Peach Pearls

A couple of weeks ago, I was sick. I was very, very sick. I couldn’t breathe through “by dose” and my head was stuffed with dust bunnies and spit. I couldn’t even get up enough energy to brush my hair, much less shower. My sister had several of her friends over, but did I stay in my room to shield them from the cousin of Grendal I had become? I did not. Instead, I shuffled into the room in my ratty pink bathrobe and plopped down into an armchair with a coke, and my laptop. After a couple of hours of playing Yoshi’s Island (yes, on my computer) I ran out of soda. So, I stood up, set my computer down on the arm of my chair and began to walk away. Two feet from the chair, I turned, and said, “Just wait, I’ll be right back,” to the computer. And yes, it was said with complete and utter sincerity.

I find myself talking to inanimate objects all the time, actually. “I just don’t get it,” I have often whined at my homework, and “Why won’t you print? I love you,” might have slipped out once or twice when I still had my old printer. Honestly, I think that printers really respond better to genteel kindness and understanding than they do to threats and anger. They are stubborn, temperamental creatures, and must be treated with delicacy and respect. I have never had a printer work when I was rude to it, not once. I also think that my printer is almost out of red ink.

I was looking at gemstones today, and there was a ring that I didn’t like. It had red stones (probably garnet, I didn’t ask and I’m certainly no expert) set in a flower pattern. It took me a few minutes to figure out my initial reaction of dislike bordering on outright revulsion. The stones were pretty, and it wasn’t poorly made or gaudy. Then it suddenly struck me-- it was a flower with four petals, and that just doesn’t happen in nature. Ironically enough, I wasn’t bothered by the multitude of obviously artificially colored pearls that they offered as well (we’re not talking about a delicate rosy blush on a white pearl, we’re talking shock-bright-bubble gum color here). I found those deliciously tacky. (There were also some bronze colored ones in a string that were very earthy and pretty).

I am also not a fan of diamonds. I think that they’re kind of boring, and they’re certainly overpriced. My favorite gemstone, in case anyone cares is the opal. Unfortunately, I think that opals might be the most abused gem that there is. Trying to find an opal ring that isn’t hideously tacky (or flanked by diamonds, which rather defeats the purpose) is like trying to find a flower with four petals in a garden.

Last summer my mom grew a bunch of arugula from seeds in a planter on our front porch, along with some sugar peas (which are finally producing) and some other plants. Once the arugula was tall enough, my mom transferred it to our vegetable garden near our avocado trees were before they died. Several months went by, and the arugula went a little wild, and then all of a sudden, in February it flowered. I was shocked, because it hadn’t occurred to me that an ugly little plant that looks a lot like spiky spinach would have beautiful little white flower clusters. Just goes to show that you never can predict things like that.

Although I think that the prettiest flowers are roses, the best smelling have to be peach blossoms. They smell like a cross between almond flowers and jasmine, and on a warm spring evening, that smell can get you completely stoned (pun completely intended).