I am writing this in the Dublin airport, waiting for a flight to take me and Laura back across the ocean. The day is one day short of 365 since the first entry for Lab Fab season three. What a year! In the past 43 posts, I have regaled you with the twists (yes! twists) and turns of my attempt to study twisting in roots. I worked out suitable conditions (in practice, which growth cabinet) for the plants to grow vigorously and I worked out which genotypes were the most suitable. I had little trouble organizing gear to measure growth and cell file angle. But the real fun came with the system for measuring cellulose. First, I needed to work out a protocol for staining cellulose in the root. But most problematic, I had to make the liquid crystal system work. After many trials and errors, I had to eat pineapple upside-down cake, tastier than crow but not at all tasty. With that obstacle passed, I amassed a ton of data. Grind grind grind. Awaiting my attention, these data are stored on my computer, on an external hard drive, and in two cloud stores. I fear they might have to wait for some time. 

I have no idea whether my dataset will cohere into a lovely story or scatter aimlessly in the wind like petals dehiscing from a withered flower. Based on our many discussions, my collaborators, Rosemary Dyson and Galane Luo, will be drafting a theoretical paper outlining the mathematical and biomechanical treatment. But their paper needs drafting. I am also convinced that I can adapt the liquid crystal system to work on a multiphoton microscope, provided I can find a suitable instrument somewhere to play with. I met a student who might come to Amherst for work on a cellulose-in-stomata project. I have taken steps to form links between UMass and the University of Birmingham. Many threads needing to be woven; is this the sign of a success or an excuse?