I am obsessed with buying house plants. All I can think about right now is all the twenty five plants I want to buy – to add to the ten I already have, the textured vases they will stand in, and the elegant stands that will carry those vases.
All I see is green. And yellow, and purple and white, amidst all shades of green.
Last week I looked up plants that grow in the dark. Yes, plants that grow in the dark. And it turns out there are quite a few! The hallway is not always well-lit with natural light, and I want to colour that green too. I am obsessed. So I might buy some of those, and I will tell you about it. I am looking forward to finding out for myself how well such plants fare.
So listen. Here’s a bit of trailing off into the woods a.k.a ramblings of the mind. I am taking a little break from my thesis work to write this.
There is a notice on the wall a few meters to my left that reads “This kitchen is not available for PhD candidates from DepartmentXXX.* You can use the kitchen in the other end of the corridor.” (*Name changed to maintain anonymity of subjects. Smile. Eye-roll.)
We have been sent two emails about this before that notice came up. But I’ve seen a couple of people ignore this sign. They smile and say hi as they go by to the forbidden kitchen, and I smile and say hi back.
For now, I am assuming they have not seen the notice directed at us, even as they walk past it, because … well, maybe because the wall is white and so is the A4 paper on which the notice is printed in blank ink. I don’t know, I’m just trying to think well of my fellow humans. I mean I’ve been known to not see things that are right in front of me a few times in the past.
This one time my sister and I spent a lovely day in Bath. We needed to do one more thing, have tea at Pulteney Bridge. We had read that this was one of Bath’s attractions. So we walked right up to where the map and sign posts said it was, but we could see no bridge.
We went back and forth along this stretch of road about three times, until, a few minutes later, confused and exasperated, we stopped and asked a kindly gentleman, “Where can we find Pulteney Bridge, sir?” And he said, “You’re standing right on top of it.”
See, it didn’t look like a bridge from where we were standing. And from some TripAdvisor reviews I‘ve read, we weren’t the only ones that could not tell there was a bridge in that spot. Sometimes things are not as obvious to everyone as we might think.
In the meantime, if you do know of some plants that do alright in dimly-lit spaces, do let me know!
Till next time,
Cheerfully yours,
Catherine.
