And, Who Might You Be?

Kate to Florist: "Howsabout orange? What have you got for orange flowers?"

Florist response: "We don't have much. People don't like orange." 
Outraged Kate: "Whaddyamean people don't like orange? I love orange!"

[You don't fully appreciate me until you hear me fight with a florist.]

Been pondering the strangeness of the blogosphere for about a month, now. This began when I saw a blog post title from Bloomingwriter that gave me the impression she was quitting her blog. (Thankfully, that is not the case.)

Next came Fairegarden's thought-provoking post on what would happen to our blogs once we ran out of steam.

Impeccable timing. The following day I was hopping from blog to blog saying hello and catching up on people's lives when I hit a heartbreaking snag.

Seems a woman who's blog I've been following for several years had fallen ill and was in the hospital.

I 'met' this blogger through her daughter's blog. The daughter and I are about the same age. At least I think we're the same age. Hard to know, for sure, because this is the blogosphere, where identities are a bit obscure.

Even so, I feel I know a lot about these gals. I know how the daughter suffers when the sun doesn't shine. I see how her Mom, GJ, strives to preserve the eclectic craziness of her tiny retirement town.

And, yet we've never met. Half the time I don't even know what my blogging friends look like.

So, GJ is ill. She's in the hospital. Blogging daughter updates GJ's blog saying it's doubtful her Mom will continue blogging since mobility is now a problem.

I'm blinking back tears. AND madly scouring the internet for a local florist because no friend of mine is gonna get stuck in a hospital without some brightly blooming goodies to boost her spirits.

Got the hospital room and address from blogging daughter and proceeded to drive the local florist nuts with my demands... Eventually, we reached agreement.

And, then the florist made the simplest demand of me: 
"Now all we need is GJ's full name and we'll deliver it this afternoon."

My response? 
Um. 

I didn't know her name! 

Here I am anxiously trying to send a bouquet of flowers to GJ and it had never occurred to me that I don't know her real name! She's GJ the blogger. That's not enough?

It got me wondering about Buffalo. Site of this year's Garden Bloggers Annual Gathering ~ where everyone meets up in the real world, full names and faces included. I wonder if I should go. Are you planning to go?

* GJ is feeling better. She did get the flowers ~ though I have a strong hunch there wasn't nearly enough orange in that bouquet. And, while I'm thrilled to hear she's feeling better this is bittersweet since we no longer get to keep tabs on her via the blog.