Undying Beauty

When I started this blog back in July I posted about the wonder that was the orchid in my office. The orchid bloomed and bloomed all summer, I watered it on occasion and my colleagues all marveled at my green thumb. It stopped blooming sometime in September or October, one of the leaves turned yellow and fell off. I dutifully trimmed off the flowering stem and then I was tired of it.  The roots are kind of brown and the leaves don’t look very good. Yet I couldn’t throw it out not after it had brought be large gorgeous blooms for months.  So instead I stopped watering the orchid and waited for it to die. Only it didn’t die.  No instead it started sprouting a new leaf, which is growing at an alarming rate. Now I’m forced to start the watering again, the waiting, the watching to see if it will flower again. My guess is it will flower again in a few months. And once again I’ll wonder at the beauty of the blossom.  It’s not so different from life really, a person has a few good months, then wilts for a while, then comes back in full bloom all the time never knowing when the one who provides the water that gives you strength is about to discard you. It’s the kind of thing poets would write about – however I couldn’t find any good poems, so you’ll have to settle for this longer than necessary blog entry.