And the little plant kept growing

It's been a busy few weeks in Cape Despair, but not the interesting sort of business. I am still

• trying not to borrow trouble over my primary source of anxiety these days.
• trying, in the face of that anxiety, to remain focused on doing my job.
• trying to keep up with the thousand and one things that must be done in the home and garden. This would be easier if the weather would cooperate. I am not afraid of a little rain, but I draw the line at gardening in full-on thunderstorms.

I did get my tomato seedlings pricked out and potted. I culled the mass down to 20, which are still probably many more than I need. On the other hand, 'too many tomatoes' sounds impossible at the moment and unlike zucchini, one does not have to sneak them onto the neighbours' porches in the dead of night to get rid of them.

I also made an excursion to the garden centre for a long session of Looking At Flowers, an activity second only to Walking On Beaches in its power to soothe my anxious nerves. There, I found pot upon four-inch pot of rue. The pot tags only talked about its value as an insect repellent. Poor terrible toxic plant.

I have several healthy rue seedlings in my windowsill that I will be potting up soon, so I did not buy any of the ones at the garden centre. But it did amuse me to see them.


Paul Laurence Dunbar