I happened to pull up my very unused audiobook app when I opened my eyes today, and realized I had 56 unlistened to books. It felt like this little blog thing, in that I signed up for something with good intentions to grow myself years ago, but never made that second step. I have listened to a few here and there, but saw that I had 45 minutes left on a fairly short story about a snapshot of Marie Curie’s life. I figured I could close my eyes again or throw on some shoes to head outdoors and polish that last 45 minutes off. Thankfully I made the correct decision. Most of the time if a decision is to be made between inside and outside, then outside is the way to go.

Marie Curie is a name many people have heard, but I suspect that most don’t quite know any specifics beyond that she was involved with science or medicine. I at least didn’t. She managed to win 2 more Nobel Prizes than most of us do. Her legacy is in radioactivity, a term she coined herself. Discovering radium and polonium. Her efforts helped treat cancers and develop the ability for portable x-rays to help the Allied troops in WWI. Her lifetime of work is what led to her passing, as the years of radiation exposure caused aplastic anemia. This is an issue with the bone marrow failing to make vital blood cells. She was a daughter, mother, wife, widow, lover, and friend. She declined numerous awards over her lifetime, and Albert Einstein once remarked: “Marie Curie is, of all celebrated beings, the only one whom fame has not corrupted.” She was an amazing human.

• Marie Skłodowska Curie (11/7/1867-7/4/1934)

My pausing today was an attempt to catch a photo of a rabbit. A little too quick. Or more likely, I was a little too slow. I did manage to get the trees where Bugs ran off into. In total, I saw 3 rabbits this morning. Not sure if that’s a normal amount, but they all were much faster than me.

I also got a closeup of common chicory. The Dutch added the root to coffee for flavoring, as Coffee-mate wasn’t around yet. There’s some degree of toxicity with this blue beauty, so I didn’t attempt to follow the culinary practice that the Dutch set in motion.