carnivorous plants

A Book Break

I went down to San Rafael to see the Art of the Book exhibit at Donna Seager Gallery before it closed. It was wonderful and truly inspiring.

I also found it reassuring. I often feel insecure about the little imperfections in my books. It was enlightening to handle work by some of the book artists I admire most, and to see that theirs, too, splay or have stitching that is not quite perfect, or windows that are just a tiny bit crooked. It’s good to be reminded that those little idiosyncrasies can add character and warmth to a piece.

The show has come down, but is still online (via the link above). Note that there are two pages of pictures.

I also got to stop at California Carnivores in Sonoma County, my favorite plant nursery of all time. It was quite hot during the trip home. It wasn’t safe to leave my new babies in the car when I stopped for coffee, so they came in with me. For some reason, people stared.

Why I Will Never Be a Successful Entrepreneur

The soggy damp Northwest of California is a great place to grow bog-dwelling carnivorous plants (these are my babies). Even with global warming and our now noticeably drier summers, it generally stays wet enough to keep them happy.

Unfortunately, there’s also another wet-loving organism that thrives in this climate. Moss. In particular, an invasive, nasty and vigorous moss that spontaneously emerges on the soil of my plants and takes over their pots. I pull it out. It comes back. Only more determined. I really hate this stuff. And it grows not just on my plants, but on everything–our cars, our roof, our walkways… Trust me. It’s not cockroaches that will survive nuclear annihilation. It’s invasive moss.

Several things spring to mind when I see this green plague. Some of it isn’t polite enough to repeat on this blog. But one thing I’d never thought is “People will pay to have this sent to them!”

I discovered that there are those with a more entrepreneurial mindset who bottle this stuff and sell it on places like Etsy.

I suppose this is why I’ll never be a financial success. I’m completely lacking that business gene. When I see killer moss choking my plants and taking over my home, my first thought isn’t “terrarium sales!”

Alas.