The Fall

Whenever our orchids start to lose their flowers, I get a little worried.

You see, DW and I used to be the killers of orchids.

As much as we were careful not to over-water or under-water the plants, as much sunlight as we gave them, they seemed to thrive for the first month or so that we had them, and then, when the flowers dropped off, they never came back.

A year after, with no signs of life from the orchids, even though we continued to care for them, we would give up and replace the plants with new ones, only to go through the sad process again.

A few years ago, we bought a pink orchid plant. That same week, my mother gave DW a white orchid plant for her birthday. We still loved the flowers but we were becoming used to keeping them for only a year. That time seemed to be no different.

Except, about six months after they had lost their flowers, new buds appeared on both plants. A few weeks later, both pink and white orchids were growing in abundance. Our losing streak seemed to have come to an end.

We've had both plants for several years and have had flowers come and go. We've trimmed off the shoots that have dried up, pleased to see new ones take their place. When both plants are in full bloom, they look absolutely amazing.

We don't know what has changed and why these orchids seem to survive, but we're not arguing.

But I still get a little worried when I start to see the flowers wither and drop off. I can't help but wonder if this is the end of flowers.

This autumn, the fall has started again.

Time to wait.