Stealing

I have to admit it--last year I accidently stole a wrought iron plant hanger from Lowe's hardware store. I wanted one, and there were several display boxes on the shelf, many with only one hanger in each one. So, figuring that the box was attached to the hanger, I grabbed the entire box. I paid for the one I grabbed, but when I got home, there were actually two hangers in the box! It turns out that the box was really a display case with several inside each one! It wasn't apparent to me and it obviously wasn't apparent to the cashier who only charged me for one.

I never got around to returning the second one. (I know, I'm bad.) So I decided to use it this year. Yesterday I went to Lowe's again (because now I feel like I need to spend more money there because of my guilt-ridden conscience), and I bought a new hanging planter box and lots of flowers! Woohoo! I love spring! Last year I tried to grow flowers from seeds, but our stairway is in the shade much of the day, so no flowers bloomed. I'm hoping that by buying plants this year, I'll get more flowers. I bought some pansies, some dahlias, some marguerite daisies and some other plants that had no name on them, but are a pretty bright red and yellow. I think I may have bought too many for the planter, but I don't mind...I'll just find another spot for them.

I never really thought much of flowers as a kid (but that could be due to the fact that I grew up in the desert). But they add so much color and happiness to a yard and to a room. So today I'll plant my new little friends. **

**When I was in middle school, my best friend, Julia, and I did an experiment for our science classes to see if plants have feelings. Julia got to be nice to her plants, and I yelled at my plants. Hers turned into almost full-grown radishes. Mine were wilty and puny. Our conclusion was that there was some kind of reaction to our emotional treatment of them. And I just read the other day (I think in Real Simple) that talking to plants really does help them to grow because you emit carbon dioxide when speaking to them. In any case, I like to think of them as my little friends (especially pansies, with their wise little faces).