Abbie IV Update

Abbie IV will be working in a virtual reality lab this summer. For some reason, I can't come up with an appropriate comment for this.

Should We Be Concerned?

In the microbiology class that I am currently teaching, I had the students isolate their own skin bacteria and test their isolates for antibiotic resistance and sensitivity.


The breakdown:

• 14/45 resistant to ampicillin
• 4/45 resistant to trimethoprim
• 3/45 resistant to ampicillin and tetracycline
• 2/45 resistant to ampicillin and trimethoprim
• 1/45 resistant to ampicillin and streptomycin
• 1/45 resistant to ampicillin, streptomycin and trimethoprim

So a total of 25 out of 45 students are carrying around antibiotic resistant skin bacteria, most likely some species of Staphylococcus.

Sap-cicles 2

This might be a better picture. It is more dramatic to see the whole tree at once, but I wasn't able to capture it.

Abbie IV reminded me of a story I heard on NPR about untapped exploding sugar maples. This makes that story look not quite so unlikely.

Sap-cicles

Our neighbor across the street had a couple of big trees in his yard trimmed last week when we were having seasonal weather (in the 50's). We had a cold snap over the past couple of days, with the temperatures dropping into the 20's overnight and barely making it into the 30's during the day. Apparently the cold caused the sap to be extruded from the cut ends of the branches, which then froze into sapcicles. A very strange sight.

Trip to Louisiana (completed)

My last full day in Louisiana was a day full of fun. We went to cousin Karen's beautiful house for the birthday party for adorable and headstrong 6-year old Alison. Karen and Jason had fantastic food and a houseful of family and friends gathered for the celebration. Ree and Quinn especially enjoyed the giant balloon slide. I especially enjoyed the chicken salad sandwiches (no crusts), meatballs and boudin.

Abbie III, Ree, Quinn and I went into New Iberia for a tour of The Shadows on the Teche. We watched an excellent short documentary which included the voice of our own Uncle Pete. The tour guide for the antebellum estate was extremely knowledgeable and fun and the building and grounds were gorgeous. This was a delightful tourist activity.

The day was capped off with a huge family gathering at The Seafood Connection. Crawfish boil for the masses. Family members were there from Lafayette, Franklin, New Iberia, Baton Rouge, North Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. Our group of 30 took up a full row of tables in the cavernous, noisy, wonderful restaurant. We ate, we drank, we talked, we laughed, we dripped crawfish juice. Then everybody slowly left for home and we went back to Stirling Manor for the last night of the trip.

The following morning Abbie III and I went to the airport in Lafayette and Ree and Quinn drove back to Houston. Abbie and I shared a flight to Memphis where she hurried off as soon as we landed to make a tight connection to Detroit where she had an even tighter connection to Appleton. I had a leisurely cup of coffee then waited for the take-off of a delayed departure to Pittsburgh. We landed just a little late.

It was a trip with nothing but highlights. I shall not wait another 15 years to return.

Trip to Louisiana (continued)

After our delightful and delicious meal at The Yellow Bowl, we took a drive through the Sovereign Nation of the Chitimacha. We stopped in to visit with cousin Kathleen and take a director's tour of her state of the art child care facility. Very, very nice.

We visited at AA and UT's and waited for the arrival of Ree and Quinn, who were driving in from Houston. After they got in, we visited a bit, then headed over the cousin Peggy's beautiful home for more visiting.

Peggy and Bryan were gracious hosts; showing us through their house and letting us reminisce about the time we spent in it when The Grands lived there. It was wonderful to see that this great old house, with so many memories associated with it, is so cherished in the present.

We returned to the Stirling home and, eventually, turned in.

Trip to Louisiana

Last month I made my first trip to Louisiana in over 15 years. I had never been there in the spring and found that my hot, humid summer memories did not do the state justice. It was beautiful. Of course some of the joy of re-discovery was re-connecting with family members that I see too seldom.

I was rescued from the Lafayette airport by cousin Judy, who led me to her beautiful home where I visited with Judy, R.J. and Judy's mom, my Aunt Jane. We had a wonderful evening of visiting (is there anything better than talking to and catching up with family?) and eating (Judy is a fabulous cook!) before Judy led me back to the airport to pick up Abbie III and Noey. Somehow they missed their flight in Appleton, so were arriving in Lafayette about 4 hours late.

We got to Franklin after Tom's bedtime, but AR was up waiting to welcome us to her lovely home. We did some more visiting and planning for the next couple of days, then off to bed. Tom and AR's house is set up beautifully for guests. We could not have had better or more hospitable accommodations.

The next morning met us with a soft fog outside and a warm welcome of fresh biscuits inside -- courtesy of Tom. Yum! Abbie III and I took a walk after the fog burned off and before it got too hot; then we rendezvoused with AR, UT and we all went to lunch at The Yellow Bowl. Seafood dishes for everyone. Good food. Good company.