Martha in Michigan
My blogs
| Gender | Female |
|---|---|
| Industry | Non-Profit |
| Occupation | editor, webmaster, database manager |
| Location | Zone 5–6, United States |
| Introduction | I first gardened in the Philippines, where anyone can have a green thumb. I was left with an affection for plants I can no longer grow and an inability to summon English or botanical names for them. Tsitsirika, kalatsutsi, gumamela, and adelfa all come readily to mind, for example, but it can take me forever to translate to periwinkle, plumeria, hibiscus, and oleander. I used to grow and preserve food, mostly. Now I also spend time and effort on flowering things. Since I work from home, the view out my windows is more important than when I commuted. Just as WS has learned through bitter experience to give up on the lilacs of our Maryland childhood in her present desert abode, I have gradually learned to let go of the tropicals. I loved those potted plumerias, but they were never going to flower indoors, so what was the point? I see such accommodations to reality as a metaphor for aging: we can no longer have everything we want, cannot even dream anymore that someday we will. We become practiced at paring down our expectations while wallowing in our remaining pleasures—which just may be the essence of wisdom. |