Corpse Flower

The kiddo and I just came home from looking at a rare corpse flower at the museum. Her name is Lois, she's huge, and she's supposed to smell just like rotting flesh when she finally blooms. Isn't that just the coolest thing ever?

Apparently, the blooming of a corpse flower is a huge event in the world of botany, so much so that they're keeping the Cockrell Butterfly Center open twenty-four hours a day until this one finishes doing her thing. We got to wander around in an artificial rainforest in a giant glass pyramid in the middle of the night--so worth the price of the ticket even though the flower was still tightly furled and stink free.

Here's the live web feed: Lois

Oh, and you'll never believe they were showing at the Miller Outdoor Theater across the street from the museum. They scheduled the season's free shows sometime last year, long before anyone knew that Lois was going to bloom, but they just happened to be performing Little Shop of Horrors this week. We got there just in time to hear "Suddenly Seymour" and to watch the puppet gobble up Seymour's dad. God, sometimes I just love life. :D