Hee. You are all very kind. Oh! I wanted to share another conversation (two, really) with my budding biologist. The first was on leaves.

Ryan: "Daddy, why are leaves green?"
Me: "That's the colour of the chlorophyll inside them. Chlorophyll is what plants use to make food out of sunlight. That's a good trick, isn't it?"
Ryan: [nods] "Are all leaves green?"
Me: "No, not all of them. Some trees, when they're growing new baby leaves, have leaves that are red or purple. Do you know why?"
Ryan: "No, why?"
Me: "It's to stop the insects eating them all while they're still young and tender. Most insects can't see red; so while the leaves are red, the insects can't see them and won't lay their eggs on them."
Ryan: "They can't see them?!"
Me: "That's right! Then when the leaves are bigger and stronger, they turn green so they can start making food."

A few nights later, we were watching a nature program about the cloud forests in the Andes. These forests are hummingbird central, and the program was going through the relation between beaks and the shapes of the flowers they pollinate. (The flowers benefit from making species specialise, as that makes it more likely that the next flower the bird visits is of the same species and pollination can occur.) Ryan had questions:

Me: "See, Ryan, the bird gets pollen on it. When it visits the next flower, it leaves some pollen behind so the flower can make seeds."
Ryan: "They don't use insects?"
Me: "No, not these flowers, they use birds. This is high up in the mountains, I think it gets too cold up there for bees and such."
Ryan: "...Oh! And the flowers are red, so the bees can't see them!"
Me: "...That's -- That's exactly right Ryan, well done! That's right, if a plant has red flowers, then it probably uses birds and not insects."
Ryan: [basks in the glow of insect knowledge]

Clever boy.

I love watching connections get made.

I never knew that about the red leaves, bt. I had even wondered why they were red, but hadn't thought to look up the answer. Well done, bt family!

I love the Ryan discovery series!

IoN: FML. Actually got picked for Jury Duty (i've always been dismissed in the past) and it is the MOST BORING civil (federal) case I could have possibly imagined. I had no idea federal cases could be so mind-numblingly boring. One day down, at least 6 to go.

Silver lining: I still get paid for missed work days at my regular rate of pay. Dark cloud: due to my super bizarre work schedule of rotating days off, I'm trading 4 work days to 5 days off for 7 work days and 2 days off. This weekend would have been one my occasional super long weekends off....any i'll be spending it in a courtroom with bizarre lighting that makes me nauseous. Plus a much longer, more annoying commute into downtown during rush hour. *bangs head on desk*

Silver lining: the courthouse is only a few blocks away from a really great and not super expensive vegan restaurant so I know where i'll be treating myself to lunch for the next 6 business days. At least.

And then came home to my latest round of imaging results on my hip. (eta: the disc arrived in the mail.) Still haven't been able to get into the dr to get the results in person (and just today had to reschedule that AND a surgical consult because of this ill-timed jury situation) and they wouldn't tell me over the phone....and now I know why. I do indeed have a labral tear (so YAY! HAVE DIAGNOSIS! TREATABLE! POSSIBLE END OF PAIN IN SIGHT!) plus...*drum roll* a shiny new ovarian cyst. They totes could have told me about that over the phone. I'd been on BCP for almost 20 years to prevent those dratted ovarian cysts. Stopping the BCP because of the hepatic adenoma did indeed bring back the ovarian cysts. Seriously, I've only been off the pill for 2 months! That means first time my right ovary fired back up after years of dormancy, it misfired. AGAIN.

Dear organs: you are all on notice. Especially you, ovaries. You guys need to pull it together and stop messing around or I'll have you yanked out while they are slicing off part of my liver. I'm not joking around here.

So here's a fun little jump/skip of my innards in the last year: think I have an ovarian cysts, diagnostic imaging turns up growth on liver. Later imaging for hip turns up ovarian cyst. That means the circle is closed, right? No more surprises?

eta: no, wait, that would be a circle if there were imaging in the middle for the liver turning up hip problem and that never happened. I mean, there were several rounds of liver imaging, but the hip thing came from PT and an xray. So, nevermind, I guess the circle isn't closed. *le sigh*

You know what would be awesome right now? A glass of wine. Guess what I can't consume right now while waiting for liver surgery? Of course. Ok, so no booze...i'll just have a nice run and sweat it out. No, wait, that would hurt the hip too much. Fine, i'll cry it out, have a hot bath, then go to bed really really early so I can sit in that miserable courtroom again tomorrow morning. FML.

Oh my e_o, way too much. If I could have a glass of wine I would have one for you. Instead I send virtual hugs and ~ma for some resolution. I suppose they don't take kindly to you reading a good book during testimony, huh?

That sounds like the circle of suck.

Yeah, that bites mightily.

Absolutely no reading materials (or phones, or electronic devices) allowed in the courtroom :( I did petition sucessfully for being allowed to bring knitting (explained that part of working for 911 is constantly multitasking, so i desperately need *something* to do with my hands to keep my brain engaged.) Poor gal next to me had to deal with my fidgetting, doodling, and pen-twirling all day today. I was good tho, no pen-clicking. I know better. And i have plastic circular needles which don't click loudly. So at least tomorrow I'll have something vaguely productive to do, even if it is just a scarf of repetition. Did doodle some nice pysanky designs today, too bad I won't have the long weekend to put them on eggshells in time for Easter!