Rules for Visiting

by Jessica Francis Kane

The Selenicereus grandiflorus is sometimes called the Queen of the Night. It blooms once a year and only in the dark, its incredibly fragrant flowers wilting before dawn. In India it’s called Brahma Kamalam, named after the Hindu god of creation, and it’s thought that the wishes of people who pray to the god while the flower is blooming will be fulfilled. The one my father was carrying was not in bloom.

This is interesting because we have a Brahma Kamal in our garden and it is our treasured plant. It has the sweetest smell when it blooms at night for a few hours. It is a coincidence that as I speak, we have a few buds about to bloom.

We live in a time when everyone gets a medal and all villains have heartbreaking backstories. No one thinks evil is intrinsic anymore, just someone making a really bad choice.

I agree with this observation. Even Joker has been given a touching backstory, to make him more human. But sometimes evil may not have a backstory. Sometimes, things can be messed up because they are made that way.

Perhaps a best friend is someone who … holds the story of your life in mind. Sometimes in music a melodic line is so beautiful the notes feel inevitable; you can anticipate the next note through a long rest. Maybe that is friendship. A best friend holds your story in mind so notes don’t have to be repeated.

This resonates with me and my friendships. There are these pauses in sentences and these turn of the chin and the raising of the eyebrows which are enough to make you feel like you are part of something; that you are sharing that 'something' with someone else who knows you beyond your comfort zone. That (dis)comfort of shared knowledge is the most satisfying part of a deep friendship.

We took a selfie before we left Fortingall. I feel about the word selfie the way Johnson felt about finesse, “an unnecessary word, creeping into the language.”

I whole-heartedly agree. Call me traditional or what have you, but these words, I feel make a mockery of the language. They are condescending, as if trying to tell others who don't use it, that they are not "cool" enough. Humbug!

Why do I like gardening? Because I worry I’ve inherited a certain hopelessness, a potentially fatal lack of interest, that I’m diseased with reserve. Making a garden runs counter to all that. You can’t garden without thinking about the future.

I like this thought. You can't garden without thinking about the future. It sounds promising, almost. I like it very much. Something to chew the cud about.

But when it blooms … The scent has been described as ambrosia, part orange flower, part vanilla. It is intoxicating, but not overwhelming, not like the scent of lilies, which so many people dislike with good reason. The scent of the S. grandiflorus is finespun. It doesn’t fill your nose, it fills the air around you, which makes a big difference. The bud grows for weeks, but when it begins to open, the bloom and wither occur within twelve hours.

Beautifully expressed. Very evocative. I have always wanted to pin-point the scent of the Brahma Kamal but she does a brilliant job of it.