≈ The Sweet Smell of Not-Quite-Spring Gardening Is in the Air! ≈ ∞ Basic To Do List to get the Party Started 😊 ∞ Before and After We “spring forward,” pick up an hour at the end of the day, and all of a sudden we gain an entire season’s worth of gardening ambition. That one hour apparently releases a major endorphin rush along with plans of lush gardens, thriving flowers, and a lawn that looks like it belongs in a magazine instead of… well… my yard. I mentioned in a blog last year that I garden, I’m not a gardener. Th ere’s a difference. Gardeners know what they’re doing. I own a bunch of tools, a couple of shovels, no expectations and a spectacular amount of optimism. The goal is simple, have fun, let the hobby be the reward, and try not to actively make things worse. Dwarf Nandina Firepower Shrub goes from green to red - color all year long With the snow finally melting its way into the ground, we start with the annual Walkaround, the official inspection tour to asse...
≈≈ How to Have Your C “AI” K 🍰 and Eat It Too ≈≈ ∞ Teaching Kids to Think in an AI World ∞ “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Dan Millman. Back in December, just before the holidays, we posted a couple of blogs about AI and children’s development, specifically the risks presented by AI toys. We talked about privacy, safety, and the slightly unsettling possibility that a stuffed animal might start offering life advice before the child has even learned to say “Mama.” This time I’d like to talk about the other side of the coin: the benefits of AI, the reality of it, and, most importantly, the management of it. Today’s kids will grow up in a world where AI is as ubiquitous as a key fob. So instead of asking whether children should use it, the better question might be how. AI is an extraordinary learning tool. It can explain complicated subjects, help kids explore ideas, and break down informati...