…and while drooling over the produce section, I found this.
Viper Pilot: Do you know what that is?
Me: THAT…is the world’s coolest broccoli.
It’s a romanesco broccoli. I’ve never actually seen one in person or eaten one for that matter, but these things are so visually stunning I had to take a photo. It’s a naturally occurring approximate fractal. {Duh.}
Viper Pilot: Um, what?
He’s not stupid, he just doesn’t remember his fractal geometry very well. Quite simply, the self-similar pattern is exactly the same at every scale and the detailed pattern repeats itself ad infinitum. However, since the broccoli can’t go on forever, math purists call it an approximate fractal because it has a termination point. If you break off a floret, it looks like a mini broccoli with its own mini florets. Fractals are fascinating in that way; no matter which part of the fractal you zoom in on, it will be an identical version of the bigger picture.
Because each floret is identical but get smaller and smaller, spirals become obvious. The number of spirals on the broccoli follows a Fibonacci sequence which I won’t go into detail about but if you’re interested…click here.
I started explaining all of this to the Viper Pilot in the store. He just laughed at me and told me I was “nerding” which is not, in fact, a verb whatsoever and so I called him a “dork.”
Anyway, I think I just might grow these in my garden next spring. Has anyone ever eaten one?
My sneakers are getting a little bit dusty this week…
It’s no one’s fault but my own. The Viper Pilot and I have been staying up really late every night this week and I’ve just been too tired to work out. Since he’s flying at a night he gets home really late. If I’m able to stay awake, when he gets home we have a late dinner/snack and chat until about midnight or one o’clock. Even though I would consider myself a morning person, the lack of sleep builds up and it makes getting out of bed at 6:30 am every day really difficult.
But look at how cute he is. I don’t mind being a little extra tired and skipping my workouts if it means I get to spend a few hours each day with these adorable faces. 🙂
The most successful thing I got accomplished today was mailing the Christmas presents. Yes, indeed, I somehow managed to get all of these:
…packed up into six containers…
…into the trunk of my car and shipped off to the states to four different locations (there are no pictures of this because, well, I kinda had my hands full). The Airman working at the post office asked me what kind of car I drive when I rolled up with my cart full of containers because it must be a moving truck. He thought he was so funny. 😉
The only downside to this whole procrastination business is that the presents may arrive by New Year’s, but it could also be as late as Valentine’s Day. Shoot. The other crummy thing about mailing presents back to the states is that the customs form is slapped right on the top of the container with a list of the contents. That’s just not right. NO peeking at the customs form!!!
I was in the office this morning and then came home and sat around waiting for the heating oil man to show up sometime between 1 and 4. He arrived promptly at 2:00 and it only took him about 10 minutes to fill up the tanks…which made me really glad that I took the entire afternoon off of work…
cburtnett says
Loved the geometrical observation!!!