Footnotes to a Conversation, March 25, 2024
“We take our bearings, daily, from others. To be sane is, to a great extent, to be sociable.” – John Updike
Footloose & Fancy-Free
She was 20 years old with a broken engagement and a broken heart. She sold her engagement ring and spent 2 weeks on the Italian Riviera. She never looked back and has been travelling ever since. At 89, she’ll soon be off to Malta and then Italy. She hasn’t yet decided where she wants to celebrate her 90th birthday, but she has a whole list of places under consideration. [BBC]
Call Me Irresistible
Magnolias first bloomed on earth 95 million years ago, long before bees. But don’t worry. There were plenty of beetles to complete the important task of pollination, and they remain a dominant magnolia pollinator. But how does a flower make itself irresistible to pollinators? If you’re a magnolia blossom, you offer the beetles protein-rich pollen on your anthers. But that is only effective during the flower’s male phase. What can they do to ensure cross-pollination by enticing beetles during the female phase. The answer appears to have been the development of scented oils that beetles find irresistible. And, to ensure the beetles catch the scent, the flowers generate heat and the oils evaporate, dispersing the scent over a much greater area. [In Defense of Plants]
Gender Discrimination
There’s been a lot of talk this past week about the influential people who belong to the males-only Garrick Club in London. A few have already resigned in response to public pressure. Others are holding on and refusing to be moved. [The Guardian]
On the other side of the world, an artist in Tasmania is being sued for gender discrimination and she’s delighted. Her installation, entitled Ladies Lounge, “sees women who enter the space being pampered by male butlers and served champagne while being surrounded by some of the museum’s finest pieces of art. Those who do not identify as women are not permitted entry.” [The Guardian]
Adding Punch, Zing & Umami to Your Meals
How do we create flavour-packed meals that are quick and easy to make? Anna Jones recommends 12 “hero” foods that every home cook should have in their kitchen cupboard. They range from familiar items such as canned tomatoes and peanut butter to others that may be less familiar – capers, miso, and tahini. She also outlines how she uses each of them. [The Guardian]
The Artful Lemon
Feast your eyes on pictures of lemons. There’s an Egyptian wall painting; a dazzling still life of lemons, oranges, and pomegranates; and a portrait of winter that made me laugh. [The Guardian]
Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.
If you share my love of nature, check out EcoFriendly West, an online publication encouraging environmental initiatives in Western Canada, and Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces.