When I was married, my wife took care of all the plants in the house. She was the master at keeping them alive. When the plants were left to me, they invariably froze to death or died from lack of water. Sounds weird, because I love plants. I am a park ranger for cryin’ out loud. When you take it apart, it makes sense though. My life was spent managing natural systems and trying to keep them healthy while enforcing the law on miscreants as well. Natural systems don’t need me to water them or keep them from freezing or repot them when they become root bound. I protected nature from the bad guys while protecting the people from the bad guys as well. My favorite times were spent when I wasn’t doing any of that, and I was just enjoying the smells and freshness walking in the woods, exploring a desert Spring bloom, or cruising in my patrol boat and watching a bear swim across the narrow part of the lake. The natural world gave me a sense of peace and relaxation nothing else could duplicate. Now I have plastic flowers inside my house. They are beautiful copies, but they don’t give me the joy of the real thing. Fortunately, they don’t die if I forget to water them, so it’s a working trade off. I still need the real thing though.
Oddly enough, reading gives me a similar feeling that being in the woods does. A good book can put you there in a way movies never will. If done well, your imagination creates what the author gives you, and it somehow becomes real in your mind in ways a movie can never produce. You are there living in that world as you turn the pages. Read! Read! Read!
2 Comments
Paula Ledford
6/13/2017 08:04:06 pm
Oh Greg, plastic flowers???? NOOOOOOOO!!!! There are wonderful plants that are little/no maintenance that will even make your air in the house healthier to breath :) But the book thought is cool.......just melt the plastic!!! PLEASE tell me they are at least silk, not plastic?!?!? I know that's not the point, but.....you make me smile :)
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Greg Picard
6/14/2017 03:42:51 pm
Yes, Paula, they are mostly silk with plastic stems. Nice copies, but not the real thing at all. I've been planting all the real ones outdoors though and choosing ones that are native or extra hardy and survive in spite of me...LOL Once I quit gadding about the country and can take care of indoor plants I will probably add some to my collection. I was doing pretty good with the ones I had in Durango until my heater went out during a winter vacation and they all froze.
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