We’re almost halfway through the month of August and if you didn’t suspect Mom of being maybe a little odd, here’s another one to add to that pile: Getting through each month makes her happy, especially financially tight months like this one has been. She believes everything is cyclical. We have lean financial months and we have “It’s okay to take a deep breath” months. Just don’t get used to taking deep breaths and all will be okay.

Last year, during a period when Mom was reminiscing about her past lives and tough financial times, she remembered how much she found joy in simpler things, like growing a houseplant or two and thought about the African violets and Streptocarpus she used to have. African violets “may” be making a comeback; sometimes you see them in grocery store plant sections but you never see streptocarpuses (streptocarpi?). The two are related and both come in a wide arrange of colors, and then, one day three months ago at the local feed store, Mom saw a streptocarpus and it did not look like the photo above.

She should have taken a photo of the poor half-dead thing when she brought it home. It hadn’t been watered well, maybe for its entire life, and was scorched from sitting in direct sun. It had one pink-ish colored flower that had shriveled and dropped on top of the dusty dry soil. Honestly, she wasn’t sure the plant would live.

Instantly after arriving home, she repotted it out of its broken plastic pot, figuring it couldn’t hurt the thing much more, and watered it well. A week later, a single, short flower stalk popped up (the small flower on the lower far right) and we’ve not looked back since. Today, it’s full and flowering nonstop and seems to like sitting in a northeast window next to the once neglected ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata) that Mom “rescued” last year. She likes to think they share stories about their tough beginnings, much like Mom’s gone through and now, for the moment at least, the horizon looks a little brighter.

“Any brighter and I’d need sunglasses, Mom.”

~ ~ ~

A Colehaus Cats flashback:

2025 – No post
2024 – The Best Time
2023 – MultiCat Monday
2022 – A Random August Post!
2021 – No post
2020 – Finally Friday
2019 – Art in August, Cat-Style
2018 – No post
2017 – Monday Melty Memories
2016 – No post
2015 – Friday Fun
2014 – No post
2013 – Secret Stripes Part Tuxie
2012 – No post