What's not to love about civil servants?  Or at least people who are friendly and helpful and seem to thrive off of making you happy?  The offices I have worked in have had some of my favorite people in the world working there as well.  Of the favorites, IT outshines.  Why is this?  Is it there knack for understanding and fixing thigns?  Is it their insight into the world?  Their friendliness and treating me like a fellow human being?  Their wit?  I say, "Let's have a national 'Information Technology Services' day."  Who really thanks them?  I was doing just that when a response was, "It's my job."  Well, still... maybe it's time to get baking again.  :)

Yesterday, I was walking around the National Arboretum with my parents (who were just in town for the weekend) when we experienced Bonsai trees.  I have a strong reaction to them.  In some ways, they are amazing and beautiful and mind-boggling, and in others, they represent humanity trying to take control of something and bring it down to what's manageable.  When you take something like a tree that normally can grow sky-high with roots and branches sprawling everywhere, a thing that not only is big and beautiful, but that can cause damage (aka falling on a house) and confine it to a small pot and constantly 'nurture' it to be less than 3', that is a pretty big deal/statement.  It takes the awesomeness and wonder of staring up in to the branches of such a tree.  Of course, it adds it's own wonder that you can walk around a room and have a whole forest of different varieties and they are all contained... It was a bit inspiring because some of the trees were gifts, such as from the King of Morrocco back in 1832!  It seems like a good idea to give something so magnificant and yet small... maybe we wouldn't have storage rooms or so hang onto so much junk if we didn't give junk or if we didn't get it for ourselves.  Maybe it would be easier to let go of less-intriguing items if we had bonsaiesque ones?