Showing posts with label bad boyfriends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bad boyfriends. Show all posts

Friday, March 30, 2007

Some Like It Hot

On the plane Sunday night, I closed my eyes and tried to visualize what I miss most: salt air, crashing waves, blue skies and Jo… dear old Jo teaching me how to pluck mussels from the rocks, knocking off the barnacles and storing them in our salt water bucket. She boiled up a batch and we sat on her deck overlooking the bay, eating our catch, not saying much of anything. Moments like these don’t require words.

Funny how something so inconsequential as losing a laptop can send the world into a tailspin. Yet, it does. That's the mystery of life. Can't really say it's the beauty.

I did something mean, accidently, while I was gone. I left my little cactus unwatered, sitting squarely on a furnace vent to be blasted with hot, dry air for a full week. Instead of getting angry at my thoughtless behavior, it got prettier than ever. Maybe that's what we all should do.

I've never seen my cactus bloom before. Yet, bloom it has and if you look close, it's got the cutest little two-eyed alien thing going on.

Anyway, the thought for today is about how we all have times when we're thought-less. And while you can look back with deep regret, it's hardly worth the effort. For better or worse, there's no controlling life. It's how I react to it that is the true measure of who I am.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Dis-Obedient Plant

After the first hard frost, spiders sneak into the house, looking for a warm place to stay. It's this time of year when ski bums start crawling out of the woodwork, too.

Sorry to hear your Mom died. Hey, I bought a new car and I'm coming to visit for New Years!

Good grief... That was the note I received from my ex-boyfriend. On my birthday, no less. I sometimes wonder how such cold, crappy people infiltrate my life, though I know I must somehow be to blame.

Plants remind me of people and the Obedient Plant is a lot like him. Tall and charming, with snowy white flowers... and such mean-spirited behavior he'll suck the life right out of you.

This plant is so disobedient it was recently banned from sale in Utah. It's invasive, a voracious feeder that depletes soil nutrients all too quickly. If that’s not reason enough to dump this fellow, he also bullies the nice guys flowering nearby.

Now is a good time to dig up the Obedient Plant's underground rhizomes (aka big fat roots) or they'll choke neighboring perennials, come spring.

Awhile back, a popular bumper sticker bemoaned the bleeding obvious: Mean People Suck. No argument there, just curiosity. How to deal with them? Having been raised by wolves, I'm never quite sure.

* The Obedient Plant got it's name because when you bend the flower stalk, it will stay that way. 'Miss Manners' is one cultivar that tends to behave. USDA zones 4-8. Divide every 3 years.

** Try substituting White Veronica for the Obedient Plant. Veronica is not as showy but you’ll learn to love it’s low-maintenance ways.