Both Gondwana and Pangaea existed, but at different times. The theory is that the hot spots in the mantle cause the cratons (cores of continents) to rotate around and come together in various configurations. Gondwana was a fraction of Pangaea. And there is evidence that plants which originated prior to the breakup continued to evolve on the pieces of Pangaea after they separated. Euphorbias and Proteas are a good examples. Plants that developed after the breakup, like cacti and Bromeliads, remained isolated from the other continents. Some plants can roam the world, coconuts being a prime example. The outer husk is buoyant, floats high in the water and can be blown along by the wind. Some have fruit that is eaten by long distance travelers (birds for example) and the seeds can come out almost anywhere. This could be how a single cactus species made the Atlantic crossing before 1492. Grass is a good example of an invasive. The ancestor of Kentucky Blue Grass was brought over by the early colonists to the American continent. After about 150 years later when the first English got to Kentucky, the grass was already there! Humans have always traveled with plants. The first humans migrating around the SW Pacific spread a very useful hybrid herb around. It allowed them to move with a ready made food that grew fast, fruited young and could be carried along by migrating peoples. Years later (like 1000s), a disease almost wiped out the one widespread clone that formed the backbone of some economies. A single plant was found in a greenhouse in England that rejuvenated the industry. This one plant is the modern ancestor to almost all the worlds banana industry (Cavendish banana). DNA is giving us a look back. Rice has more than one ancestor. Corn is definitely from teosinte, even if it looks nothing like it. Bananas are a naturally occurring hybrid, as is much of our modern wheat. And kudzu and Johnson grass are the bane of a farmer's existance.

There is a personality that grows at a work place among the machinery, the light streaming in through windows, the dust accumulated and each piece of machinery as though they are each a piece of the whole of the body. Your description tells of skills and knowledge seldom continued in this modern world. That personality is a friend that welcomed those that spent so much of their time there. So glad for you to have the opportunity to visit a place of such personal memory and connect with the spirit of those that dwell there. We all leave a piece of ourselves in the places we occupy and listening we can detect the ones that went before us. I hope I have the privileged to see this part of you and your family's history. Thank you for the mental images.

I will be watching an actual puppet show at noon tomorrow. I'm chaperoning a field trip. ;o) So I'll have to catch the video online later. Never say never, I guess, but the crowd of an event like is what would keep me away. It is historic and exciting, I think, for the level of interest and participation. If everyone thought "oh, ho hum, a new president, who cares? What's the big deal?" we'd be sorry nation of apathetic boneheads. Yeah, it's a lot of money spent, but it means someone is getting paid to do a job. Oddly enough, I think it makes people feel better to have a big celebration. If this big event and all the hoopla around it inspire people to get involved and make a difference, to set higher goals for themselves and their children... it's a good thing. Michelle's mother moving in sure beats hiring a nanny. They will need help with the girls, and who better? No big deal. The girls need as much family and love around them as possible. As do all children.

I would never condone cutting visitations but under these circumstances I sure would. DH should wait until mom picks SD up, then call and say he has a stomach flu and can't get there. Normally any normal mother would be excited that she finally can spend weekend wiht her daughter. BM will be miserable and maybe even change her mind about custody, she will realize she will have her daughter wiht her on the weekend at some point! SD lying is not normal, I wonder if she needs child psychologist to do some evaluation, just not normal. I remember DD very clearly at 10, she loved fantazy in terms of playing wiht her toys imagining stuff like stuffed lion lives in a castle, this sort of stuff, but nothing of what you described.