Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Obituary announcement - death of the green kind

It is with great sorrow that I announce the demise and passing and death of one of my senior house plants, Ms (or Mr.) Christmas Cactus. Ms Cactus had been ailing for a while and in spite of generous injections of water and "TLC" - she has gone to meet others of her kind in that great garden in the sky.

There is a certain amount of personal guilt attached to this death since her earth had not been changed for a number of years. Okay. Seven years. Its demise most likely is due to indifference on my part to CC's well being and root system. To my credit, though, I did turn over the soil on occasion - okay twice but that counts - to give it breathing space. Obviously, this wasn't enough to sustain her (or his) life force.

In retrospect I don't think I really liked CC that much but since its a living thing, I didn't have the guts to discard it. Instead, all I did was give generous doses of liquid to assuage my indifference when I remembered, and that was the extent of care on my part. I should have transplanted it years ago - sigh - life is full of should-have, would-have, could haves.

CC even survived the move from her placement on top of the fridge in our former home, to the second shelf on a plant stand in the dining room. Maybe there wasn't enogh light or possibly she (or he - go know!) was too old for a sudden change of surroundings. Plants are so finicky at the best of times. As I wrote - go know.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized but most likely it will get a final send-off in front of the garbage shoot down the hall. Perhaps - depending on if anyone else is within hearing range - a few departing words will be spoken in addition to remembering how she brought forth pretty flowers in earlier years.

RIP Ms (or Mr.)Christmas Cactus - your spirit will live on in your replacement. One last bit of advice: never personalize your relationship with your plant and then ignore it. They know.