Greedy for Green

A banner story

I hosted a photo by Louise Peacock as our Weeds & Wildflowers banner not long ago — back in March — and my plan was not to use a photo from the same contributor in the same year. Yeah, that didn’t work out.

You see, I want green — I need green.

My life is mostly shadows. Shadows are not a color but, at this moment, they feel like a color to me. I wake up in the early morning shadows and arrive home in the late evening shadows.

In case you don’t know, I’m dealing with a fraud situation at a client’s office. The work generated by this one small fraudulent check has been monumental, resulting in the loss of my summer as I work 7 days a week/9 or more hours a day.

I miss my garden. I miss my summer.

I miss my green.

Longing for green, I chose this photo by Louise Peacock that fulfills my primal need for a color I once hated.

Yes, that is true. Through most of my life, I hated — well, at least, disliked — the color green.

I’ve noticed that my color preferences changed over the span of my 65+ years. Have you experienced the same?

As a child, my favorite colors were stormy gray, earthy brown, and autumn gold. Not exactly the colors associated with childhood. Maybe a statement about my childhood.

In my young adulthood, I craved red.

In my older adulthood, I longed for orange, which led me to paint multiple kitchens orange.

When I walked away from my previous husband, I found that my color preference transformed from orange to purple and pink — colors I had always disliked. Suddenly, my wardrobe was a rainbow of pinks and purples. And, my favorite poem became Warning by Jenny Joseph.

I reveled in my age and in my purple.

But, in recent years, I found the dreaded green inching up my list of preferred colors. Now, it’s at the top.

I crave green.

Maybe that’s why I created a publication called Weeds & Wildflowers.

Maybe that is why I am a new gardener.

And, now, in the shadows of this summer, I crave the green I rarely see.

Before the fraud debacle that stole my life and my summer, I ordered several succulents from Leaf & Clay, a succulent/cactus supplier I highly recommend.

The plants were delivered to my house on a day when I arrived home just past summer sunset. I planted those succulents in the dark, at 9 pm, all the while missing sunlight and green.

My ground-planted succulents from a springtime Leaf & Clay order are being strangled by weeds, but I have no time to free them from their bondage.

I want to be home.

I want to be in my garden.

I want GREEN.

Green feels alive.

My life, right now, doesn’t feel very lively or very alive.

In fact, life in this country riddled with an out-of-control, life-stealing virus doesn’t feel lively or healthy or green.

I think I disliked green most of my life because I associated it with money. Money felt dirty to me. Now, I equate it with nature and growth and living.

I want green!

Thank you, Louise Peacock, for a photo that gave me the green I so desperately need.

There will be no writing prompt for July. I am too tired to think of one, but I will ask you to think about and write about your relationship with green.

Yes, I realize that does sound like a writing prompt, doesn’t it? As I said, I am very tired.

What does green mean to you? Okay, consider that a writing prompt.

Tired, I am so tired.

I am grateful to Louise Peacock for her photo, her support, her friendship, and for being Canadian because I love Canada and Canadians ♥

And, for her green.

I am grateful to all of you for being part of Weeds & Wildflowers.

And, here you are, all the Weeds & Wildflowers. At least, I hope this list is all of you. I try to include everyone, but if you are missing from this list, it is a simple, unintended oversight by a woman who is doing the best she can in the summer shadows.

Tracy Aston Deborah Christensen The Solitary Cook Jack Herlocker Erik Smith Harper Thorpe Annie Littlewolf Sherry Kappel Anna Rozwadowska Louise Peacock Mark Starlin Hank Eng Ré Harris Francine Fallara Terijo Wild Flower nan fischer Susan Christiana antoinette nevitt Agnes Louis Nancy Peckenham Rusty Alderson wistfulwanderer Jk Mansi Guérin Asante Joseph Massey Tien Skye Jane Vogel Louis Hart Bridget Webber J. Criswell Captain Argentina Edd Jennings Kathy Jacobs Erica Graham Vaishali Paliwal Tanya Bryan David S. Dana Sanford Beth Bruno Anisesh Linda Caroll Christina Ward 🌼 Heidi Franklin Joan Evans Pam Nolan Shringi Kumari Erika Burkhalter Sam Kimberle Samantha Beach Anne Shark Nyaalo Mia Kat of Magik Farah Egby Maymuuna Aisha Juweria Zoomedin Samia Shruti Sinha Kushal Poddar Lori McCray Joe Pregadio Bre Bitz Marcia Laycock Zarina Dara 🥀💃🏻 Jessica Archuleta Lorna Ye Priyanka Srivastava David Wade Chambers Jenny Justice Lynette Clements Michelle Ewens Matthew Klope Leandro Teixeira Edie Tuck Christopher Bellkirk Susie Taylor Sylvia Clare MSc. Psychol Kris W Leon Justcallmejillybean Urszula Humienik Ann Litts Amang ＊大野芒＊水生花 Teddie Voss Matt Clarke Moriana Delgado Joanne Rigbye Lin Ro Brett Christensen Dascha Paylor Matt Booth Laura Manipura Carolyn Riker Joseph-Patrick McCain Ryan O’Neal Jr. Lynne Nardizzi Gretchen Lee Bourquin 💗POM-poet!💗 Christina Barber A. Christine Myers Scarlett Braden Tapan Avasthi ⛄️ Lisa Bolin Ray Burton Rosalind.J. Lee Noble Dias Martie Sirois Janet Chilton Somsubhra Banerjee Audrey Webster Linda A Robinson, PhD Kim Smyth Louise Foerster Tasneem Kagalwalla ALI YUSUF Katherine Pollock Pamela J. Nikodem, MS Terry Barr Sylvia Wohlfarth Hapsari Listya Sarah Levis Rhonda Marrone Kovid Rathee Shaan Sood Jean Crawford Evans Cassius Corbin Srinath S. Gail Walter Suzanne V. Tanner Jane Woodman Rebecca Marie Markham J Moody Tonya Renee the introvert Samantha Lazar Denise Shelton Beth Stormont Rob Moir Tristan Rivers Nikita Vipul Aspen Blue Rainman Krista Strom Jean Carfantan Nachi Keta Chris Alleyne Genvieve Deborah Barchi Flose Boursiquot Jonathan Greene Uday Jhunjhunwala Dipti Pande Gurpreet Dhariwal Nanette Schieron Edis Rune Sandra Barrett Sana Rose Shreya V Arjan Tupan Manasi Diwakar ICO Aimée Gramblin Quasimodo Connie Song Sadhana G Pablo Pereyra Noor Zanaid Dan Leicht Neha S.Saberwal Jamie McIntosh Anne Harrison Robert Bush Crystalclearcandace Amritansh Sagar Saloni Joshi Burak Göloğlu Madb Tighe Paul Mulliner Vinitha Dileep Martin Rushton Suryatapa JMontes Abigael Taiwo Gina Karasek Kallie Allen Eira Braun-Labossiere Roz Liddle Trisha Kaundinya GK Anne Bonfert Aissa Martell Vi.Smith Bridget Cougar Swati Suman Kevin Keeney Ms. Mary Ann AJ Cannon Sneha Devaraj Darshak Rana Praveen Prabhakar Anu Anniah Sukhi Ch. Pratik Routray Meenakshi Balachandar Noah Levy Carter Preston AJ Cannon