monday an 8.4 miler, and yesterday a 7.3 miler :)  I would go running more today and tomorrow but I have even better plans. Wanna know what they are? Well, continue reading my little saplings!!

Runner's World Rave Run! Everytime I see these I want to run more and more!!

My mother, stepdad, and Kiddo are coming to visit me this weekend! Actually, they will be here in a few hours. I woke up at 7a thanks to the Sun (can't be mad if Nature wakes me up) although I would have liked a few more hours! Anyways, I was able to accomplish a lot this morning already and it's only 11:11a. Let's see, I cleaned the kitchen, my room, vacuumed, dusted, took out the trash and recycling, took 3 quizzes for physics, printed off my homework readings for the upcoming week, went grocery shopping, and will soon be going to the BioChem to finish some work before the family gets here. I think I'm being too productive for a college student. Oh, and by the way, I officially have an apartment in Raleigh, NC!! I think I have 49 days until we make the 955 mile journey :) YAY!!

Eyes wide in awe because I accomplished to much today already. Plus I like eyes.

So, the cool and awesome plans that will keep me from running. Today, when my family gets here, we are going hiking at Picnic Point and Raymer's Cove. It's a natural area owned by UW-Madison that has a lot of trails perfect to adventure on a beautiful day like this! We also will be going to the UW-Arboretum and see what we can stir up there. THE GARDENS ARE STARTING TO BEAUTIFY!!! So of course, I'm going to take them there too! And show them the dorm that has a greenhouse on top of it. And maybe other nature places I find :)

How I like to think I look while running!

How I feel when running. Oh shit, go faster or you'll get eaten!

How I feel after I run. Leopard, I feel your pain. I sit in trees too.

Then on Sunday, I'll show the family whatever else I feel so inclined to. Then, the super awesome reason why I'm not running this weekend:

I'M FINALLY GOING TO DEVIL'S LAKE AND GOING ROCK-CLIMBING!!!! SAY WHAT?!

Yes, I'm finally going to Devil's Lake after all this time of living only 30 minutes away. My friend, Aaron, has been climbing rocks before he was born so he decided I need to climb real rocks (instead of at a climbing gym). I'm so so so excited - I think I found myself a new hobby and something I will have to continue in Raleigh. So yes, that is the main reason why I will not be running - I do not want to have jello legs scaling rocks (or jelly arms from weight-lifting). I can't believe I haven't discovered rock climbing before; it's totally addicting!! I even bought a beginner's book for rock climbing, and a hiking guide book of NC trails (because I'll have so much extra time being a graduate student to go hiking in the mountains, climbing rocks, and explore the beaches of NC). 

I watched a few people climb like this! I want to be this good!!!

Rock climbing. Climbing rocks. Who thought of that? I want to marry them.

21 more days until I graduate. 21 more days until I graduate. 21 more days!!!

Mind-Blowing Facts

Good morning my beautifuls! Anyone else craving a photon of light? At least the plants are getting adequate water to beautify our world! So, in my classes this semester I learned some mind-blowing facts. Some are awesome and others make me think "What are we thinking?!" Here they are. As always, nature photos!

The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of the same stuff as stars.

1. With modern plant breeding, we can genetically modify crops to be resistant to viruses. We could never have a problem with viruses as plant pathogens reducing our yield. BUT WE DON'T DO THIS BECAUSE THE AVERAGE US CITIZEN THINKS THAT GENETIC MODIFICATION OF A CROP WILL CAUSE THEM HARM IN SOME WAY. Please...there is absolutely no harm to you or the plant!!! Stop being absolutely ridiculous and making us waste valuable food!!

2. Most of the agriculture you see on your drive around Wisconsin is a monoculture, one crop being grown, which is most likely genetically identical. REALLY?! Are you begging for diseases and pests to eat our food?!

3. We don't put pesticide, fungicide, or herbicide usage on our food labels!! Do you really know what you're eating?! This is the shortest pesticide label I have ever seen - most are 40 pages (even for organic sprays).
http://www.bayercropscience.ca/English/LabelMSDS/202/File.ashx

4. Only 1/32 of the entire world's soil is farmed. Thanks megacities and interstates for taking up the vast majority of healthy soil. We highly appreciate it.

This is what sustains life on Earth. Take care of it.

5. 1% of the population grows food for the other 99%. Also, 45% of that 1% are over the age of 55 years old. Hmm...I'll let that one sink in.

6. We have some great new innovations to agriculture but they are rarely implemented on a large scaled. Such innovations include intercropping, green mulch, multiple crops, crop rotation (which is becoming very popular), cover crops, border crops, trap crops, and BIOCONTROLS!! *I will be researching a new biocontrol at NC State.

7. We are made of more bacterial cells than human cells.

8. More effort is spend in controlling weeds than anything else [in agriculture].

9. Most weeds were introduced as ornamentals by horticulturists. [This is when a phytopathologist says "damn you horticulturists!"]

10. PERMACULTURE IS AWESOME!! I saw one in Guatemala - look at pictures!

Permaculture utilizes every inch of space. It's also a community builder

11. This is how the water usage in the USA is broken down: 59% industry, 30% agriculture, 11% domestic (cities/homes). WE ARE HEADED TOWARDS A WATER SHORTAGE. IT WILL HAPPEN WITHIN MY LIFETIME AND LIKELY MY PARENTS AS WELL. Then what?

12. It takes thousands of years to build 1 inch of topsoil (where we grow crops). This can be eroded within a few years if we don't practice soil conservation.

13. 30-60% of agriculture output is wasted. THAT'S A LOT!!!

14. 37% of WI adults are obese. 25% of high school students are obese. 29% of the 2-4 year old children in WI are on WIC programs. 1 of 9 households in WI are food insecure (don't know where or when their next meal will be). *That means 1 household on my section Little Elkhart Lake Road is food insecure!!

15. The USA only produces 50% of the recommended servings of fruit for the entire US population. So how are we supposed to be properly nourished?

This is basically my diet. Yum :)

16. 1 in 6 Americans will get food borne illness every year. 46% of produce, 24% which are leafy greens, are the main culprit. **It only takes 5 E. coli cells to get us sick. **60% of our veggies are imported. These veggies are 3.5 times more likely to be contaminated.

17. WE KNOW HOW TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM! Once again, the public is being ridiculous and FALSELY claims that irradiated food is toxic to us. WRONG!!!!!


WARNING: THE FOLLOWING FACTS AGGRAVATE ME TO NO END. DON'T WASTE YOUR FOOD, DO NOT!

18. 60% of the food wasted is at home. That means all of you who read this.

19. 48.8 million US citizens are food insecure. That is 6.5% of the US population. This is a cool website: http://www.census.gov/popclock/

20. Reducing food waste by 25% could feed 43 million people 3 times a day AND could END HUNGER for 430 million Americans (if we had that many. We have 315 million in the USA).

21. Americans waste 160 billion pounds of food a year. Food is now the NUMBER ONE item in a land fill (about 19% of a landfill). why? why? why? 

DON'T DO THIS! EAT YOUR FOOD!!

22. 1/3 of the food brought home is never eaten.

23. 8% of the food we serve ourselves goes into the trash.

24. To help reduce food waste (and lower obesity): Reduce your standard plate of 12" down to 10". You will eat 22% less calories.

Tricky eh?

25. We have no concept of portion size. Look up what a portion size of your favorite food is. You'll be shocked. 

26. Compost reduced waste of food by 30%. I have a compost in my apartment. With 3 girls, we probably produce about 15 pounds of compostable material in a week (easily). 
      *fruits, vegetables, coffee grounds, tea leaves, newspaper, brown paper bags, egg shells, and nut shells are compostable. 

I just love this photo so much. Love your Earth. She loves you.

27. One more!! The chances of YOU being born (exactly the DNA composition as you are) are 1 in 40 million. *You spend 30 minutes as a single cell :)

WOW, JUST WOW

Good morning sunshine! This is my kind of day - fully sunny, high of 55F, little chance of rain, and my last day of my night class :) The taste of Spring is in the Air. Some cool statistics quick before I dive into my post:

33 more days until UW-Madison says a 20-year old knows enough about plants and their diseases to get a Bachelor of Science Degree.

41 more days until Wisconsin says I'm mature enough to have my first alcoholic beverage (because I was such a good citizen and never drank underage - HA!)

60 more days (give or take a few) until I move to Raleigh, NC.

77 more days until I start working towards my Ph.D. in Plant Pathology!

Mangroves-plants have prop roots which act like straws to suck up water to the rest of the plant without the trunk being in the water to prevent rotting. SMART.

Wow, I'm just so cool. Actually, I'm pretty damn proud of myself. I made it this far, guess I'm doing alright. Let's see, counting preschool and kindergarten, I have been in school for 17 years already. After my Ph.D. (if I pass my prelims the first time which I intend to do) I will have been in school for 24 years. Even if I live to be 100...I'll have spend almost 1/4 of my life in school/university. At least I love what I'm studying.

Open your eyes to see the beauty. *If you say beauty is more than meets the eye - open your eyes and really see.

WOW, JUST WOW.
Check out these youtube videos. They are TEDtalks which are conferences about very controversial and pressing issues that need solutions immediately or Earth and civilization are doomed. Watch these two (or part of them) about what we eat and how it affects us and the environment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go_QOzc79Uc 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YkNkscBEp0 

If either of those made you think a little about what you eat and the impacts of it, I have made a difference in this world. This is something I feel strongly about. I have been a vegetarian for 3 years now and I have no intentions of ever eating meat again (unless I haven't eaten for days and the only food available is meat - but I'll probably get sick because my body doesn't make enzymes to break down meat anymore).  I first became vegetarian because meat is expensive. Secondly, it was for my health; I didn't want to put on the freshman 15! Now I have another reason - to lower my carbon footprint. Check out this calculator of your carbon footprint and compare it to mine!
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/ 
http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/ 

For the first link, if everybody in the world consumed exactly how I do - we would need 2.7 Earths (and I tread lightly). For the second link, I produce 5.8 tons of CO2 equivalent a year (which is about 1/5 of the USA average). It's amazing how small lifestyle changes can have huge economic, health, and environmental benefits. Will you challenge yourself to lower your footprint by at least a little?

Japanese Cherry Trees - stunningly beautiful. Imagine how good this smells

So there, that is what PlantPath girl is doing in class. This is actually from an Atmospheric and Oceanic Science course - I love it. I am passionate about these topics (obviously) and want to share them with you. I'm not trying to push anything on anyone but I will gladly defend my side if you decide to challenge me! Have some pretty pictures of Earth to see beauty in its natural form.

Daughters are like flowers, they fill the world with beauty.

Cool Nature Stuff

Good evening little rain drops! As much as we need the rain, I'm craving some sunshine and warmth! On the plus side, it's not snow! Anyways, you guys have helped me reach over 800 pageviews already, all in less than 6 months. Glad I can entertain my family in some way 100 miles away from home. Some cool news:
37 days until I graduate at Madison
45 more days until I turn the big 21
10ish weeks until I move to Raleigh for grad school!!

There's not much new on my end so I'll show you some cool nature stuff. First, check out this link of a comet/aurora borealis. Then I'll post some awesome pictures I used to feng-shuit my office in the BioChem. Check em out!

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/02/new-timelapse-video-comet-dances-with-auroras/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_tw20130411ngnw-timeaur&utm_campaign=Content    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enj3IqRqg0s 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUOzVynk4Ao

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet. - Thich Nhat Hanh

Trees are Earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven. -Rabindranath Tagore

Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. -Rachel Carson

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

I go to Nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. -John Burroughs

Whoever loves and understands a garden will find contentment within. -Chinese Proverb

I am in love with the green Earth. -Charles Lamb

We do not see Nature with our eyes, but with our understanding and our hearts. -William Wordsworth

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives? -e.e. cummings

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. -Aristotle

When you feel insignificant, just remember you are made from the same stuff as the universe.

Kiddo Came to Visit

Another morning, another day. I wish the sun was shining - but at least it's super warm so I can go for a run outside! Anyways, my brother came to visit me this weekend! I love it when Kiddo comes to Madison - so much better than whatever it is that I usually do on weekends. Come gather around and I'll tell you the saga of "Jason Visits Megan in Madison."

PlantPath Girl and Kiddo

Friday, Jason arrives in Madison around 5:15p right when I'm coming back from grocery shopping with Kiley and Joe. We get Jason settled in and my food in it's rightful position in the refrigerator. Brendan, Kiley, Joe, Jason, and I head over to the Old Fashion by the capitol for dinner. We discover there is a 75 minute wait so we head over to the Great Dane instead! I had a gourmet grilled cheese with couscous on the side (highly recommend it!!). We wander back to my place, invite a few friends over and do the typical Friday night ordeal. Only one minor spill!

In Culebra Insland, PR

Saturday, breakfast for me since I'm the only one up early enough for breakfast. I cook a fabulous pasta and sauce lunch for Joe and Jason. Then we go to Boulder's for a few hours! It's a rock climbing gym - it was sooooooo much fun! Everyone's arms are super sore but it was totally worth it. After dinner of Domino's pizza - we played Nerts and Cards Against Humanity for basically the rest of the night with a few guests. Crash on the couch.

When we were younger and dumber than we are now!

That's the wicked awesome story of Kiddo coming to visit me this weekend. Now back to reality of not much homework (because I'm awesome) and writing term papers (which are easy peasy). Back to the reality of 42 more days until I graduate with my Bachelor's in Plant Pathology. Back to the reality of 50 more days until I can legally drink (who graduates before they turn 21?! That's bogus!)

Shaftesbury to Coventry to London!

Buenos dias mis amores! Someone has been practicing her Spanish. Speaking of Spanish - I miss my Guatemalan friends so much!! I've been messaging a few of them regularly half in Spanish half in English. Sometimes google translate isn't very helpful! Oh well, at least we are trying to stay in touch! Anyways, I'm about to inform you about the second half of my England trip to see Anna and Zac!

Last view of Shaftesbury!

So, on Wednesday, we woke up early to walk around Shaftesbury one more time. It was partially sunny so we could get pictures as well! Ky and I printed off photos of us, Anna, and Wisconsin to give to her parents as a thank you for everything they did for you. Her dad drove us to Warwick University in Coventry where Anna studies North American history. On the way, we stopped at Stonehenge. Apparently not much is known about the rocks being moved and stationed where they are now. Still cool to see rocks :)  Once we got to Warwick, we went to a nearby city, Leamington, where a lot of uni students go for shopping and live. We made dinner in her dorm and met her friend Rachael who has a heavy northern accent (different than Anna's accent!) We drank cider and wine whilst we went through pictures and caught Anna up on all that happened in Wisconsin.

Stained glass in some museum of a bath in Leamington.

View in Leamington.

Thursday, we went to Stratford-upon-Avon. This is where Shakespeare was born! We took pictures outside his house and saw his grave. We also stumbled upon a store called 'Magic Alley' which was full of Harry Potter and other magic items. Kiley and I had fun going through all the stuff, Anna thought it was a little silly. We walked around for awhile and then headed back to uni where we bought our train tickets to London and planned out our stay in London. We went to the uni pub and had a pint.
 

Self-explanatory

I wanted this so bad and I'm not even a big fan of Harry Potter!

Ky. Anna. I by Shakespeare's Birthplace.

Shakespeare's Grave.

Friday was a lot of traveling. We took a bus to the train station, took a train to London, then took the Underground (Tube) to Zac's area of London called Kensington (the upper class area). Zac is studying abroad in London and doing research on Watson (who discovered the same thing as Darwin) at the Natural History Museum. After we met up with Zac and got rid of our suitcases, we hit the Tube to take us to downtown. We saw Parliament, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and other famous landmarks I cannot remember the names. Then at sunset, we went on the London Eye! It's the huge Ferris Wheel type thing by Parliament. COOLEST THING EVER!! When we went on everything was starting to light up - it was beautiful! It took about 30 minutes to complete the loop and I enjoyed all 30 minutes of it thoroughly! After, we went to a vegetarian restaurant called 'Tidbits' which was absolutely delicious! Anna stayed the night at her friend Maria's and we went to a pub for some cider. (See the theme of a pint every night?)

Parliament!

Buckingham Palace.

Big Ben!

Parliament at night from the London Eye!

London Eye :)

Night view in downtown London.

Underground - The Tube!

Saturday we went to the Natural History Museum. I could have spent all day in there! Literally all day. Then we went to Tate Modern, an art museum, and saw the London Bridge from a far distance. Then we raced back to the Science Museum before it closed. Then we had to say goodbye to Anna :(  What a terrible way to end a lovely day!! Zac made us pasta for dinner. No pub tonight since we had to get up early for our flight home.

Inside the Natural History Museum.

Outside of Natural History Museum.

Another reason why I love plants!!!

London Bridge in the far background!

Sunday, woke up, caught the Tube to the airport, and did the usual travel experience. London to Toronto, rush through customs and security, and then onto Chicago. Landed, grabbed our luggage, ran to the bus stop (last ones on!), onto Chazen Museum in Madison and then home sweet home. Open suitcase, find toiletries, brush teeth, floss, find clean clothes for pajamas, head hit pillow, asleep. I'm finally adjusted back to this time zone. I can stay up past 10p and wake up after 6a! Anyways, I'm happy to be back so I can kick my final semester in the butt and get on with graduation! 45 more days til graduation and 53 more days until I can legally drink! Woot woot. Thanks 2013 for being awesome!