Green

Green - what a beautiful color!  It is St. Patrick's Day and everyone is searching their closets for something green (that fits) to wear today so as to avoid the pinching by classmates and co-workers.  It's mid-March and the weather forecast for Lincoln, Nebraska is 75 degrees and sunny - the trees and grass will surely be "greening up" for Spring.  It's been a long winter in Nebraska and we  welcome any shades of green on the landscape.  And that means we can soon expect an abundance of those green foods that I love - broccoli, asparagus, bell peppers, spinach and green beans.  And my favorite source of green and my absolute favorite beverage - a Starbucks green tea latte (hold the syrup - just milk and matcha powder).  Green is beautiful and delicious.....except in my line of work (infection prevention and control).  In my business, we try to avoid the wearin' of the green (pus)- it usually indicates an infection when a wound or a cut turns green.  The color is created by the breakdown of bacteria by white blood cells as they digest the foreign proteins in a process called "phagocytosis".   Additionally, in a discussion of green and microbes - Pseudomonas aeruginosa comes to mind.  That water-loving bacterium appears green under the microscope.   So, today I have mixed feelings about "the wearin' of green".   My advice? Wear it only in good health and you can experience the associated good luck. 

Send a free St. Patrick's Day e-card featuring the nanobugs today.

This entry was posted on March 17th, 2009 at 12:00 am. RSS | Back to Blog Homepage.

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