gardeninacity

I’ve been reading a fascinating book called What A Plant Knows, by the scientist Daniel Chamovitz. It’s about how plants are smarter than most of us have thought – they have a remarkable abilities to detect and respond to aspects of their  environment. I’ll be writing a review soon.

But to give just one example right now: plants can tell up from down. A lot of us assume that they just grow toward the light, but they know the difference even in darkness. Here’s a time lapse video of two corn seeds, one pointing up and the other pointing down. The roots both find their way, even in the absence of light.

This video comes from the website Plants in Motion, sponsored by the University of Indiana. It’s worth checking out.

Watching tonight’s news makes me suspect that plants may be smarter than we are. It is inconceivable that tonight’s unleashing of military power was the result of some well-considered strategy to achieve peace or protect the innocent. This President has made it clear that he considers it a sign of weakness to be much concerned about civilian casualties in war.

So why the fireworks? Could it be an attempt to distract from certain recent legal developments? They say that MAGA these days stands for My Attorney Got Arrested. I would like to think that eventually this country will find our way towards a sensible direction, just as plants know to do.

Sorry for the politics. I couldn’t help myself.