My Pretty Purple Flower

Recently, we did an American Cancer Society walk and they gave survivors a big goody bag with gifts from local businesses. In addition to the big gift bag, we were given a flower. There were a couple options of flowers to choose from - they put about two plants (two sections form a big flat) into a clear plastic bowl and covered it with purple cellophane. I chose a small purple flower because of the purple theme of the event and I put it outside when we got home. I was forgetting about it and left it in that disposable bowl for too long and it was looking like mold was growing on the sides and the flower wasn't so happy. I wanted to do something with it, but I wanted to know what it was before deciding what to do. When I picked it up at the walk, it came with no description card, but after searching through some 'small purple flower' categories online, I have concluded it is something called ageratum or floss flower.

It is an annual who blooms from spring all th way to fall. It doesn't care if you water it, if its in the blazing sunshine or just a bit, it doesn't need to be pruned, and it doesn't care if its in a pot or in the ground. It is the happiest, most resilient little pretty plant I have made friends with. I planted it into a fresh clay pot and it is as happy as a clam.

It is such an appropriate plant for a cancer survivor. It will deal with anything, sub optimal conditions even, if it feels like crap, it still smiles. It is just happy to be alive.

The American Way

I was able to get through college without it. I was able to make it through my concentrated, unpaid internship with out it. I even worked a job that was an hour away with a 5 am shift start time...with out it. All my professional jobs out of school - long commutes, management - still didn't rely on it. But now, after all that, I have succumbed. I think it took my job with an hour commute while having two kids under the age of 3 while maintaining some work out schedule that did it. Coffee. I have succumbed and joined the over 50% of Americans that drink coffee daily. But I am surely shy of the 3.1 cups per day that is average of these coffee drinkers. Geez, if i did that I would have heart palpitations and be sweating and shaking. I am not one of those that can drink caffeine liberally but I have come to be quite tolerant and reliant upon my one cup of tea and one small cup of coffee in the morning. And coffee consumption appears to be beneficial for some of my systems in terms of disease risk, so c'est la vie for me.