Julia and I had a budgeting conversation this week.
We agreed that we needed to be a little less careless about spending.
A few hours later we went to the plant store.
I guess we'll start trying to budget better starting next week.
::
Plants are like humans.
Some of them are awesome.
Most of them are good.
Some of them suck.
Plant nurseries are witchcraft. Somehow all the plants look pristine.
I wish I knew their secret ways. It shall remain a mystery.
Then you come home, plant them, and see what happens.
At which point their true colors show.
Mostly good.
Sometimes awesome.
Some sucky.
It's part of the fun.
Sometimes you're let down and sometimes you're pleasantly surprised.
You never really know.
The joy of the surprise.
I enjoy my flowers. I have a lot of them. They bring me joy.
For most of my flowers they'll be in / out of season, flowering at different intervals around the year.
It's a year round process of watering, picking up, trimming -- any given day could be a good day for any given plant.
Always something going on.
I do love them.
But my cacti exist different and better.
My cactus garden is my pride and joy.
And this week, in a two day cactus garden deep dive, I was able to pinpoint it.
Cactus develop slowly.
One big slow roll.
No in or out season. No watering. No flowering.
Nothing to see here.
It might be months before you notice a change in a cactus.
You have these long intervals with "ahhhhhh" moments sprinkled throughout the years.
In this case, I'm sitting with my closest friends in San Diego pre partying Flamingosis at the crib, posted in the cactus garden.
I'm technically in conversation with these friends.
But in the back of my head, I'm scoping the cactus.
"damn, she's got strong bones! she needs a better spot."
"damn, she's struggling! she needs vitamins and love."
"haircut time"
"more!!!!!"
(inner dialogue as I peruse my cactus gallery)
I start the next day with a spliff in the cactus garden.
Unsure what the day looked like pre-spliff.
Two day cactus deep dive post-spliff.
A wave of clarity in what needed to happen.
Going full ar-teest.
Taking certain cacti out of their pots and planting them in the ground.
Going extremely slowly to prevent the physical pain of cactus thorns.
Side note on thorns -- they all suck.
The big ones stab you.
The small ones linger forever.
But they look cool.
Moving different pots to different spots.
Trying to find new ways to highlight the ones I'm most stoked on.
Hand picking those cactus that have alpha potential.
Putting them in the spot where their alpha potential can be realized.
Going to the plant store. Finding new family.
Finding them the best spot for them.
Making sure everybody gets fed. New soil. Vitamins.
Extra love for the folks not doing so hot.
Love can go a long way with plants.
A good run. A fun time.
Then check back in 6 months and see how you did.
It's the best.
