Following on the heels of my post of yesterday regarding the stray begonias, since I’ve moved to New Jersey I seem to have acquired a Green Thumb. My houseplants that just barely survived in Colorado all flourished when we moved here. I had to keep repotting everything every couple of months. It was insane! A few months ago one of my scheffleras fell over and broke an entire branch, leaving it hanging by a thread. I thought to myself “I’m not going to just chop off all this new growth. Heck, no.” So I wrapped a band-aid around it and left it alone. It mended and is now sending out more new growth—healthy as can be. I kid you not! Look ...

Maybe instead of a Green Thumb I have Green Fingers. Have you ever read the short horror story by R. C. Cook called Green Fingers? It’s a little on the creepy side, but that’s exactly what I thought of with my new-found plant skills.

In the story, an old widow has a way with growing things. First it’s just her garden. When someone brings her exotic species of plants not known to her area, she plants them and they grow as well. She came into the habit of just pushing things into the ground; such as hair clippings, a fingernail. They all grew. Then she buries rabbit bones by mistake and lo and behold, they grew into a rabbit which eventually hopped off.  hmm….

Next thing you know she chops off her finger accidentally while pruning a tree in her garden. Yes, you guessed it: she sticks her severed finger into the soil. A few weeks later she observes a hand breaking through the ground; then of course, the rest of the body follows and it looks just like her. She’s not really happy about this alternate “self” but she can’t quite keep herself from checking on it everyday. One day she went out to check and it was gone. When she went back inside there it/she was, sitting in her rocker.

The newly sprouted widow kills the “real” widow and lives on in her place; complete with all her fingers. Sigh. Just goes to show you reap what you sow. Maybe the next time one of my plants breaks a branch off I won’t try to save it. You just never know what might happen.

stray |strā|
verb [ intrans. ]
1. not in the right place; not where it should be or where other items of the same kind are : he pushed a few stray hairs from her face.
• appearing somewhere by chance or accident; not part of a general pattern or plan : she was killed by a stray bullet.
• (of a domestic animal) having no home or having wandered away from home : stray dogs.

I am a sucker for stray and homeless things. I picked these two definitions from the meaning of the word ‘stray’ because I have both of them. One was outside but has now been brought inside; the other is still outside and not going to be brought in.

This kitten started coming around about a month or more ago. It showed up at our bird feeding station eating anything it could find that the birds left. It was just a tiny baby then, with the blue eyes that nearly every kitten starts out with. I felt so sorry for it! I checked my nearest neighbors and it doesn’t belong to them. I’m not certain if inquiring further down the road would turn up its owner or not. I am assuming he/she is feral because it’s very spooky. Yes, don’t lecture me; I started leaving kitty kibble out for it on the front step. I know, I know. Not smart. But, he/she is growing now and looking good. His/her eyes have changed to a grayish-hazel. I still can’t even attempt to approach it, but now it will watch me from a distance as I’m pouring the kibble into its bowl. After about ten minutes it feels it is safe enough to come and eat.  I fear for it during the winter but I can’t bring a feral cat into my house. Hopefully he/she will find a cozy, warm place to weather it through.

Here are my other “strays.” These begonias started popping up in the planting bed next to the front steps. They started from seed (somehow!) and I watched them grow daily. I’m not sure where they came from either as I’ve never had begonias around. This summer I had geraniums and vinca vine planted in the pots on the front steps, but no begonias. Just before we had a hard frost I went out and dug them up. I wasn’t fussy about getting all the roots—just plunked them down in some Miracle-Gro® potting mix in whatever pots I had that they would fit in. They are doing beautifully, and as you can see I have several colors!

Both my strays give me pleasure. I love seeing the little kitten coming around and hope that some day I can earn its trust enough to not have it run every time I open the door. My begonia strays brighten my day every time I look at their bounty of multi-colored blooms. To see them both growing and thriving is a good thing.

**Excerpt—“Thousands of airplanes zoom through our skies every day. Ever wondered what this air traffic looks like? In this animation made by digital media artist Aaron Koblin of the University of California, Los Angeles, it looks much like fireworks shattering the darkness of a night sky.

Using air-traffic data from the Federal Aviation Administration, Koblin shows the changing dynamics of air traffic over the United States and Canada over a 24-hour period. After categorizing the data based on criteria such as “types of aircraft,” “location,” and “altitude,” Koblin experimented with ways to visualize the information. He plotted the data using a programming language called Processing and animated it using Adobe After Effects and Maya.

The movie begins with a splash of dotted white and thin green lines that move slowly across the screen in different directions. As the numbers and destinations of flights increase after dawn breaks across the continent, the crisscrossing lines outline the underlying landmasses of the two countries. Then the scenes repeat with more vibrant colors, eventually zooming in on New York, Los Angeles, and Hawaii.” —**

A while back I saw this incredible animation on the news. I sat entranced in front of my TV, mouth agape as I watched the patterns of millions of planes over the U.S. and Canada throughout a 24-hour period. Try not to think about how lucky we are not to collide in mid-air, and just watch. You will need QuickTime 7 in order to play it but it’s worth every second! Some may not be able to watch and for that I apologize in advance but it’s so spectacular that I wanted to share with those that can. Click on the link below and then click on “view movie.”

Happy trails!

http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/vis2006/show/slide9.dtl

Yesterday a flock of turkeys were across the street in my neighbor’s yard including about three toms in all their splendor. By the time I got my camera they had retreated into the woods but were making such a lot of noise that I decided to film them anyway. So here it is for what it’s worth! Have a great day!