Leslie Eagle

Kirk Hutchison wrote:I don't think kudzu is capable of invading mature ecosystems. Whenever I go to the south I see it along the edges of roads or in pine forests that look like they were logged within the last 20 years or so. When I walk deeper into the forest, no kudzu.

This is true of all invasive species I've looked into. They are not actually invading anywhere that people haven't already "invaded." In fact, we are the invasive species. The plants just thank us and come along for the ride.

Anyone have experience with young chestnut trees? We ordered one after doing some temperate climate research just as a trial. It arrived in beautiful condition and has been re-potted. We had it out on the back porch and since we have a lot of cloud cover, perhaps its exposure to UV rays was minimal. One day the clouds parted for a few hours and I was surprised to see the leaves looked scorched . We have new buds coming in but my concern is...does Chestnut tree want partial shade or is it sensitive to shifts in UV exposure? Because this is how our rainy SE Alaska coastal climate is. Mild but wet. Beautiful, long, sunny days when we have them but lots of cloud cover. Should we plan to throw a shade cloth over it on clear days?

Here's another one: My daughter and grand daughter were sitting in a coffee shop when she got up to take her daughter to the rest room. A man that was sitting nearby got up and handed me a drawing he had made and said "Give this to your friend." It turns out he is a well known local artist who just wanted to do something nice. When he started the drawing I was still in the next door store shopping. You can see in the drawing how he realized there were three of us at the table not two and squeezed me in on the left side!



About the artist:
http://www.capitalcityweekly.com/stories/020514/ae_1192480330.shtml

Well. Now you all know where I live!

One mother's day I was extremely late to brunch where I was to meet with my adult daughters. I decided to get coffee on the way and ended up behind someone with a huge order. I was so grumpy and I guess he could see that in his rear view mirror, perhaps because I was muttering to myself and shaking my head to nobody and exasperatingly rolling my eyes thinking I was "in private." When I got up to the window the barista said "The guy in front of you got yours. He felt bad making you wait."