The Painting

 I've been thinking a lot about "down the road".  I mean, for instance, I imagine that sometime in my future, I will have to sell my house and downsize into an apartment, possible "independent living" in one of those senior apartments, maybe even assisted living.  I may not have the "luxury" of dying here like I supposed I would do.  And that takes me to the thoughts of what would I absolutely want to keep and what could I part with?  After all, I have a lifetime of accumulated "stuff".  Which is one of the reasons I have been making it a point to periodically go through closets and drawers and contemplate whether I really want to deal with this thing I haven't needed or used when that time comes.  What a chore that would be!  Mom had diluted her possessions down to what would fit in a tiny 400 SF apartment, and it was still a lot to deal with when she came here.  She ended up giving all of her furniture to Liane, whose daughter was getting ready to move into a place of her own, and there were still drawers of kitchen utensils I didn't need, closets of blankets, bedding, towels and on and on.  All she brought here was her bedroom set and some of her prized possessions... jewelry, favorite wall hangings, clothes.  I have a whole houseful to deal with!

Well, this line of thought brought me to Mom's painting.  She actually gave that to me when she moved out of her house.  I figure Merry will take it when I'm gone, but what after that?  Would the either of Merry's boys want it?  So I decided to write a note and securely attach it to the back of the painting.  I hate the thought of something with such meaning to end up in a dumpster.  That may still happen, but with a little luck, it will still be around in a hundred (or more) years in the hands of a romantic soul touched by it's story.  Here is the note I've composed to attach to it the next time I take it down to clean behind it:

 

The Story Behind The Painting                       August, 2024

    When I was in my late forties, my mother told me that she wanted me to have this painting when she passed because it had sentimental value for her.  I can’t really remember when it showed up on her wall, and I don’t ever remember asking about it.  I guess I always assumed it was one of those original paintings one gets at those “starving artist” shows that come around because Mom wasn’t the type to spend a lot of money on stuff like that.  Of course, she knew she had to now explain its “sentimental” value… That makes this story is second-hand, and since Mom passed in 2023, I’m now wishing she was here to fill in some of the details…

     My parents divorced in 1974 and we moved from our grand-parents’ farm (where I grew up with my brother and sister) to Harlan, Iowa.  Mom chose Harlan because it was a central location to her work, which was selling insurance and annuities to (mostly) school teachers.  Mom was only 32 when they divorced and she dated discretely.  By the time she started dating, I was 16, and Wes and Merry were both younger and we didn’t really meet many of these men and didn’t know about most of them until we were adults.  Which is why I couldn’t tell you exactly when this was painted, but it had to be between 1975 and 1978. 

     Mom met an art teacher who she apparently started to date and became quite close to.  From her description, they were getting close enough to talk about introducing him to us kids and discussing the possibility of marriage when he was tragically killed in a car accident.  Looking back, I realize that this means my mother was secretly grieving a terrible loss as we never knew about this…

     Apparently some time later, Mom was contacted by another art teacher – from the same school?  I’m not sure, but one who apparently was fairly close to her art teacher beau because he knew about the painting.  Her beau had started this painting to give to her and the accident occurred before he finished it.  This other art teacher had taken it upon himself to finish the painting, professionally frame it and present it to her.  I can only imagine the overwhelming feeling of gratitude to the friend who finished it, sadness at what might have been, and pain in having to hide her grief from us.  I don’t remember seeing the painting back then and I suspect that she probably put it away at the time.  Perhaps to a small degree to not have to explain it to us, but probably more because seeing it daily would exacerbate her grief.  What can be a painful reminder after a tragic loss often, after time has passed, becomes a poignant reminder of a beautiful time.

     When Mom moved out of her house to Merry’s when she was in her mid-70’s, she gave me the painting.  I didn’t really have anywhere to put it at the time, so I stored it.  In 2021, my husband passed away and in March 2022, Mom came to live with me.  It was clear that she was “winding down”.  I had spent 6 months renovating the house, turning what was once my husband’s “man cave” into a bright, beautiful “lady cave” where Mom took up residence.  That summer, I had the living room and dining room painted and found the perfect spot for The Painting – a focal spot on the living room wall so that Mom could be reminded of all the wonderful years, all the precious relationships, all the joy of her life.  She passed away about 9 months later, right here at home, after a valiant fight with cancer 3 days after her 82^nd birthday.   And now, it is my reminder of the amazing life she led and of her special place in my heart.

     So to anyone who acquires this painting in the future, please keep this note with it so that the story lives on because you having it means that everyone who knew and loved my mother is gone…

 

How I wish I had more details.  What was his name?  Where did he live?  Did he have children?  If he did, it could be a wonderful thing to leave it to them... I mean, if he was anywhere near Mom's age, his children would have been pretty young when he died.  It could be quite a special thing for them to have it.  I don't think there's anyone left who may have been aware of the relationship.  Aunt Judy probably knew about it, but I can't image she would remember his name.  I should probably ask, just in case she does...

But that's it for today.  Just wanted to pop in and get this down while it was in my head...

 

Cool days

It's an awesome morning - about 7:45 and only 57 degrees!  Today's high is supposed to be only 75.  How great is that?!  It's been nice for a few days, which got me thinking about the summer of 2004, which was a very temperate year.  I remember it specifically for two reasons - first, I got my very first, SUV which was also my very first vehicle with a sun roof that year and got to use it quite a bit. It was a Saturn Vue - it was my third Saturn as I'd had very good luck with them.  I bought my first sedan in 1996, and about 4 years later, I traded it in for another but this time I leased since we could run it through the business.  Then I did a second lease on the Vue - I really loved that vehicle!

The other significant event that summer was my dad passing.  I got the call from my cousin, Larry, right around just about now 20 years ago - he had found Dad dead on his kitchen floor and the coroner (which, in a small town, is just one of the local doctors who take turns playing this role...) said it looked like he had been dead about a week or so.  Middle of (a thankfully cool) summer, no A/C - it was probably not a pretty scene.  I could tell in my cousin's voice that it was traumatizing... I called the sheriff's office to ask if they planned to do an autopsy, and he floundered a bit and said no, there appeared to be no foul play, but if we wanted to pay for one, we could (to the tune of about $3000...)  Honestly, the tone and after talking a little more to my cousin, I think the real answer was probably there isn't much left to autopsy, but he probably didn't want to be that blunt with a grieving daughter.  So Wes came back from Indy and we had Dad cremated and a few days later, we had a little get together that included the few friends Dad still had some contact with - Norman Pierson, who was his best friend since high school and Peggy Weston and her kids.  Mom and Peggy had been best friends since high school and Dad and her husband, Walt, had become very close over the years.  Walt had died a few years earlier...  We got together at his favorite camping park, Pilot Grove Park, and scattered his ashes from a bridge into a pond there.  But what I remember most about that day is that it was downright COLD!  Even with a jacket, the breeze had an uncomfortable bite to it... in AUGUST!!  It was weird!  And here we are, 20 years later almost to the day, with a cool spell in August. Makes me say, "I haven't thought much about you in a long time, Dad...  I appreciate the reminder..."

Most people wouldn't want a reminder of a sad time.  But it was that sadness that kind of forced me give our relationship - or lack thereof - some real thought.  I hadn't seen Dad in probably 8 years before he died.  He made it pretty clear at some point that he'd really rather just be left alone.  It was around the time that Wes and Sally moved to Indy in 1996.  Before that, we (Wes, Merry & I) had made an effort to see Dad maybe once a year.  Wes went more often, but I think it was his effort that got all three of us to go meet with Dad somewhere for lunch occasionally. And it was always pleasant enough, though he often looked (and smelled) like a hobo.  Which calls for an explanation...

Dad had mental issues.  Not diagnosed - he would never see a shrink or do anything that would present the opportunity for a diagnosis or any kind of medicinal intervention.  But it was clear he had issues.  He talked to himself a lot.  Of course, we all do that somewhat.  But his was more conversational, like there was someone there.  He was terribly passive aggressive at times.  Extremely insecure and socially inept.  He drank a lot, I think, to squelch the feelings of inadequacy and, I suspect, to quiet the "voices" in his head.  But the biggest outward sign was the way he lived.  He let Wes come in the house sometimes and he would only describe it as "dirty" without much more detail.  When we planned to go to the house after his death to see if he had a will (which Wes thought he did) and to find important papers, like bank accounts and such, Wes said we needed to get disposable coveralls and booties.  I told him, "I have no plans on going anywhere near the kitchen, so I don't think that will be necessary."  He said, "Oh, yes, you're going to want them, trust me."  And so we all showed up in those white flimsy overalls and booties and he was right.  "Dirty" does not begin to describe what we found.  "Filth" doesn't even come close.  It was like everything was covered in this black greasy film. And the smell... OMG. I think what used to be carpet was probably more or less a mire of dog urine and probably some poop, too.  Oh but wait... I poked my head upstairs and those formerly beautiful hardwood floors were about 3"+ deep with dog poop... Was that all dog poop?  I asked Wes - did he send the dogs upstairs to poop?  WTH?  He said, no, I think he scooped it up with a dustpan and threw it up there.  That made no sense to me - why wouldn't he just step outside and throw it out there? Thus the mind of a mentally ill person, I guess.  The toilet hadn't worked in years.  The shower as well.  I think he still got water from the kitchen sink, but that was it for running water.  He was living like an animal...

After we left, it was like we were all stunned.  Now I understood why he wanted to be left alone.  He had enough sense to be ashamed of how he was living and didn't want Merry or I to see what Wes knew about.  Wes said he always acted embarrassed about it, somewhat, but he knew Wes wouldn't judge him.  He thought Merry and I would.  The irony is that of the three of us, Wes is probably the freakiest about things being clean.  Maybe that's why, who knows?  Once we started talking about it, Mom seemed to come to a conclusion about the dog poop thing, which was the most bewildering for me.  She explained... 

Jon (Larry's older brother) stole my Dad's inheritance back in 1993 by having our 90-year-old grandfather, who had dementia, sign over the majority of the farm to him.  Dad had worked for his parents his whole life as a farmhand, a greatly underpaid farmhand, with the promise of the vast majority of the farm as his reward.  We tried to fight it legally, but it was too expensive, so he got away with it.  Well, the house Dad lived in was part of the land that Jon stole, so the house was Jon's property.  Mom believes that throwing the poop upstairs was Dad's way of saying, "Shit on you, Jon" for what he did to him.  Mom says Dad would never confront anyone (including her) directly, but would find a passive-aggressive way to show his disdain.  Apparently, he was particularly fond of the "piss on you" approach.  She talked about how he would walk by the bathroom and pee in the kitchen sink!  I asked how she knew and she said she would find yellow droplets on her pans that she would let air dry in the sink and she eventually caught him once.  It would force her to rewash, which she was convinced was his way of "getting back" at her for some imagined slight.  One time, when Aunt Judy was there, she says they had words about something and he went upstairs.  We didn't use the 2nd floor of our house because it wasn't heated.  And part of it was older and maybe even a little dangerous (or so they would have us believe...)  Dad apparently went into one of those rooms, knowing this would be above where Mom and Aunt Judy were sitting, and peed on the floor.  A few minutes later, the ceiling was dripping, and a droplet landed on Aunt Judy's head!  Oh yuck.  Like I said... he had some mental issues.

His sister, my Aunt Caroline, was diagnosed as a teenager with schizophrenia. We have always suspected Dad had the same, although he was much more functional.  Aunt Caroline had four boys, all of whom were mostly raised by my grandparents.  Those two (Grandma "Dogs" & Grandpa Lester) managed to fuck up a lot of people!  Dad and Aunt Caroline... Jon, who everyone thinks is a saint, managed to screw my Dad (his uncle) and his mother, and ultimately the three of us and his 3 brothers, out of any inheritance.  Larry lived a lot like my Dad, though he found a woman to marry him a few years ago and appears to be living a relatively normal life.  (I haven't seen him in years, so I'm only surmising this from what I see on FB.)  I don't know much about Rick (Rick and Larry were born 11 months apart) except that he had a moving business for awhile and married some young girl - like 16 or something - when he was in his 30s.  And Tony, the youngest, is the one that "made it out."  He fled as soon as he got out of HS, far far away from this family.  He lives in the Pacific Northwest, last I heard, and he changed his last name from Whitehead to something Hispanic.  His Dad, I understand, was Mexican.  I don't think they ever married, so he had her latest last name.  Anyway, Wes found him once and communicated with him long enough to find out he's had a good life with success.  Good for him!

That was a long ramble.  TMI, maybe.  Sometimes, you just gotta get shit out there!  LOL...

****

I started this on Friday.  Today, it's Sunday and just as cool.  They're predicting rain today, though it sounds most likely to occur this evening.  It'll give me a chance to get some repotting done and maybe some deck clean up.  The pot that still has my old Jade that was destroyed in a hail storm a couple years ago is on the back deck.  When the roots were still strong, I couldn't get the old stump out of the pot (it's a nice ceramic pot).  I'm hoping that enough time has passed that the old roots are soft and rotted so it will come out.  I want to put one of my biggest Crown of Thorns in that pot as it is in a plastic pot that blows over every time we have wind.  It'll be a challenge!

Last weekend was the Des Moines show & sale (well, display and sale is what we call it now that they are too small to be judged shows).  I had a dozen or so plants in the display, but the one that garnered the most attention was the Ceropegia with the weirdly bizarre flowers, and it had several.  I think I posted this pic recently, but here it is again:

I sold a few plants and bought a few.  I'm sure I spent more than I made, but at least I "defrayed" the spending!  I got an Aloe, a Gasteraloe, a Hoya I shouldn't have (variegated aff burtoniae) and a crazy-little "Devil's Backbone"...

My Hoya elliptica is once more proving to be a pain in the ass.  I was so excited when it started to perk up (it had been looking rather sad) and then actually put on a peduncle that budded up.  I wish I had documented it here when it start to bud because the bud grew and then staying in the unopened position for weeks.  I eventually decided that what I thought was unopened was just a different kind of flower.  Here's what it looked like:

Marco and I talked about it and he commented as well that they looked unopened, but I've never had a flower sit unopened for that long - they usually just blast if they won't open.  So I plucked one off and messed with it and found that yes, it does look like every other Hoya flower when you pry the petals open, so it WAS still developing!  It had been weeks and weeks!  And now a new bud was forming.  Then we had a few unbearably hot days near 100... stifling heat.  And one day, there was the plant dehydrating and the buds fallen.  I was so mad!  I thought I'd finally broken the code on how to grow elliptica!  So I whacked it back and put the pieces in perlite to see if they'll rehydrate and root, and right now, what's left looks... well, better.  And the cuttings are thin but still alive.  We'll see...

*****

I held out to publish just because I wanted to show a few more things that have caught my interest lately.  It's Tuesday the 13th now...

One of the plants I couldn't resist buying at the DM show/sale was a "Devil's Backbone".  I already grow this, which is bonanically Pedilanthus tithymaloides.  But it looks like this:

This is a photo from the web... mine grows with a little more space between the leaves which highlights the "zig-zag" appearance of the midrib or stem.  And that stem is about the thickness of skinny pencil, leaves about an inch or so long. Well, here's the one I bought:

 

This has little, very closely placed leaves so there is no appearance of a "zig-zag" stem.  Most of the photo online are like this rather than like the other photo, which I think was what I used to find when looking at photos of this plant online. I'm wondering if they are really the same thing at all!  Is this just a dwarf form?  If so, why not call it that?  Is it a seedling that just hasn't developed all of its  adult properties?  If so, why are there so many photos that looks just like this with no mention of that?  If Chuck Hanson was alive, I'd be sending him this inquiry and getting his opinion.  Oh, and one more thing - in some places they call it Euphorbia tithymoides!  I'm confused!

Hoya cv. Noelle bloomed.  I think this might have been the first time.  If the flowers were less typical, I'd remember for sure, but in this case, I think the leaves outshine the flowers.  Here are the flowers:

Nice but pretty ordinary as far as Hoya flowers go.  The plant has big, roundish, succulent leaves, slightly cupped under and here you see two extraordinarily huge leaves that are just eye-popping!

I can't seem to get a photo that really catches its essence - it's one that really brings me a lot of pride and joy!  Which is why it is the first one an observant person would see when they walk in the door.  I say it that way because for most people, their eye is drawn to the sunroom full of plants as they walk in the door, and this one sits on a shelf that's in the front window...

And one more... my Hoya macrophylla variegata (which they've thrown into latifolia - grrr).  I've been trying to keep my oldest one more hydrated to see if it would inspire new growth and it seems to be working.  But I got two of the most interesting leaves, like I've never seen on any other variegated plant.  I'm not sure how to describe them exactly:

'Krimson Queen" gets pure white leaves - well, they usually come in pink then turn all white.  This isn't what this is.  It's almost like a green leaf with an overlay of variegation.  Notice how you can see a green hue, and more distinct green veins.  It has a third one (lowest one on the table) that is a little more green but still has a look as if it's got a layer of lighter color over it.  It's so odd!  I love it!

 And with that, I publish!

Always something...

...to give thought to in this world. Biden dropped out of the race and, at first, I thought it could hurt the dem side.  Are older Americans ready for a woman president?  A NOT WHITE woman president?  Ok, we've had a black president and I think he was generally accepted except by extremists.  I think he did a fine job (pubs would disagree because there is NO good dem) and he was civilized, he was dignified, he was a good speaker, he was a fine diplomat - he was everything DT is NOT.  It was a stark contrast going from Obama to Trump.  Biden has been a decent president (again, pubs would disagree) but he WAS showing his age.  And that awful debate destroyed a lot of confidence in his ability to get through the next 4 years.  I mean, let's face it - being president is a severely aging job, and he can't afford to age anymore!

Anyway, it turns out that it seems Harris coming forward as the candidate has garnered a lot of enthusiasm for the party.  No, she doesn't have a lot of political experience, but I suspect that might be something on the plus side of the scale.  She's smart, so she will surround herself with people who excel where she lacks experience.  That's what smart people do!  And honestly, I think she can outshine Trump in enough areas that the pubs who have come to their senses about Trump will secretly vote for her.  Yes, the hard-core pubs, the radical gun-toting militia-loving extremists will still vote for him.  But I think as Donald continues to dig his hole, and as his new VP choice, who is as much a prick as he is, carries on that same undignified assault on... well, everyone!... it's a no-brainer that she's going to win. YAY!

And what is with that guy?  Why did he pick HIM?  At least Pence seemed to be an honorable human being.  He appeared to have class and dignity.  He was a stark contrast to Trump.  When Trump won, I thought, well with a little luck, maybe he will drop dead and Pence will take the reigns.  Yes, I actually thought that!  I'm not really proud of it, but one has to wonder how in the world, with all the choices, the pubs chose such a low-class, mean-spirited, ego maniacal bully to put on the ticket.  TWICE now!  If this is the best they can do, it might be time to reformat the party... And no, I don't think that is the best they can do.  They had some perfectly decent candidates to choose from before the primary.  I would LOVE to have the option of a decent pub to vote for!  

That's about all I have to say right now on that subject.  It's been getting hotter and next week looks like a doozy.  Heat index well over 100.  Yuck.  Next weekend is the Des Moines cactus club display and sale.  Seems like neither of our clubs can work up enough plants for a real "show" anymore.  All the old experienced growers are dying off and it's not much of a show with 4 or 5 people providing all the plants. Back before it got like this, we would bring in judges from other clubs - I was actually one of the judges (they usually bring in 3) at a DM show before I became a member.  And one of the reasons I became a member was that our club had quit doing shows and DM was still doing them, and this was my chance to keep showing.  So much for that!  I think this is their 3rd year of doing just a display.  It's probably been 6 or more years since out club quit doing shows.  We don't even have a formal display and sale anymore...

Above is my Aloe nobilis in bloom.  It's my biggest Aloe and I keep it in check by periodically  whacking it back and re-rooting it, which I did this last winter.  Typical of Aloes, the oldest lower leaves eventually die off and the stem becomes longer which means eventually, it starts to creep out of the pot and over the edge.  So the whacking comes at that point and I just start with fresh soil and fill the pot, setting the plant so the leaves rest on the edge of the pot and hold the old stem into the soil.  It roots fast this way.  And it doesn't seem to affect the annual blooming.  Here is a closeup of the inflorescence...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just love the flowers on this one!  Reminds me of a flame...

Also blooming today is a teeny-tiny succulent that Kathy describes as "a little Joshua tree".  I got mine a couple years ago from a club member, and I put it in a tiny 3x4" bonsai pot.  I don't think it's grown an iota since I got it, but here it is with two of these cute little flowers that are about an inch across:

The botanical name is Sarcocaulon vandereitae, and since mine is so tiny, I'll just put a photo from the web for reference to show the tiny leaves:
 

I've had a dove on my back porch every single time I go out there the last few days.  I was starting to think she had built a nest right there on the porch, but I can't find it if she did.  She often sits there if I don't move too fast, and watches me.  I talk to her in a gentle voice, hoping she'll get used to me.  I wish I knew why she's hanging so close...

I'm trying to get a lot of stuff potted up to get sold before fall sets in.  Whatever I don't sell, I will donate.  Every early September, Holy Cross has a festival and they have a plant booth.  One of my neighbors, Melody, who has been here a couple years longer than us, started asking me about 20 years ago if I had plants to donate.  And I always have, except one year - the year (2022) that the hail took out so many of my plants.  This year, I will have a LOT of plants for her!  I did last year as well.  She (Michelle, the organizer) says my plants sell better than any of the others she gets.  She has a little GH herself and lives a few blocks from me, in the very NICE Morton Meadows.  I figure we're about the same age as she just retired last year.  She has several sales every summer, selling plants and other things in a garage sale.  I think she probably enjoys it as much as I do!

I suppose I should get back to my newsletter.  I need to have it done and out Sunday evening.  More later, probably after the display/sale weekend...

Deism

Crazy as it sounds, my daily crossword puzzle led to an epiphany this morning.  The clue was "certain believer in God" and I had the first letter, a "D".  I had to fill it in to get the answer, which was "diest".  Now I know the word "diety" as in "God" or at least "a god".  Part of what I like about doing puzzles is looking up words I don't know or fully understand or people I don't recognize so I can learn something new, so I looked it up and guess what?... I'M  A DIEST!!  Finally, a word that describes my place in the "religious" community!  And because I tend to have a bit of the forgetful mind these days, I'm going to quote Wiki so that I can refer back here until it's firmly entrenched in my mind...

Diesm is the philisophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation of the natural world are exclusively logical, reliable, and sufficient to determine the existence of a Supreme Being as a creator of the universe. More simply stated, Deism is the belief in the existence of God (often, but not necessarily, a God who does not intervene with the universe after creating it), solely based on rational thought without any reliance on revealed religions or religious authority. Deism emphasizes the concept of natural theology —that is, God's existence is revealed through nature.

It then goes into the history of Diesm, which is interesting but a bit of a snooze.  But here's some more interesting stuff I can relate to...

Enlightenment Deism consisted of two philosophical assertions: (1) reason, along with features of the natural world, is a valid source of religious knowledge, and (2) revelation is not a valid source of religious knowledge. Different Deist philosophers expanded on these two assertions to create what Leslie Stephen later termed the "constructive" and "critical" aspects of Deism. "Constructive" assertions—assertions that deist writers felt were justified by appeals to reason and features of the natural world (or perhaps were intuitively obvious or common notions)—included:

• God exists and created the universe.
• God gave humans the ability to reason.

"Critical" assertions—assertions that followed from the denial of revelation as a valid source of religious knowledge—were much more numerous, and included:

• Rejection of all books (including the Quran and the Bible) that claimed to contain divine revelation.
• Rejection of the incomprehensible notion of the Trinity and other religious "mysteries".
• Rejection of reports of miracles, prophecies, etc.
  

(These assertions truly hit home for me!  I've thought for a long time that the Bible really should be tossed out because it causes more havoc and division than any other single thing in this world.  I think that Jesus was a great man whose singular message was love, but the son of God?  No more than any of the rest of us. Died for our sins?  A ridiculous concept.  If "sin" is a thing, and I can point to the fact that Jesus died for my sins, why not sin on?  I am the only person who is responsible for my actions and no other person has the power to atone for what I do.  And I don't think that miracles are from God.  I think they occur from the power of wanting - the power of our own minds.  If they are from God, what makes this guy "worthy" of a miracle and the next not "worthy"? Where does the saying, "The good die young" come from? It highlights the unfairness that the religious concept of good and evil don't seem to be at play when good things happen to/for bad people and good people seem to get the shaft...)  

A central premise of Deism was that the religions of their day were corruptions of an original religion that was pure, natural, simple, and rational. Humanity lost this original religion when it was subsequently corrupted by priests who manipulated it for personal gain and for the class interests of the priesthood, and encrusted it with superstitions and "mysteries"—irrational theological doctrines. Deists referred to this manipulation of religious doctrine as "priestcraft", a derogatory term. For deists, this corruption of natural religion was designed to keep laypeople baffled by "mysteries" and dependent on the priesthood for information about the requirements for salvation. This gave the priesthood a great deal of power, which the Deists believed the priesthood worked to maintain and increase. Deists saw it as their mission to strip away "priestcraft" and "mysteries". Tindal, perhaps the most prominent deist writer, claimed that this was the proper, original role of the Christian Church.

One implication of this premise was that current-day primitive societies, or societies that existed in the distant past, should have religious beliefs less infused with superstitions and closer to those of natural theology. This position became less and less plausible as thinkers such as David Hume began studying the natural history of religion and suggested that the origin of religion was not in reason but in emotions, such as the fear of the unknown. 

Different Deists had different beliefs about the immortality of the soul, about the existence of Hell and damnation to punish the wicked, and the existence of Heaven to reward the virtuous. Anthony Collins, Bolingbroke, Thomas Chubb, and Peter Annet were materialists and either denied or doubted the immortality of the soul.  Benjamin Franklin believed in reincarnation or resurrection. Lord Herbert of Cherbury and William Wollaston held that souls exist, survive death, and in the afterlife are rewarded or punished by God for their behavior in life. Thomas Paine believed in the "probability" of the immortality of the soul. 

Yes, I believe that our "soul" or inner being, spirit...whatever you want to call it, goes on when our body dies.  I think we go into "source" or God and continue on both collectively and ever the individual.  But I don't believe that there is either punishment or reward, because we are born as pure, positive energy and we return into pure, positive energy - when we leave these bodies behind, our spirit is once again pure, positive energy and all that negativity is GONE.  Coming here is about learning and seeking joy.  If we screw that up, it's because we have gotten far from source, become out of alignment with our inner being and the punishment is here on earth - it's the negativity in our lives that is the result of that.  It manifests in degrees of unhappiness and hopelessness, broken relationships, seeming "bad luck", not getting our desires, health issues from mild to severe, a feeling of disconnection... any negative experience or emotion is the "punishment" brought on by our actions that occur from a place of misalignment.

Anyway, I'll be looking into this further.  I've spent a lifetime of sifting and sorting through belief systems to find what feels right and logical to me and this so closely describes what makes the most sense to me.  It's comforting to know that there are other people out there who reject the status quo and think freely, without the constraints of their Bible-based roots.

My opinion...

 ...seems to be what brings me to my blog these days.  Whatever it takes to get me started, I guess.  I'll see a news story and something (sometimes, all of it!) will either resonate with me, or make me fightin' mad!  Sometimes it's not that intense.  Today, it was a story about a man who has gotten the first larynx transplant.  He'd lost his voice to cancer and/or cancer treatment.  Along with that, he had difficulty both swallowing and breathing.  This was a life-changing, life IMPROVING surgery.  Wonderful, right?  The part that got me mad as a wet hen was the caveat that some doctors oppose this surgery because "a person can survive without a larynx and transplants can be tricky, complications can develop, so is it worth the risk?"

And this is what is wrong about western medicine.  It's all about keeping us alive as long as possible, quality of life be damned. They tell the patient, "Oh, we can beat this cancer!  It has a blah-blah survival rate!"  And the patient jumps in with both feet.  Then some come out on the other end of treatment with some life-altering and often miserable consequence of the treatment.  "Yes, but you're AVLIVE!" the doctor proclaims.  "But life is no fun!"  They don't care... well, deep down, they may care on a human level, but they did their job - they kept you alive, and miserable life is surely better than dead, right? I'm sure some people might agree, but there might be people who would opt out of treatment if given ALL the information about what to expect after treatment.  The key is to ask the questions that will put the doc on the spot and force the truth to be revealed and then do lots of research as well before making a decision.

Mark used to go to his doc appointments by himself and he would come home and I would say something like, "So what did he say about ______? And he would say something like, "I didn't ask."  I'd give him some shit about it and he would say, "I figure he told me everything I needed to know."  So I started going with him so I could pick the doc's brain. When Mark was diagnosed with bladder cancer, they really wanted to do chemo before removing his bladder.  If I hadn't been there, he probably would have said, "Ok" without any questions. (Doc knows best, right?) But I had plenty of questions.  "Why BEFORE?"  The answer was to shrink it down in case some was outside the bladder walls. So my next question was, "Well, can't we make the decision about chemo AFTER, when we find out if you got it all or not with surgery?"  The answer was yes, that was an option.  (So I'm thinking... they were willing to put his body through this process of poisoning it for some months, the misery of losing his hair and feeling like crap while the poison works, on the off-chance that the cancer had spread outside the bladder.  Nice.)

Big question Mark would never ask, but I knew the answer to it from one of Wes' friends who had gone through chemo... "Mark likes to smoke pot.  Is it ok to do so while he's going through chemo?"  The answer was that he would need to quit because there are impurities in pot (such as mold spores) that can be detrimental to someone who's immune system is compromised by chemo. He would be free to start back up as soon as his immune system had recovered, about 6 months. (Wes' friend DIED when he defied doctor's orders and smoked before his immune system had recovered.)

And then one more thing we learned that probably would never have come out if he'd been alone.  At some point, I could see Mark didn't hear what the doc said.  Like so many older people going deaf, instead of saying, "What? Can you repeat that?"... he just acted like he understood with a bit of confusion on his face.  I was very familiar with that "I can't hear you but don't want to admit it" face.  I turned to the doc and said, "He's about half deaf, can you repeat that?"  I think it was at that point that the doctor admitted that this particular chemo (I had no idea there were different kinds!) typically seriously compromised the hearing and would probably leave someone like Mark completely deaf.  Mark and I have always been on the same page when it comes to music - it's one of the most important facets of our lives and I can not imagine life without it... Add to that that he was always a social butterfly who loved to just sit around and yak it up.  Complete deafness would have been isolating and miserable. (But he would have been ALIVE!)

Now, subject change!

I'm sure I've said it a few times already, but WOW what a great year for my plants!  There are only a few now that haven't done much. That new parasitica Black Margin I got from the young lady at the men's club event remains quietly perky.  Looks fine but has yet to pop any new growth.  The other two I got from her are doing fine and growing.  Which is kind of weird because the other two are both variegates, which are notoriously slow growers.  Go figure!

Below is Rhaphidorpha hayi, a "shingle plant" I got from Lowe's a couple years ago.  It came on this piece of wood, but it's never clung to it, which is how shingle plants are supposed to grow.  I suppose if the environment was truly humid, it might develop the right kid of roots and cling.  Anyway, this is what's left of it and it's looking pretty good, but I spray the board and plant every day.  I wish I knew a better way to grow it so that it would thrive.  I've thought of maybe some screen with some moss that I could spray daily.  

Another one doing very well is H. juannguoiana, which I shorten to Juan.  This one got beat up in the hail in '22 and had a point where it started to dehydrate and I took cuttings.  And it came back.  It's had several blooms on it this year and it's looking fat and happy!  I love how the leaves get random darker spots and how very succulent they are!

 

H. aff. (which is short for "affinis" which means "similar to") clandestina is one I mentioned not long ago beccause it had begun to put on new growth.  Well, it's poppin' all over the place.  It was slow to come back, but now it's got 3 strong growth points, doing quite well.  I'm anxious to see how it looks come fall!

And just an FYI... I acquired the TRUE clandestina 3 years ago and it's growing like crazy and wow, the leaves knock my socks off!

 

This next picture is the seedlings of Pseudorhipsalis romulosa that's I've grown from seed. Yes!  Me from seed!  I'm not good at it - at least not if I do it on purpose. That Schizobasis bulb that seeds so profusely falls into everything and those pop up everywhere.  And once in a blue moon, a Crown of Thorns must drop a seed because I will find a baby seedling under the mama plant.  But when I try to grow from seed, it never goes well.  Well, now I can say "rarely" instead of "never"!  I have this one, and I've got a baby Pachypodium lamerei I grew from seed (!!!), and a Haemanthus albiflos.  The Pachy and Haemanthus are both still at a stage where I could lose them.  But here's the little pot of Pseudorhipsalis:

It gets quite red in sun.  My others are outside and absolutely fire-engine red!

 
This one is a NOID, possibly a form of acuta??  I don't know... that doesn't seem quite right.  But it hasn't bloomed yet.  New leaves are a nice bronze, and somewhat thin.  Then they mature into green and more succulent:

 I have two similar species, both in my bedroom window, that are budding up.  Neither is a first time budder, but I do look forward to their blooms because they remind me of fin, who has a really nice flower.  First one is meredithii x crassicaulis, second one is EPC-392.

I don't grow many tropicals - that shingle plant is one of a few.  They usually don't do that well because my natural ability leans toward succulents.  I know some people think that Hoyas seem tropical, but they are really "honorary" succulents.  In fact, when there is a succulent show, they are on the list.  They do require more water, but they are survivors and if you let them go a bit too long, they recover unlike many true tropicals.  So I got this Philodendrum from Karin a couple years back.  I'm terrible with Philos and the like so I fully expected it to go into the toilet pretty quickly.  But it's done fine.  In fact, it got a little crazy and I whack off a couple feet and stuck it in water and let it root.  Today, I put that into the pot with the mother plant.  So here is Philodendrum mayoi...

So proud of myself!!

 One last thing before I stop today, and that comes from the department called "you're never too old to learn something new".  Maybe six weeks ago or so, I decided to put one of my two surigaoensis (which I shorten to "surge") in the GH.  It hadn't shown any signs of new growth and I wanted it to get a "boost."  In 2019, I had a large branch that started to dehydrate and I took it off, put it in a pot and set it in the GH.  It rooted very quickly, plumped right back up and turned into a grand plant itself, which is how I ended up with two.  So the one I put in the GH is the original one, and it very quickly burst out with new growth!  After some of the leaves matured (also quickly), I decided to bring it back in to it's spot.  My reasoning was that new leaves in the higher light of the GH wouldn't be as large, and it's the sheer size of the leaves that make it so spectacular.  And since the other one hadn't really started growing, I went ahead and put that one out where the other was sitting, hoping it would have the same effect.  So, two lessons learned.  First one I should have known... leaves growing in the house are weak and will BURN easily in the GH!  I had to cut off a few burnt leaves and I feel awful about that!  What a douche I am!  But the second lesson is about some species obviously loving the heat.  It's only been out there a week at most, and there's a new vine with new leaves!!  AMAZING!!  Mind blown again.  I'll bring it back in once it develops a couple more vines...

And that's it for today!

 

The debate

 It was... embarrassing is the only word I can come up with.  Two grown men acting like school children, one the bully and the other going into defense mode. Trump couldn't answer a question directly to save his life - all he could do was throw insults and lies.  And Biden, instead of just getting on with the issues, he felt it necessary to "punch back" and set the record straight.  I would have had far more respect for him if he would have used one of these responses each and every time:

"I won't dignify that load of hogwash with an answer..."

"WOW!! (Hesitates) Now let's get back to reality..."

"Have you had your mental health evaluated lately?"

"Are you living in an alternate reality?"

"Where do you come up with this stuff?"

"Did you even listen to the question?"

Do not pass go.  Do not dignify anything the man says with a response except a little "poke" that shows you are only amused by his crazy jibber-jabber.  Just answer the question and talk about the issues.  I think in his attempt to not appear weak and defend himself, it had the opposite effect, as if people might take his crazy lies seriously.  Of course, we all know the "Trumpsters" swallow everything he says hook, line & sinker, but you can't change those people's minds no matter WHAT you say, so why try?  So he should have stayed the course of ignoring the crazy man and speaking to the issues, focusing on pulling over the fence-sitters, solidifying the solid democrats, and maybe getting some of those so disgusted with our choices who either won't vote at all or plan to write in or go for one of the alternates. 

And, unfortunately, Trump being Trump threw him completely off his "A game".  His faltering was embarrassing - I feel for him.  If someone was throwing that much garbage at me, I'd have trouble focusing, too.  But when he got down in the mire himself to defend his record and deny the crazy lies, he wasted valuable time and became flustered. I've heard there will be another debate in September.  I hope someone advises him to just act amused by the crazy man and answer the damn questions!  He needs to find a way to put up a metal "force field" and let the insults bounce off.  Hurling insults and working his followers into a frenzy of hate is what he does because he has NOTHING to bring to the table, NOTHING positive to offer this country. I just wish the Kool Aid drinkers would snap out of it and help fix what's wrong here.  And I don't mean by becoming democrat.  I've voted both ways and I would have loved if they'd had a decent candidate on the republican side this time.  I wish both parties would go back to the days when the priority was what was best for the country, not this polarizing attitude of "I won't vote for that because it's a (Rep/Dem - take you pick) bill."  

And that's what I think!

*******

Guardian angel moment - I had one today!  On my last day off, which I think was Wednesday, I got a call from Dr. Jana's office.  Dr. Jana is the orthopedic surgeon who replaced my left hip in 2019.  Some background..he was a godsend for a couple reasons.  First, because he did not require me to lose weight to do the surgery.  A lot of surgeons want a patient to be below a certain weight to have the surgery and although he said it would be ideal if I weren't as heavy, he would do the surgery either way.  (Believe me when I say I would give ANYthing to lose some weight, but for whatever reason, I'm finding it impossible at this age...)  The other thing is that even back then, when it was a new option, his method was "anterior hip replacement."  I didn't really understand it at the time, but it means they make a small incision at the front which avoids some ligaments and muscles affected by going in through the side.  Faster, easier recovery.  So of course, I want him to do my right hip.  

I had made my first appointment to see him a year and a half ago (Jan. of 2023), but Mom was dealing with cancer and I put it off, moving the appointment forward a couple months.  I started doing "soft wave" therapy in hopes of delaying my need for surgery.  As the new appointment date approached, Mom was near the end and again, I didn't want to leave her alone and cancelled that one as the soft wave therapy was helping.  Fast forward a year... I had stopped doing the soft wave after about 6 months because it was all out-of-pocket and my hip had declined to the point that I really needed to do something, so I made a new appoint.  As usual with Dr. Jana, it was 3 months out, July 29th.

So back to Wednesday... his office called to say that he was leaving that practice and would not be available for my appointment - did I want to cancel or make an appointment with another surgeon?  (Mind you, this is just the appointment to get the xray or whatever to determine that yes, I do need hip replacement...)  I asked where he was going and, of course, they couldn't or wouldn't tell me, so I said let me get back to you.  So I'm feeling a little panicked, trying to figure out how I could find out - where is he going?  Is he moving away?  Is he retiring? So I sat down and composed a letter that I thought I would send to him at the old practice (they had told me he would be doing follow-up appoints only until late August) hoping I could get him to contact me and let me know if I could follow him to a new practice, assuming it wasn't a move or retirement.  I hadn't sent it, wanting to think on it a couple days.  I was sitting there at the Farmer's Market this morning telling Kathy about this dilemma when a woman walked up to look at our plants and she said, "who's your hip doctor?"  I turned around, not realizing she was standing there, and said, "Oh, uh, his name is..." and it was there but I couldn't say it (sign of age!!) and she said, "It wouldn't be Jana would it?"  I said, "YES! Dr. Jana!"  She said, "there are rumors that he's coming to the practice I work for."  My jaw dropped!!  I mean, let's look at the chances that this happened.  If I had told Kathy this story 5 minutes sooner or 5 minutes later, this lady would not have overheard us and I still be fretting over how to deal with this! How do our angels do this kind of thing??  I don't know, but I'm sure grateful that they get it done!

So it's Ortho Nebraska, and I will be calling them once a week until they start making appointments for Dr. Jana...

********

I worked yesterday (Monday) and was called to work today, but last evening, I did something that caused my neck to slip out of alignment and pinch a nerve.  OMG, I've been in so much pain since!  I texted work and said I wouldn't be in then went to Dr. Corey (my chiropractor).  But as is typical, it's still hurting though maybe just a bit less.  I'm going back tomorrow...

********

Today is the 4th.  My neck is much better.  I was a little afraid it was getting worse again yesterday afternoon, but it settled down.  I suppose I'll have some twinges for awhile.  When you get a pinched nerve, that really can screw up the muscles leaving soreness for quite awhile...

Last night, Laurie (my friend/hair stylest) came by and we had an hour with my favorite medium/psychic.  He said he was greeted by Mark & Mom on the porch, like last time.  It really sounds like they're hangin' together a lot, which I can see.  They are a lot alike - social butterflies, love to sit around and just shoot the shit... just have fun.  It's very clear that they are both here with me a lot.  Mark made it a point to tell me that "he's not mad" as Kevin put it.  He tried to articulate it carefully, but I knew exactly what he meant.  I am admittedly NOT a great caretaker.  Let me rephrase that - I'm good at loving, I'm good at communicating, and I will do ANYthing up to a point.  But I am not good at helping with things that involve bodily fluids and terrible smells.  (I did get quite good with helping him with his urostomy bag, but he would have to empty it...)   I get queasy and gaggy and it's all I can do to keep from losing my dinner. It's one of the reasons motherhood never appealed to me.  Mark quit taking regular showers several years ago.  He probably didn't shower more than once a month in the last few years.  Most of the time, he would just clean up with baby wipes. Enough so to keep the smell down for the most part, but the last couple years, he even got less frequent with that, to the point that I would tell him "please take a shower or clean up - you smell like hobo!"  And the last few months, there was some vomiting and he was wearing diapers because he couldn't get out of bed and walk around himself, so there were accidents. And between all of that and his size (he was a big 6'5" and a little under 200 lbs. when he was bony...), he needed to be in a home so he had help getting in and out of bed.  He wasn't happy about that and wanted me to bring him home.  Intellectually, I know that he knew he needed to be there and it would be too much for me to handle him and there would be lots of falls... but he hated being there.  I understood that, and it broke my heart that I couldn't take care of him, and it ripped my heart OUT that I couldn't spend more time with him there. (Stupid covid...)  So I'm glad he brought it up.  I do feel some relief knowing he's forgiven me for that.

Wes hasn't come through much the last couple times.  I didn't comment about it, but I was thinking about it when he said, "Your brother seems to have a lot going on there, like he's staying busy with other things."  I think his point was that he wasn't hangin' with Mark and Mom so much... he's got "things to do".  That is SO Wes! Wes did not spend a lot of time lounging around.  He was always tinkering with something, or fixing something, or figuring something out, or helping someone else figure something out.  

I was a little worried that my family would stay in front so Laurie's couldn't come through, but then her mom came through and, after a bit, her dad.  I think she was very impressed and touched by the messages she got.  Sometimes, he has a little trouble interpreting what he's seeing, but if you pay attention, you can usually figure out how it fits.  Like he talked about her mom by saying, "I think it's a mother-figure who always had to look sharp, perfect makeup, hair, etc..."  She said her mom wasn't much into wearing makeup by the time Laurie was born (in her mid-30's), but cosmetology was the family business - grandmother, mom, Laurie and one of her sisters.  Her dad said something like "blind leading the blind"... he was trying to figure what he meant by that, and Laurie said, "Well, he was legally blind."  So he was just trying to get that word out there to let her know it was him...  

But this may have all been a blessing for Laurie in another way.  She's having serious issues with vertigo.  I mean, BAD.  When she got here, she called me from her vehicle and asked me to come out and help her in.  She is SO wobbly!  Well, she was telling Kevin about this and he said he used to have really bad vertigo along with migraine headaches.  He said he started doing a 7 minute meditation that is meant to line up your Chakras and after about 45 days, it all went away!  He never had to take medicine for it again.  WOW!  So he sent us both this guided meditation, and he's going to develop one for me specific to weight loss.  

And speaking of which, I reserved a spot at one of the weight-loss group hypnosis sessions for the 13th of this month.  I really, REALLY have to get some of this weight off, and it would help a lot if/when I have hip surgery...

This has been an amazing year for my Hoyas! There have been a few that seemed to be getting a really late start or (I thought) may not grow at all. I got that new variegated hueschkeliana in May and it started to dehydrate. I was so worried about it because it's so pretty. But variegates can be super bitchy and I thought, this is not going to be one I'm going to be able to grow. I took it and put it in the kitchen window because both of my regular hueschkelianas are there and both of them do very very well. Plus it would be in a spot where I could keep a close eye on it, hoping it would rehydrate.  Well, today I noticed the leaves are firmed up again and it's looking spectacular and even has new growth, so I think it's going to be okay. 

I chopped up my biggest macrophylla and put the frog pot out on the back porch with nary a leaf on it. Well guess what? It's sprung forth with all kinds of new foliage! I brought it into the greenhouse for fear that it would get hail damage with this weird year we're having and it seems to be happy as a clam! Not sure where it's final destination will be once fall gets here, but we'll see how it does. I guess maybe it just needed some rejuvenation. It was putting on vines, but no leaves would ever fill in. I just figured that that meant that it was not happy anymore and the roots weren't doing what they're supposed to do. But here it is, with lots of beautiful new growth.

Patcharawalai (aka icensis) is one I got as a cutting in 2021. It's rooted fine for me, but this spring it had me a little worried because it started to dehydrate. I had it in the sunroom for a little while and then I brought it back out to the greenhouse and now it's putting on all kinds of new leaves and the old leaves have firmed back up nicely. I think it's going to be a spectacular species for me. I should add that I got two of this species the same year.  And they look nothing alike!  A little research reveals that there are actually two clones of it that look quite different.  This one is patcharwlai 029, and the other one is 023.  The other one has bloomed and is budding up again, but the leaves are somewhat dehydrated.  I'm trying to figure out what to do to encourage the leaves to fatten back up.  Here is the 029:

Acuta variegated, another one I got this spring, has a new vine coming on it. Patricia is one I got from Kathy in Colorado. I got the first one two years ago. It rooted nicely for me and grew for a while and then suddenly it just collapsed. Last year I got a replacement from her. This one I seem to recall she rooted for me, and it did okay through the winter but then when spring came, it really didn't seem very happy. So I tried to give it some TLC, put it in a nice bright spot that didn't get a lot of direct sun and spritzed it now and then. I just wasn't sure if it was going to make it for me or not, but now it's looking quite good and has a couple of new spots where it's grown. Today I took off a few homely leaves and it's looking pretty nice now.

Blooms are plentiful. It's a good year for obovata. All three of them are in some stage of blooming right now. On the other hand, 'Majic', which is a hybrid of obovata & carnosa and usually a much better bloomer, has not bloomed yet at all this year. My biggest one is outside and the smaller one is in the greenhouse. I'd really like to chop one or the other up and sell cuttings to bring me back to just one. I might make those offerings this fall.

 

Pubicalyx 'Philippean Black' continues to bloom and rambles all over the place. Nicholsoniae is blooming right now. Kerrii (the splashy clone) is also blooming. Pubicorolla 'Black Dragon' is blooming, which is nice since I've been trying to figure out which one is 'Black Dragon' and which one is 'Pink Dragon', now I know.

Elliptica is another one that wasn't doing so hot in early spring. It is suddenly taking off and looks fabulous.

Some people refer to it as the "turtle back" Hoya  because of the leaves...
 

Surigaoensis IML 1693 is of those species with giant shiny leaves Theu seem to grow and grow and grow. I have two of them, and the original one, which is in the spare bedroom, had leaves that were feeling a little wrinkled about a month ago. So I put the whole thing out in the greenhouse and took a couple of cuttings off of it. Well very quickly, it straightened right up and started putting on new growth. I guess maybe this species likes the heat and humidity.. but it blows my mind all the new growth that it's getting. By the time I bring it inside this fall, I may have to find a new spot for it! It's just lovely!

 

One I cut back last fall because it was looking a little tired was aff. clandestina.  I was starting to wonder if it was ever going to start growing, and suddenly it has new vines popping, three of them! So it's looking good now as well. Right next to it is ilagiorum. It looks great, but it really was not growing this spring. Finally, it has one new vine and a dark almost black leaf on it. 

Polystachya has put on a cluster of new growth. And now I see it has another new growth point. It's almost his lovely as my big mac!

 

A couple that continue to be stubborn.. the giant leaf monetteae has not put on any new growth since last year. And the new sigillatis looks like it's trying, but I don't think I've gotten any new leaves yet. There are Vines, there seem to be baby leaves trying to develop, but I don't think any of the leaves that I have right now are new since I've got it. But at least it's hanging in there! 

 

My old pubicalyx 'Pink Silver' seems to be looking pretty good this year. I moved it from its old spot and did a little bit of wacking. Not so much to make cuttings, but just to get some old stuff off of it that wasn't growing. I think it stimulated it a little bit because it seems to be growing some now. Check out these beautiful new leaves!

My vanilla orchid is looking good but still no signs of a flower. Memoria is blooming up a storm! 

 

And the lambii hybrid (EPC-15) is really starting to look awesome! I think that's going to be another spectacular species.

 

My new Cerp[egoa (ampliata) has new growth on it already! Little leaves even. Of course this is the species that does not keep its leaves. It ends up just being a bunch of empty vines that hang straight down. But the flowers are just spectacular. I've grown this species before. I can't remember if I got rid of it because it never has leaves, or if I somehow lost it. But I remember the flowers and boy oh boy are they awesome! I'll have to see if I can dig up a picture of one..

I decided to put inconspicua back in the bathroom. It grew in there for years and did very well, blooming often. Then a couple years ago it just all of a sudden started dropping leaves. There came a point when I took some cuttings and put it in the greenhouse to see how it would do. Last year it stabilized but really didn't grow much. This year it decided to take off growing. So it's looking much healthier and I thought I'd really like to have it back in the bathroom. Fingers crossed that it keeps doing well. So far so good.

Time for supper!