18 April 2024
Who knew? I ended up hurting myself more than I realized. You know how you get a good night’s sleep and get out of bed and wonder where all those aches came from? That was me this morning. Not only did my skinned knee and left ankle bother me but my right ankle apparently took a turn during my fall, my left butt cheek hurts, my lower back hurts, and basically, anything below my waist is letting me know I did something stupid.
Guess who is going to chill out for the rest of the day? I’m a little torn between doing absolutely nothing and making sure I move enough to stay limber. Such are the paradoxes of old age.
Last night was The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock starring Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Angela Cartwright (shade of Lost in Space) Jessica Tandy and Suzanne Pleshette. It’s amazing what special effects there were able to devise for this movie. I read somewhere several years ago that Tippi Hedren did not know about the upper room with the birds. She knew there were going to be a few birds but Hitchcock took her by surprise. I also think I remember she hated the man.
As usual, after the movie Chris and talk. I enjoy our conversations as much as I do the movies. We pretty much talk about everything. Last night we couldn’t get over the 50’s attitude toward women. I mean, who gets in a motor boat and crosses Bodega Bay in high heels and a mink coat. That was how women were supposed to dress back then to attract a man. Even Rod Taylor’s role had him playing the typical 50’s male.
I didn’t walk today for obvious reasons. However, I do have a flower for you. The common name is a little unusual: Ramgoat Dashalong.
The ulmifolia, comes from the elm-shaped leaves (elm is the genus Ulmus). Ramgoat Dashalong, strangely, is a member of the Passifloraceae (passionflower family). Wikipedia suggests that a compound in the plant may have antibiotic activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a bit of a problem these days. It’s native to Mexico and the West Indies but has been planted as an ornamental in South Florida.
When I first started teaching at Broward College, one of the labs for nonmajokrs was on plants. We needed flowers for students to dissect so they could see petals, sepals, stamens, pistils, etc. Usually, our only choice on campus was Hibiscus which is an atypical flower and not ideal to study the parts. Ramgoat Dashalong is a great example of a “typical” flower, but, alas, it did not grow on campus. They should plant this all over the campuses of the college just for flower dissection.
The only other excitement in my life today is waiting for a delivery from Amazon. It reminds me a little of The Music Man and the number “The Wells Fargo Wagon.”
Stay tuned!
