my lunch i got from the trucks, mango salad with chicken ($4). ever since i saw klea and eliza hoover enjoying this dish for lunch about two months ago, i had wanted to try it for myself. ingredients: a mixture of strips of cabbage, onion, carrots, mango, chicken, with coriander and chives and celery and a topping of crushed peanuts. it's really good, hits the spot for a warm spring day, cool and soothing, more dessert than lunch.

i left work early today, walked down to the museum of science where laurie was volunteering at the sun lab. i realized that i went the whole day without seeing any of my downstairs coworkers, even though i remained in constant aim contact with them. it's all very virtual, makes me think hard about what's real and what's not. at the museum, i cashed in my library obtained pass, getting into the exhibit halls 30 minutes before closing time on a reduced $2 admission. i haven't been to the museum of science in almost 2 decades, it's been that long. favorites: electricity room, the flourescent rocks, the water waves (no longer there), and of course the life-sized tyrannosaurus rex, a boston landmark. since my last visit, t-rex has been completely renovated to reflect a more accurate aggressive stance. i had a brief glimpse of the dinosaur before heading upstairs to see laurie.

the sun lab is like a green house on the roof of the museum, offering a spectacular view of boston over the charles river across the longfellow bridge. laurie showed me around the place, pointing out key areas of interest. the sun lab wasn't all plants though, there were also pools and tanks full of fishes, a large terranium housing poisonous arrow dart frogs, and a mariposarium (butterfly cage containing cabbage whites and painted ladies). beth, the primary caretaker of the place, was taking photos of some fish in a tank and i was able to give her some helpful photography tips because she was using the same nikon coolpix 950 that i was using. she let laurie and i plant some giant sequoia seeds in containers to take back home.

carrion flower

carrion flower (detail)

hibiscus variant bud

hibiscus variant flower

the first thing laurie told me to do when i got to the sun lab was to "go smell that flower over there." a big sign alerted me to the fact that this was a carrion flower, so i had an idea of what i'd be in store for. i stuck my face close to the flower and lightly took a sniff. nothing. "closer!" commanded laurie. i put my nose parallel to the center of the flower and took another sniff...NASTY! probably one of the most horrible smells you'll ever encounter, the unmistakeable odor of rotten meat. even now, when i look at the photos of the carrion flower, it triggers it olfactory memory and i can smell that thing as if it was still here! the stench is so convincing that flies have actually laid eggs inside of the flower, a swarm of tiny maggots visible upon closer inspection. NASTY!

sundew

heathy venus flytraps

phaelenopsis orchid

passion flower

in the carnivorous plants terranium i got to see what healthy venus flytraps look like. i was amazed to see how big they actually grew, the flytraps the size of small clams, many times larger than what i've been growing. the three keys seem to be sunlight, humidity, and plenty of moisture. seeing these healthy venus flytraps was rather inspirational for me, this weekend i'll see what i can do to salvage what's left of my own plant.

friendly carp

mimosa opened

mimosa closed

mimosa flower

ah, one of my favorites, mimosas. mimosas are famous because they close their leaves if you touch them. when i first started to get into gardening in the late 80's early 90's (when i was in high school), my father and i grew all sorts of weird stuff. we were totally garden crazy, with a pushcart rack in the house holding several trays of indoor sowed seedlings along with numerous flourescent grow lights, even building cold frames out in the backyard so we can start the growing season early. we don't do that now (it's already june and we don't know what's going to go into the vegetable garden yet), but back then we grow some mimomas from seeds that we were able to keep alive for more than a season. our day of glory arrived when we finally saw a flower, a pink round ball.

when the museum closed, i left the sun lab with laurie to visit her friend lucy who works at the museum full-time. lucy has an amazing corner office that gives a breathtaking view of boston from across the charles river. this is the extreme opposite of what i have, which is a windowless work area facing two walls of contrasting colors, red and pea green. sometimes if i stare hard enough into one of the walls i can imagine boston.

lucy's corner office (nice view!)

lucy balancing tissue box

we left for boca grande, where after a quick burrito break staring at lucy's illegally parked car in front of the restaurant (making sure no cops were ticketing, otherwise we'd have to make a fast getaway), i got dropped off at the corner of binney and third where i walked the rest of the way to kendall square and found myself home, holding my container of future sequoias of america. after soaking them, i pull the container on a plate on a sunny southern facing windowsill, eagerly anticipating the 70 days before the seeds will actually germinate.