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.