“The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air.”

The artist and author, Yankees fan, and horticulturist Ketzel Levine graciously was the voice this morning on NPR Morning Edition for the grand sugar maple tree of New England. Although her home base is in Oregon, Ms. Levine’s passion for talking plants lead her to the land of flowing sap in order to bring us her timely report.

I say passion for talking plants because Ms. Levine “recently launched her own NPR blog, ‘Talking Plants,’ where her trademark wit and irreverence – and her passion for plants – will have free reign.” She wonders with us all:

Frankly, the whole story’s a bit out of control. Imagine trying to predict the ending! Will Man save Ms. Maple? Will Climate Change conquer them both?

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Humor: Back in ’05, (that’s 2005), the Grissom family has been tapping trees for hundreds of years -since 1773- heedless of the sin of sweetness that contributed to the decline and ultimate demise of both Puritanism and low-carb diets. The All Things Considered audio report by Robert Siegel warns all who will heed in an 7+ minute report.

Hey, you’re not superman (unless you are?) But whatever you are, there’s a super power you know you have, if you could just tap into that side of yourself. Go ahead and tell us, your secret is safe on Health Patio (smile!)

E=MC2=YOU
From Bill Bryson in his book, A Short History of Nearly Everything:

In simplest terms, what the equation says is that mass and energy have an equivalence. They are two forms of the same thing: energy is liberated matter; matter is energy waiting to happen. Since C2 (the speed of light times itself) is a truly enormous number, what the equation is saying is that there is a huge amount, a really huge amount_ of energy bound up in every material thing. You may not feel outstandingly robust, but if you are an average–sized adult you will contain within your modest frame no less that 7 times 10 to the 18th power joules of potential energy – enough to explode with the force of thirty very large hydrogen bombs, assuming you knew how to liberate it and really wished to make a point.”

And from “Whose Line is it, Anyway?”: Super Heroes

Four people take part in this game. It starts with one super hero sitting around. His super power is usually suggested by the audience as is the crisis that he must face, for example, the world is running out of potato chips, but anyone with a suggestion will do. The game starts as the hero is sitting around, he or she discovers the crisis, then one of their super friends arrives. When that super hero arrives, his/her power is named by the first person and they immediately assume that persona. Then the next one comes in and is named by the second and so on. They continue to interact until the last one comes in and somehow solves the crisis.