Life Support

I think...it's over.  I have had this houseplant since college, and it has dealt with a lot of neglect and abuse over the years.  When I first moved to Baltimore, ten years ago (eek!), I had to put all of my things into storage because my apartment wasn't available until September.  I left my houseplants with my father, thinking they were in good hands, but he put them in a cooler and let them sit outside.  This would have been fine, but when I went to pick them up, I found the cooler nearly full of water, and my plants were drowning inside.  I lost one plant, but this guy, and a few of his buddies, survived.

When I finally did move to my apartment, there wasn't much light.  But, this plant did just fine in a dimly lit hallway.

Seems it is time for a eulogy.


This was a plant I got from my friends Josh and Joanne, when they decided to sell or give away everything they owned, except for what could fit in a Volkswagon Golf.  They moved across the country to Portland, Oregon and before they left, they gave me this plant, which they never watered.  They just let it sit on their balcony, and it seemed to happily exist (but not in a cooler).  I have enjoyed the company of the plant much more than the few REM and Sonic Youth CD's that they hadn't been able to sell.  Come to think of it, I supposed I enjoyed the company of this plant in place of its previous owners.  Josh and Joanne were on their way.  I got one postcard.  They made it to Oregon, but the VW didn't.  They didn't have a permanent address yet, but they were enjoying the ride.  And then I never heard from them again.  I just loved that idea, of going off into the world without a plan, and seeing what happened.  But I was never brave enough to really try it.  I stayed with the plants and acted semi-responsible until said plants were submerged in 15 inches of water.

Anyway, this plant doesn't look like much anymore, but it had quite a life.  It was the only plant that seemed to like the new house.  Most other plants have been dying off, one by one, due to a lack of light.  There are beautiful trees near the house in the yard.  Unfortunately, they shade a lot of the sunlight that would otherwise pour through the windows.  I still have four plants left...but my army has been significantly decreased since we moved here.

The other plants were surviving but this plant had been thriving.  So much so that it grew another shoot that got pretty tall.  And when we returned from vacation, I found it just slumped over.  It was as though some cat or something had broken it.  But the cat wasn't home.  She was on vacation too.  Mystery.

Well, I tied it up to a dowel rod, which is the equivalent of being hooked up to those machines that boop and beep at the hospital.  I hoped it would repair itself, but I knew it probably wouldn't be the case when a few days later, it slumped over again, just above the twist ties.  I moved the ties up, but poor thing.  It's quality of life was not good, and I guess it was just maybe it's time to go.

Poor little plant.  It will be missed.