Orchid Show

On a Sunday closed in by gentle rain, I sat at my table and carved designs into clay, The clay was hard and the work was taxing to my surgery-repaired shoulder. Yet the solitary being there with the emerging lines was soft and restful to my spirit. I was where I belonged.

The orchid show which I had agreed to attend with my sister and cousin was not inviting. My rain-cradled studio clung to my body...my mind. My soul whimpered quietly as I struggled to get out the door, and drove my car to my sister's house. The whimper was a private presence as I rode with the others in my cousin's car to the convention center. It allowed me to join the happy camaraderie in a surface manner.

And the flowers were...exquisite...as orchids can be in their extraordinary variety. Exotic hothouse descendants of their wild ancestry. Their were those one could buy, and their were those that were on display. Prize winners wore ribbons and others wore tags with outlandish names bestowed by their creators. These tags and rewards made photography challenging. Crowding the ugly room with its beautiful and temporary inhabitants were humans such as I...walking around and gazing at something that filled them with longing. yet my longing had nothing to do with the flowers. I did not want flowers. I was on hold until I returned to where I belonged. Photography helped for a while, took the edge off...distracted from the silent whimper and the overpowering scent of confined exotics.

When my companions crowded into the tiny room reserved for the power-point and lecture, I sought relief for my bladder, then charged through the heavy doors to the outside world. I breathed in the fresh wet air and gave thanks for the bench and the scattering of Pines that I rested my eyes upon.

It was still quite some time before all were ready to depart the orchid show...and a stop off or two on the long way home, and the whimper became more difficult to subdue. You see, everyone was having such a good time, while all I wanted was to return to where I came from. I am still returning.