I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one

1. Of all the gardening tools and gadgets you own, which one do you most enjoy using? 

    a tiny pair of gardening shears, maybe 3 inches end-to end, that came with an ill-fated herb garden that grew like crazy until I tried to harvest, and then every plant gave up the fight. They were the little afterthought, included in a burlap bag of miniaturized implements, but they ended up being the biggest treat of all. I use them all the time. In fact, one of my favorite "multitasking" activities when I'm on the phone is to dead-head and prune my plants using these shears. I also use that time to water the plants, rotate them so they get even sunlight, and so forth. Very therapeutic.

 

2. If you were stranded on a deserted island, which three people would you most want to have join you? 

    • big brother, because he could create, construct, and use everything we needed

    • my massage therapist from the Flatland, who besides being excellent at her job is also wonderful company

    • The Intern, the best option to design the structures and make us all laugh

 

3. Who's the most famous person you have ever met? What famous person would you most like to meet? 

     Feh. I think I've covered this one several times, so I'm going to use it as a FREE SPACE and share something else.

    My birthday is not long past. This year it was a very, very quiet occasion, mostly because I wasn't bringing it up beforehand (no "gimme gimme" post here, for instance!) and didn't encourage anyone else's efforts along that line, either. Many friends sent text or FB messages, one sent a card through the mail, and some family gave presents. 

    Then, a couple of days after, I got a text from my friend whose family bought my (previous) house: there was a package there for me. I knew immediately what it was, and who had sent it. Yay! 

    It was even better than I'd anticipated. Filled with treats of all kinds, and postcards for my collection and use, opening and unloading that package was an incredible joy. The person who sent it—who is reading here, and hopefully who will see this!—knows me very well. I was smiling for days after, and smirking off and on as well.  Thank you, G.!

 

4. How many times have you had stitches, and what were the circumstances? 

    I've never, with the exception of the dissolving kind after having teeth pulled as a kid. There's at least one time that they would have been appropriate, but I was not in proper condition to seek that treatment. (See this post for the gory details.) 

 

5. When did you last have fresh flowers in your home? 

    I've gotten out of the habit of buying them, so it's been quite some time. Maybe two years? Probably more? I am surrounded by houseplants, several of which bloom now and then. That mitigates the effect of no cut flowers around. 

 

6. What is the difference between knowing a lot of facts about a person and knowing someone personally?  

    it's the difference between reading a recipe and tasting the finished dish.

 

7. Do you care more about pleasing people or speaking the truth? 

    there is a third option available: I care most about being left alone. I'm not interested in "pleasing people" in a general sense, though I'm most content when my family and friends are happy. I'm also not interested in "speaking the truth", as that tends to be a magnet for other peoples' drama. 

    However, I've come to realize that, for the first time in several years, I feel completely free to express my political opinions when among friends and even on the blog now and then. It's a surprising feeling, making my realize how much I've censored, to keep from making waves. I've missed my waves.

 

[from The Complete Book of Questions : 1001 Conversation Starters for Any Occasion; the title quotation is by Edna St. Vincent Millay, from "Afternoon on a Hill"]