Politics and Potted Plants
12:32 p.m.
The malady lingers; I awoke super early again this morning with a sore throat and plugged nostrils, but not early enough to be able to take something and go back to sleep. So I will have to cadge a nap at some point so I don�t totally collapse in writing group this evening.
As those of you who have a keen interest in Canada�s political workings no doubt are aware, I and my countrymen (and women) go to the polls on June 28 in our 38th general election to elect a federal government. Well, it might be the same old party in power, but many of us are hoping for a redistribution of numbers so that the Liberals lead a minority government. The advent of public opinion polls has made it possible to predict election outcomes, and the electorate uses these tools in order to vote �strategically�. I know that no matter what direction I personally cast my ballot in, the Bloc Qu�becois candidate in my riding will win because, well, just because. Well, maybe he won�t, now you mention it, since they moved the electoral boundaries around a bit. But I will send my wee, encircled �x� to someone else, be it NDP, Green Party, Rhino Party or Marijuana Party, because I am so sick of the way the current crop of politicians posture and pontificate, as though they know what is good for us. Well, we elected them in the first place, right? Wrong! The popular vote usually swings in a quite different direction, but due to the system in place, equal representation is a name only.
Interestingly enough, I didn�t log on to express my dissatisfaction with suffrage. I think I really wanted to bemoan the fact that what I thought was tarragon was really a bushy weed masquerading as the anise-flavoured herb. I transplanted the lemon basil, chocolate mint and lemon balm into small pots which are sitting happily in the sunlight on the deck, as well as the six tomato plants which are temporarily in a large pot (all together now) until I can get them into the garden. In my present state of health I cannot imagine jumping on a spade. But I was willing to dig up the tarragon and pot it only to discover that the grim reaper with his motorized sickle had already passed this way.
I did repot a delicate lychee seedling that was sharing space with my hibiscus, and I hope that this time I have success. Whenever I buy lychees, I save the seeds, which are beautiful unto themselves, like highly polished mahogany beans, and shove them into the plant pots in my dining room, of which there are a plethora. This time one came up and I let it develop quite a crown before transplanting it. The last time I tried this my sapling died. Boo hoo.
Here is my most recent dilemma and it concerns the division and repotting of a house plant. I have a peace lily which is in terrific need of this operation, and I had promised my erstwhile friend, the Duke, part of it. Now that it would appear that we are no longer friends, do I still give him some? This is a peace lily, remember. Would I be sending some subliminal message? Am I reading way too much into this? When does a cigar cease to be just a cigar? I don�t even smoke! What the heck am I talking about?!
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