I have a bad Aflat key below middle C.  I don’t know how to fix it, but i might try. But while bemoaning the fact I said to myself… it probably has a bad butt screw. I just laughed and said…. OK — i looked it up, more likely called a butt spring.

This lily (which i may wrongly call and august lily, but is well known as a surprise lily, naked lady, resurrection lily, but still confused with an amaryllis belladonna plant) Lycoris squamigera is one of my favorites.  Early spring dense foliage, which dies back (and helps keep weeds out of the flower bed) and then the spike and flower tip come up rapidly at the end of july (at least here in cincinnati it seems to be the end of july).  I was curious about how fast the spike grew (which seemed very fast) and searched but in the many posts did NOT FIND a single reference to any measurements.  So here is a quick and dirty estimate.

Measuring 5 stalks (not a big sample) crudely with a yardstick, at a 14 hour interval (most of it overnight) the plants can grow about one inch in 5 hours.  Also, just a casual observance, the taller the spike the faster the growth, which makes sense, because there are more cells dividing in a larger spike pushing it up faster.

I will post more measurements if i have time… LOL.

Gratitude: for my mind and body?  It has taken 76 years for me to arrive at this point. This should tell you that all this time I have really not appreciated the uniqueness of myself, my family (sibs, parents, grandparents, children too) particularly in the way my mind works.
It certainly works differently than most individuals I have met. I have wondered why, what differences in wiring, differences in the myriad chemicals, synapses which bring about the following cute list:

(posted from Hormones and chemicals linked to emotion):affection, anger, angst, anguish, annoyance, anxiety, apathy, arousal, awe, boredom, confidence, contempt, contentment, courage, curiosity, depression, desire, despair, disappointment, disgust, distrust, dread, ecstasy, embarrassment, envy, euphoria, excitement, fear, frustration, gratitude, grief, guilt, happiness, hatred, hope, horror, hostility, hurt, hysteria, indifference, interest, jealousy, joy, loathing, loneliness, love, lust, outrage, panic, passion, pity, pleasure, pride, rage, regret, relief, remorse, sadness, satisfaction, self-confidence, shame, shock, shyness, sorrow, suffering, surprise, terror, trust, wonder, worry, zeal, and zest.

I am sure the list could include some for every day of the week, every holiday from every culture that are not in this a-z set.
I marvel at what interests me, my energy levels, my need to constantly reinforce visual order/chaos at a balance that is somewhere between compulsive order and total chaos. These are likely governed by levels of satisfaction (seratonin, endorphins, oxytocin, dopamine, epinepherine and a host of others I know in a shallow way, and the host of others not recognized yet.

I am just thinking about the art that I create (found as stained glass patterns, as counted cross stitch, peyote stitch patterns and beads and relics, as scientific journal cover art (this blog), as polymer clay sculpture, as paintings, drawings, quilts, murals, walkways, landscaping and mosaic — just to name a few that come to mind.
I am not meticulous, and it might be nice to be a little more compulsive (a trait in my kids and my father) in my artwork (i am not sure which of the neurotransmitters keeps me from that trait, ha ha), but I am just full of joy and wonder and loving the beauty of nature, having a good time (most of the time) journaling my walk through life leaving behind silly artistic reminders of those steps.

My greatest regret is that I dont have an infinite amount of time to learn, and express the infiniteness that is out-there. I make no apologies for the time spent on art, or science, I am happy my mind works like it does. I cannot imagine being one that sits and does not “do”. I am blessed.