Coral Bell & Bee

I can almost depend on a bumblebee to be out gathering goodies on our coral bell flowers. The bees love the coral bells/ heuchera flowers. Some of the flowers on our different heurchera are so tiny, but the bees don't care. This one is the old fashioned grandma's garden kind of coral bell. Today was not a good day, photo op wise. I'll take this image and be done with it.

After the pouring down rain we had yesterday and last night and today...our flowers are really beaten down. Bill is afraid he will have to replant the garden. We had such a gorgeous weather pattern for awhile, but we all knew it wouldn't last. It didn't.

So, has the world got you down? Feeling kind of bad about the whole damn thing sometimes? Sick of hearing about extremists hacking people to death, saddened at the deaths of children via a deranged monster or a monster tornado, and angered over politics and the future of your country, no matter which way you look at it, and frustrated by a world that will never, ever be able to work together for the common good? Well you are not alone. Sometimes I just want to bail on the whole mess and find my isolated spot on the planet in which to live out the remainder of my life in blissful ignorance of the ways of the world. If you are like me then you probably would like some good news. Please read about this high school senior and feel better about the future of our species.

Read about Sara and several other winners to see what these genius kids are coming up with. I love these kinds of stories. Fourth place winner is from Eugene, Oregon, my hometown.


Sara Volz, a 17-year-old high school student from Colorado, received top honors and a $100,000 check Tuesday at a science fair for pioneering a technique to dramatically boost oil yields from algae, a crucial step in the economically viable production of biofuel from the plants.

Her technique involves the use of a chemical to artificially select populations of algae cells with high oil content. She did all the work in a makeshift lab under her loft bed in Colorado Springs.

Volz, a senior from Cheyenne Mountain High School, was among 40 finalists who gathered in Washington, D.C., for the Intel Science Talent Search. The annual competition identifies some of the nation's most promising young scientists and innovators.