What's New in California
Our recent trip to Sacramento, California was the first time we have scheduled a flight since we went to Italy on 9-11-01. We were pleased that the security at the Detroit Airport was thorough. We both were ‘’wanded’’ even though I had been careful to leave my needlepoint scissors at home.
Our reasonably priced airline, America West, provided only drinks and peanuts, and we were prepared with snacks and fruit. Our flight out was very smooth, but coming back, turbulent weather made the plane shake so much that we couldn’t see why the wings didn’t fall off. At times like these I pray and think of the excellent statistics about air travel.
We are always interested in finding out what is new and different in California as we have traveled there for graduations and vacations several times. For one thing, we noticed that the traffic moves faster and rush hour in Sacramento is quite congested. While our readers were enduring cloudy, stormy, cool weather, we were trying to find a cool place away from temperatures that rose to 102 degrees.
We always enjoy reading the Sacramento Bee, which is a family owned newspaper with satellite papers in neighboring towns. It is always filled with lively political discussions and articles about environmental issues.
Of interest to us as botanists was an article about a giant flower in the June 5th paper. The University of California, Davis has been carefully cultivating this plant named Amorphophallus titanum or ‘’corpse flower’’ for eight years. On June 4th it was just under 4 feet tall and it is expected to be more than six feet tall when it blooms, around June 14th. ‘’At its most spectacular it will unfurl a maroon skirt shaped blossom, emit a come-hither fragrance of rotting flesh, draw hoards of lusting flies and possibly nauseate humans with weak stomachs.’’
The basketball-sized bulb started poking up a tiny bud in mid-May. Since then the staff at UC at Davis has been taking daily measurements and photographs. It is expected to last about a day. Then it will be gone, returning to its hiding place in the dirt to recuperate for its next bloom which is likely to be years away.
Four years ago another ‘’corpse flower’’ bloomed at Southern California’s Huntington Botanical Garden, and 76,000 spectators came out to see it. This event even made its way into an episode of ‘’The Simpsons’’.
We once were given a bulb that had a flower similar in smell to that plant. It was called the Sacred Flower of India. We planted its bulb out in the garden in the spring and it grew to be about three feet tall with large deeply divided compound leaves. Then it died down and we brought it in and started watering it in January. It grew at an astounding rate, about six inches a day, and then came the oddly shaped, spathlike flower and it smelled awful. When we couldn’t stand it any longer, we took it to the greenhouse at Heidelberg and closed the door.
Another interesting article was about a new middle school that is to open in September, 2004 in Truckee, up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This school district was awarded a $250,000 grant by the state Energy Commission to incorporate high performance concepts.
Design features include a geothermal pumping system to heat and cool the buildings. Pipes are laid underground at a level where the temperature is at 55 degrees year round. Water is pumped through the system. In the winter energy is added to bring the temperature up to 70 degrees and in the summer the water cools the buildings.
The buildings also use materials with a high percentage of recycled content, low-flow water fixtures, a central boiler, natural lighting in classrooms and windows that open and close with blinds built into the space between the glass panes. In addition, storm-water controls and settling basins will help replenish ground water. The two-story school will be built into the hillside to minimize visual intrusion on the environment.
‘’When you drive up to the school you’ll see an open meadow, with the building tucked in amidst the trees.’’ Said Rob Samish, the architect. The ‘’sustainable school’’ design will reduce the school’s energy cost by about 25% - a savings of between $17,000 and $18,000 a year. Rob Koster, the district project manager said, ‘’It will take eight years to recover the cost of the school’s innovative heating and cooling system... ... If we don’t get at least 75 years out of this school, I would be surprised.’’
A new school in Los Altos has been recognized by the California Collaborative for High Performance Schools for its energy efficiency and environmentally sustainable design. Each classroom in this single story school has north-facing windows and elevated ceilings to provide additional natural light. As natural light increases in the classrooms, the electric lights automatically dim, conserving energy. The school has large sliding doors, which can be opened on nice days to let in sunlight and fresh air. When they’re open, the classroom heating ventilation and cooling units shut down.
The Natomas United School District is building a two-story structure designed by architects from Sacramento. This school will rely on renewable energy sources. Solar Technology will covert sunshine into electricity, and the heating and cooling system will be operated by a geothermal plant. A cogeneration plant will provide additional electric power.
Other articles in the ‘’Bee’’ stated that the shad were running in the American and Sacramento Rivers and that caused excitement among the fishermen in the Lilly family and their adventure and the fish will be the subject of our next article.
Mary and Percy