Labor Day Leaves

Labor Day isn't good news for summer lovers. It means "Last Chance." Do your last summer flings today because tomorrow is too late.

The great sleep for flowers and trees is at hand. I have the plant I bought at the greenhouse when summer was just coming on. Those were optimistic days. Stems were flexible. Blooms were bold. Grass was green. The plant became three times as big as it originally was. I repotted it midway through. It'll need to come in.

It'll be nice to see the leaves come down, since there's a great beauty in that. I love the crunch underfoot and the noise they make swirling against the house. Or fences. Or down the road. That's an interesting sight, to see leaves going straight down the road with the wind.

I always have the best of intentions for fall. And I do again this year. It's a great time to make resolutions of things you're going to do, mostly to enjoy it. Such as bundle up and go sit by a fence somewhere, a gnarly fence, let's say, one with an old wooden post.

I plan to pick up handfuls of leaves and examine them. Then let them go wherever they want.

Greenhouse

I went to a greenhouse today ... which might more accurately be called a greenhouseplex, since there were probably eight or 10 greenhouses in the complex.

Wow, that's a lot of potted plants. I felt like getting a job there. Less stress while digging in the pots. But I didn't figure I'd qualify, since I don't know anything about botany. I could've said people say I have a green thumb, except no one says that.

I was thinking, What a vast spread of plants. What's the chances of all of them ever selling? Then I had my eye on a particular plant, yet went on to wander around and browse. Later I came back thinking I would get that plant, and guess what, it was gone, and they guy said that was the last one. Hmm, of all the plants in this vast place, that one particular plant sold right out from under my nose.

The Purpose Of Flowers

I used to be a big romantic when it came to nature. I think I still am, to a certain extent, but this is one of those areas where any amount of learning you do decreases your romanticism by the same amount.

When you think things are just there for some innocent reason it's one thing. When you take a class or someone tells you the actual truth, you go, "Oh, really?" It changes your mindset. So if you want to be truly happy, stay as stupid as possible. But now that I think of it, maybe you can just forget what you've learned and insist on the innocent reasons.

One example. Why not believe that flowers are just there to make God smile? Or to keep bees from being depressed? Those are good things. Then you're out in nature and you see a bunch of flowers, you think, Oh, how nice, God is smiling. Or the bees in this area must be very well adjusted.

I had it pointed out to me that the purpose of flowers is simply to make more flowers. It's like the sex life of flowers -- doing whatever, however they do it. The pistil is hot for the bulb or something. They have a three way with a bee. I don't know. I think I might've had a botany class but I don't remember precisely. Had to dissect a tulip one time. The teacher stuck a pin in its stem to put it to sleep. Standing there one second, the pin goes in, it conked out. I could barely look.

Now whenever I see flowers I'm thinking they're just there to make more flowers. It's a depressing thought, because you want them to be prideful along the way, not so extremely goal-oriented.