Oh No!!

I have some sad bunny news. Shortly after writing about the bunnies, I noticed that Russell-the-rabbit was missing. I named the baby bunnies Russell + Hazel. Hazel because that was the name of the lead rabbit in the book Watership Down, and Russell because everyone who knows their local luxury paper and organization goods knows, Russell always goes with Hazel (Russell+Hazel in Edina).

Anyway, so Russell seemed to be missing and I feared the worst since Russell and Hazel did not appear to be the brightest, savviest bunnies in the world. Hazel was out all the time though and seemed to have lost her fear of me which was kind of fun since she would hop right up to me and she was adorable.

You will note, gentle readers, that I am referring to Hazel in the past tense. This afternoon I found poor Hazel's remains and I suspect that Schnuffy-the-devil-cat had a hand/paw in the evil deed. Yesterday while I was in the backyard, talking on the phone with Mary Jo, Schnuffy was tracking Hazel but I didn't think anything came of it...but it appears I was wrong.

I don't know why I didn't think Schnuffy was capable of taking down a very stupid baby rabbit since she has proven quite adept at taking down mice, and she's vicious with most humans. Still I was surprised...and saddened. Sure, I didn't like that the rabbits were eating my garden, but they were so darn cute and I liked having them around. Poor Russell and Hazel.

Caught Red-Footed!

Oh sure, they're cute! But don't let their cuteness fool you, these guys are doing massive damage to my garden. There are two of them plus their mother and they seem to have taken up residence under our deck...which is convenient for them because it puts them in such close proximity to everything yummy in the garden.

I must confess that I am a sucker for their cuteness. They're baby bunnies, how can you not love them? I actually took carrots out to them last night (organic carrots at that), but it appears that they prefer my little purple flowers to carrots because they mowed the flower down to the stems but didn't even touch the carrots.

I don't want anything bad to happen to them. I am not even sure I want them to go away--I actually like rabbits--I just want them to stop destroying my flowers and vegetables.

Evil Deeds Afoot in the Vegetable Garden

Something has been eating my vegetables and it is going to stop. The nasty little vermin have been going to town on my broccoli and cauliflower, but so far they have left my brussel sprouts alone, which only goes to prove that brussel sprouts are kind of icky. Mr. Barker likes them which I why we have them in the garden.

I'm going to have to replant and then build some sort of fence to keep the rabbits out. Of course, they aren't limiting themselves to the vegetables but have been going after the flowers also. Since I cannot really put chicken wire around everything, I'm going to have to come up with some sort of plan to keep them away.

I Love the Smell of Libaries

I was just walking past Wilson Library today and I confessed to Mindy that I always plan my walks around campus to go around the front of Wilson Library because that way I can get my fix of that library smell---the heady combination of ink and aging paper and leather and whatever else. There is something with the pressurization of Wilson that whenever the door opens there is a gush of air following and I try to coordinate my big gulp of air to coincide with the door opening....mmmm...

Mindy, however, does not seem to share my love of libraries because she thought I was crazy and used such words as "icky," "musty," and "gross" to describe the smell. What does she know?!

It's very nostalgic for me and reminds me so vividly of all my years hanging out at the old Carnegie library in Mankato and picking out books for the summer reading programs, and then working first in the new Minnesota Valley Regional Libary (fancy way to say Mankato Public Library), and then in the Entomology, Fisheries and Wildlife Library at the U of Minn, then the Forestry Library, and finally Walter Library. I spent a lot my my formative years smelling musty old books.

Today is commencement for the Carlson Undergraduate Program which was why I was wandering over to the East Bank and it was really nice. Every year I am amazed at how many students I have never met! I would have been one of those students back when I was in school, though.

OK...back to work.

Pretty Blue Box

Ian got me the nicest gift for my graduation! I must admit that it is kind of nice to get a pretty blue tiffany box in the mail.


He got me the "Crown" key which is the second from the right in the photo and it is lovely. Much more delicate and pretty than the picture but truly lovely for its simplicity.

I love the Big Guy--he's very thoughtful and I am very lucky!

Pomp & Cirmcumstance

Yeah! I have completely finished the MS-MOT program and we had commencement last Friday. I hadn't been to a college commencement since Ken's back when I was about three so it was kind of fun.


Margaret, Kiwi, and Ian were there to observe the momentous occassion which wasn't even all that long. Of course, it wasn't too long because we MOT-ers didn't stick around for the Master of Arts graduates or the PhDs---we left right after the Master of Science grads walked across the stage and we bee-lined it to Sally's for a beer.




The whole thing was quite nice. The MOT program had an extremely good turnout (32 out of 33 at commencement and 33 out of 33 for the dinner reception) and the reception was really nice. Mike Siegler (part of my study group) was voted to speak and he did a really nice job. I had a wee-bit too much wine, but heck...how many times does one graduate with a Masters?

I arrived at work this morning to find that my co-workers had decorated my office door to celebrate and commemorate my graduation--although I must admit that as I was walking up to the door I mistook the little graduate cap decorations for bats and couldn't figure out why they had decorated my door with bats. Just goes to show that a Master's degree is no guarantee of higher intelligence.

Goldy

Margaret's comment on my last post reminded me of another thing I was thinking about during my 5,300 step walk around campus...

I love Goldy--everyone knows that I love Goldy--but really I don't feel like a Golden Gopher, despite my 11 years here. I love this place but I wasn't one of those people who thought that college was the greatest time of their life and I wasn't really into school when I was here. I liked it but I wasn't gung-ho or anything. Now that I have a better understanding of what all takes place here, I am really impressed with what the U has accomplished and I am proud to be a part of it, but I still feel a bit like an outsider.

Maybe I am just too conservative and this place is just too liberal.

But, seriously...wouldn't you think that after 11 years, two degrees, two full-time positions, and three part-time positions that I should feel like I am one of them? I would say that I am just not one of those people that ever feels truly connected but I did really, truly feel connected to Neuron Data/Blaze Software/Brokat Technologies/HNC/Fair Isaac so I know that I can.

Regardless, you have to admit that Goldy is pretty damn cute!

This is the most beautiful place in the world!

I just took a rather late lunch and decided to walk around campus. I am being a nerd these days and wearing my pedometer, and most days I have a hard time getting past 6,000 steps but I am trying to get over 10,000. Today I was hovering at about 4,000 and it is absolutely beatiful weather, so I decided to see if I could get a couple miles in. Which brings me to the title of today's post: This is the most beautiful place in the world....or at the very least, tied for the most beautiful place.


I was walking across the Washington Avenue Bridge with the Mississippi River below me, the campus spread out before me, and the Weisman Art Museum (which is growing on me...I know, I know...I used to describe it as a piece of crumpled tin foil tossed up on the river bank but...it is a rather beautiful piece of crumpled tin foil) positively shimmering in the sunlight. It really doesn't get much more beautiful that that.

Walking around campus, it really struck me that it really hasn't changed much in the 26 years since I first came here as an undergrad transfer student back in 1983. Having said that I was shocked to see that they have torn down the "temporary" science classroom and are rebuilding on it's site. The temporary building was probably there back in Ken's time--it certainly wasn't new when I had Chemistry there back in '84 or so.


I was also thinking that I have spent 11 of my 46 years wandering around this campus. First as a student, then as staff working in the library, and now 5 years at the Carlson School.