Plants are People Too

I am not a plant person. Some people have a green thumb...mine is black. My wife can walk into a room and a dead plant will start to stir and begin to grow once again. I walk into the room and every plant starts to droop...and I have nothing but good thoughts and intentions. But...I digress.

We have 9 pots outside this summer. The majority of these plants have large, long, flat leaves. Since we live in the Southwest, my job this summer has been to water these plants this summer, usually on a daily basis. Surprisingly, they have accepted water from me without objection and have done well.

Last week, while I was in town, we had a heavy thunder storm. I experienced rain, but as I drove out of town I observed what looked like snow at the edges of the road. This was the first sign that in places the rain had been accompanied by hail. I thought nothing further of it until the next morning when I went to water the plants.

Many of the plants had leaves that were broken and a surprising number had holes in the middle of their larger leaves!

That is when a random thought struck (I think many people have random thoughts, but most don't allow them out.)...What if plants are people too? I mean...here you are, outside in the sun, kicking back and getting some rays. Suddenly it gets overcast and starts to rain and then God starts shooting you. Can you imagine the consternation? If is was me, the thought would be something like this..."Hey, what did I do to deserve this? Here I am minding my own business, not bothering anyone, doing my bit for mankind (turning CO2 into Oxygen), not making any noise when all of a sudden I getting holes shot in my fronds. What's up with this? Hey, God...can we talk?" And, to complete the analogy, you find that you have no tongue so, no...you cannot talk. In their place, I would be royally ticked-off.

They continue to take water daily and, while some of the leaves have died, some of them with large holes remain green and continue to stand proud. Only time will tell what long term effects will be. But I came away with an appreciation for our ability to run, dodge, and build structures to protect us from hail, and projectiles of all kinds.

So, next time you pass a plant, think kind thoughts, give it some water and wish it "Good luck."