Regenerating stubs

• LIZARDS  Many lizards have the ability to drop their tail and grow a new one almost as nice as their original.    Autotomy is as self-defense mechanism, a self-severing of the tail or other limb. Watching green anoles on my patio over the years, I've been amazed at their ability to rebound from their tailless condition in just a few weeks.
• LETTUCE AARP suggested regenerating romaine lettuce from the stubs of store-bought heads as a money-saver. So far I haven't regenerated enough for a salad, but have grown some tasty new leaves to put in sandwiches.
• CELERY  Another successful windowsill regeneration resulting in a few bites of fresh stalks.
• TICKETS  I'm saving stubs in a glass on the windowsill just in case! I'm so grateful for generous friends who treat me to cultural outings
• NO LUCK growing Franklin, Lincoln, Jackson, Grant, Hamilton, Jefferson, or George in glasses of water in sunny windows. I've tried all the windows!

Tomorrow I'll pick up two reserved books at the library. I'll wish I could regenerate enough hours in a week to actually read them. They are both well recommended:

• The Elixir of Immortality, by Gabi Gleichmann. "A Dan Brown novel done right, full of wit and mystery. Memorable and sure to be one of the big novels of the season." --Kirkus Reviews starred
• Book of Ages: the Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin, by Jill Lepore. “Book of Ages is the name of Lepore’s extraordinary new book about Jane Franklin, but to call it simply a biography would be like calling Ben’s experiments with electricity mere kite flying….The end product is thrilling—an example of how a gifted scholar and writer can lift the obscure out of silence. In so doing, Lepore enriches our sense of everyday life and relationships and conversational styles in Colonial America….The brilliance of Lepore’s book is that plain Jane’s story becomes every bit as gripping—and, in its own way, important—as Big Ben’s public triumphs.” —Maureen Corrigan, NPR

© 2013 Nancy L. Ruder