Just one day before the blizzard, Therese Manggaard hosted the Brownsdale Study Club at her home.  The gathering was called to order by President Rena Perrigo and after the reading of the Collect, roll call was taken.  All members answered by sharing her personal choice of “a trivial gesture of great consequence.” Secretary Mary Kidwiler-Moritz shared a written summary of February’s get-together with the organization.  As treasurer, Mary reported that the balance stands at $47. The main topic had been assigned to Mary and she presented A Call to Count Arms:  What Does that Tell Us?  She introduced an article to the group regarding the, more than, 20-year research of the Saguaro Cactus by Richard Huto.  Huto, is a professor of ecology at the University of Montana, who has been conducting research of the giant cacti at Orgon Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona.  Since 2000, Huto has explored the reasoning behind why saguaro cacti, sometimes, grow many arms, and why others, of the same age, have fewer or none at all.  The saguaro cactus is one of the tallest cacti in the world and one of the oldest—some living up to 300 years.  The plant can be found in abundance across the southern portion of Arizona, northern Mexico and a small part of southeastern California. Through his study, Huto learned that the longevity of the saguaro is greatly reduced if its seeds try to take root near certain other species of plants — like the mesquite or palo verde.  Huto’s research uncovered that the survival of the saguaro is dependent upon the number of arms it can grow.  It is these extremities of the plant that produce flowers and seeds.  Native birds use the arms for a perch, and eat the seeds from the blossoms.  Their excrement contains the seeds that, then, take root, to start new plants. The growth of the saguaro is very slow.  Most plants haven’t reached more than one inch in height after five years!  It, then, takes decades for the cactus to grow its first arm and begin to turn upwards.  Unlike the palo verde and mesquite, other species of dead trees serve as a surrogate to the growing saguaro, providing it with shade and moisture, the dead plant no longer can use. The outside reading was provided by Shelley Vogel, who quoted “Life Advice From a Five-Year-Old,” which described seven points beginning with: “You gotta say your affirmations in your mouth and your heart.” “You say to yourself, ‘I am brave of this meeting!  I am loved!  I smell good!’” “You gotta walk big.  You gotta mean it, like Dolly [Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors] on a dinosaur.  Because you got it.” “Never put a skunk on a bus.” “Think about the doughnuts of your day!” “Even if you cry a little, you can think about potato chips!” “Even if it’s a yucky day, you can get a hug.” The get-together ended with Therese serving a delicious carrot cake using carrots she grew in her garden. Weather permitting, the next meeting will be Tuesday, April 15. Submitted by Mary Kidwiler-Moritz, Secretary The post In Your Community: Brownsdale Study Club appeared first on Austin Daily Herald. ...read more read less