Here is our windowsill avocado, which seems to be growing gangbusters since I freed it from its pot on the balcony a few weeks ago. I suppose it will have to go back in the dirt at some point. I'm surprised pulling it up didn't kill it, and I hope replanting it doesn't either. It's proven surprisingly resilient so far!
Although the trees are mostly still green, we're seeing signs of autumn here in London. Yesterday was chilly, gray and wonderfully rainy. (Wonderful for those of us who could spend the day inside, anyway. I'm not sure how Pat the Balcony Spider felt about it -- she spent the day huddled under a leaf.) Dave and I sat inside and spent a companionable, cozy, nearly silent morning reading (me) and watching YouTube (Dave) on our computers. We're such a modern couple.
I read a sobering article in The New York Times about the amount of energy it takes to run the Internet, and the illusion that all our technology is somehow green and wildly efficient. Seems that's not really the case. It made me wonder what would happen if we someday pull the plug on the Web, or at least on all the dark corners where old web pages hibernate, in order to save energy. And that made me wonder about the longevity of my own blog.
I really need to back up my blog. I haven't done it in years. But even when you back it up, you get an xtml file -- not anything you could easily open and read on your computer. We assume the web will always be capable of hosting xtml files. Somehow that's not as comforting as looking through my old spiral-bound notebooks! (Everything is impermanent, right?)
Prompted by a fellow enthusiast, I also watched an amusing 1976 video about graffiti on YouTube. That hair! Those clothes! (The teacher is especially awesome at about the 7.5-minute mark.) I gotta give the producers credit for distinguishing between artful graffiti and tagging. Even in those days there was some recognition that graffiti and street art could be positive in certain forms.
Finally, Dave and I made up for forgetting our dinner appointment with neighbors Chris and Linda last weekend -- we went to dinner with them in Soho. Poor Dave is still wrestling with the remnants of a cold, and that was bringing him down, but he persevered. After all, we couldn't back out again, could we?
I just stuck an avocado seed in a glass last night. I have no idea why. I have two others, sprouted and growing into trees in pots already. It's just such a sweet thing to do, isn't it?
ReplyDeletemy sister does that to every avocado seed she gets. I have no idea why. I mean really, how many avocado trees do you need. she actually got one to grow rather big. it was getting to be a real tree and then we had a killer winter and it froze.
ReplyDeleteI used to order those blog books every three months or so, but I haven't done so in a while, and with more rhan 2000 posts, it's difficult to keep up!
ReplyDeleteWhen I consider backing up or preserving my blog in any manner I wonder if I REALLY care about it that much. It's a conundrum. But Maybe I'll look into the blog book option sometime.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if an avocado tree would grow in Ohio indoors? It could replace our Madagascar dragon tree that isn't doing very well right now (it REALLY wanted repotting, but we couldn't let it get any bigger & still live indoors).
Ms. Moon: It's hard to resist growing an avocado seed. I just see all that potential and throwing it away seems sacrilegious!
ReplyDeleteEllen: One of our family friends in Florida grew a big avocado tree from a seed. Far as I know, it's still alive. They're beautiful trees, even if the ones that grow from seed don't bear fruit. (So I've been told.) I've never been able to get them to grow very large, myself.
Elizabeth: I didn't even know a blog book was a possiblity! I'll have to check into that!
Bug: Well, that's the thing. I mean, it IS just a blog. What's the worst that could happen -- I lose it forever. But then I think of all the times I've looked at it to remember certain events, and I think, well, I SHOULD back it up! Avocado trees require a lot of sunlight. I wouldn't think they'd do well inside. Ask me again in a year!
Oooo, an Avo plant. Makes me want to find one and grow it too. I miss the avocado trees in FL.
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Thank you for giving me that link Steve. My plant is about 2 feet tall and just covered in leaves.
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