Day 121 Forgetting

April 9, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

I had forgotten about them. When we had a new retaining wall constructed in back, the forsythia and hens and chicks were torn up to make room for the new wall which is now complete. Now I have a line of old flower pots on part of the back porch that leads to the steps and they serve as a barrier so Misty cannot go into the yard and wander about. I would hate for our senior cat to have an encounter with a fox or other wildlife. When our PNC bank gave a gift of Forget-Me-Not seeds, I thought about planting them in the pots that held nothing but dirt to give them weight until...

…I looked inside and saw some forsythia twigs blooming with tiny yellow flowers and succulent hens and chicks holding droplets of water! The hens and chicks were in the yard in 1981 when we moved into the house. Despite my neglect and forgetfulness, they survived. Their Latin name is Sempervivum tectorum; Sempervivum means “always living” and tectorum means “on roofs.” Mine have never lived on a roof but they do always seem to live. In Europe, hens and chicks were originally planted on rooftops to help reduce fire caused by lightning on thatched roof houses. Hens and chicks, being succulents, store excess water inside them. Maybe the key to other kinds of survival is to store something extra inside. 

I will soon plant the forget-me-nots and perhaps the sight of the blue flowers (assuming that my black thumb does not destroy them) will help my memory improve. I can certainly use a little help.

My gift today is hens and chicks.

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> Day 122 Onomatopoeia


You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html