The Forbidden Word

Yesterday I posted a bunch of photos of plants that are not mine. These are growing in my rock garden but I forgot what they are

a gem of a geum

The rock garden as of yesterday. I did remove a lot of sedum and snow in summer to reveal my rocks: mainly Michigan granite with some Italian green marble chunks that I picked up in Bonassola. I had pieces of the White Cliffs of Dover but they dissolved

The powerful, ugly word that a repeat of just one of its syllables will get you fired even if said accidentally. True story. A middle school teacher in that island surrounded by reality that we call Ann Arbor recently stumbled over the word 'ignorant' and uttered a rearrangement of its first 3 letters. The kids collectively gasped; some instantly complained to parents (they are allowed to have phones in class now no thanks to nationwide shootings), some say he said both syllables though most said just the first and that he instantly corrected himself. Within hours, enraged parents called for his immediate firing and the firing of any administrator racially insensitive to have hired him. As a compromise, he was put on leave for the rest of the year and told to read some book Growing up white and privileged (not sure of the exact words) and then discuss what he has read with administrators to ensure he has abandoned his racist ways ( What Mao's Re-education camps were full? some commented). As an additional punishment, every action and thing he might have said was to be dissected publically to determine if he indeed is a secret racist, most of the evidence based on 7th graders' hearsay. He does have his supporters who claim he does not have a racist bone in his body (what ever that is). But there is surprisingly (or maybe not surprising) vocal minority say that it couldn't possibly be an accident and even if it was, that he could form even the first syllable of that heinous word, shows someone unfit for teaching.

I do have a lot of sympathy for him as I regularly mangle words. I once introduced myself as Sue Chemist (chemist and my last name have some sounds in common).

The Demise of Itsy Bunny due to The Murderous Cat. Last week I posted a photo of the itsy bunny sniffing my feet as I sat on our patio watching the hummingbirds, drinking my wine.(does that comma prevent my dangling modifier? ) Obviously such cluelessness to potential danger portends a short life time. I did see one of its possible parents chasing it around to maybe get the idea of fleeing danger. Two nights ago I found the MC (who owns this beast?) crouching in hunter mode on my patio. MC is a frequent visitor to my neighbor's bird feeder and is rewarded with prey as the hapless birds scoop up seed pushed to the ground. I shooed it away but soon discovered it only moved away from my sight. Just as it was about to pounce on itsy bunny, I interceded. So maybe I gave Itsy Bunny another half hour of life. I can't always run interference. On the positive side, my plants won't be nibbled. MC was back on my patio last night and I am unable to scare it any longer. Hopefully the hummingbirds are out of its reach though they in the past visited low flowers. MC is quite beautiful with long, groomed black and white hair. It lives across the street somewhere and is in danger of becoming road kill.

Cooking for Wellness: Greens edition: Wednesday night I had my survivor's class again growing attached to these people. Hope was not there though. Greens are presumably chock full of antioxidants and stuff to keep cancer at bay. One dish used dandelion leaves and carrot tops along with kale. Way too bitter for me and I lack the bitterness tastebuds are previously discussed. She made an arugula, citrus salad with anchovy dressing. Not a fan of these fish. Citrus included grapefruit and she was reminded that most on chemo are forbidden to eat grapefruit due to its cytochrome inhibiting properties.

Rain: Lots of it all week preventing my long bicycle rides though I got some short rides in between deluges. No excuse today. I have to wait for the traffic to clear then out I go. Then maybe have a manicure?