Work

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Baby Lion Swim Test

If you’ve been on the internet the past few weeks, you probably have seen this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V29kEMwZeuE

These lions cubs need to pass a swim test before they can join the big lions in the main exhibit. Since the big cat enclosures have water features, zoo staff need to that know if the lions fall in, they can keep their heads above water and get out of the pool. All these cubs passed, even though some of them took the round about way and a couple needed a boost.

I recently sent this video to my daughter. We are separated by several states and two time zones. Like most people these days, we have dozens of communication methods at our finger tips (quite literally). And often, frankly, we rely on cute animal videos to describe our feelings. Continue reading →

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More on Invisible Work

Just a day after I wrote about the invisible work in coding and beyond, I came across the podcast %99 Invisible. It’s great podcast out of San Francisco about design (in the broadest possible sense) and the invisible ways it influences life. So far I have learned about rebar, hidden stairways and hand painted signs.

 

Check it out.

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Life is Like Coding

It’s a beautiful fall day in Minnesota. The sky is that amazing September blue and completely clear. The sun is warm, but the breeze has a hint of cool in it and is strong enough to rattle the drying leaves just enough to make them sound like a waterfall every minute or two. I love these days.

My garden is about done thanks to some unseasonably hot and dry weather the past few weeks. We’ve reached that lovely point where gardening meets fatalism. There’s no point in weeding or mowing; it will all be dead soon anyway. The tomatoes are either dead or overripe. All that’s left is pulling up the annuals, cutting back the perennials, mulching what needs care for the winter and hauling everything to the compost site. As much as I love that process, it’s not time yet. So, I must spend my time like every other gardener, sitting on my porch, sipping a cup of thoughtful tea and writing about how gardening is a metaphor for life. Continue reading →