#greenplant #traderjoes #shabbatshalom #wordshavewings #covid19 #buyplants #lifeisbeautiful #breath #fieryredcarriages #shopping #supermarket #organizedchaos #shoppingseniorhours #greenroundleaves #whiteclaypot #emeraldgreen #mothersanddaughters #sayingkaddish
Today I bought a green plant.
Its leaves are round and shiny
Buffed like emerald shined shoes
It's in a white clay pot
With ridges
It looked beautiful on the shelves of Trader Joe's
So I bought it
For the beauty
For the wonder
Just because I wanted something alive and round
Like life
Like normal times
Today I went to Trader Joe's
It was early morning
Fiery red carriages sprayed with disinfectants
Masked workers polite and friendly
Red shopping baskets marking the six feet line of safety
Shoppers stand quietly, orderly, politely respecting boundaries
One way aisles, people gingerly passing each other
Their masks hiding their faces
Shopper's carts (fiery red) piled high, higher, highest
With all the food that might be needed
For a week or two or three
With flowers topping the mountains of groceries
Because flowers take the usual
And make them beautiful
Just like normal times
Today I went to Trader Joe's
I smiled at the clerks
They couldn't see that I had smiled because of my mask
But my eyebrows arched a little
Maybe they could see my smile in my lifted brows?
Our voices muffled from behind our masks
Wishing each other a good day
Wishing each other good health and safety
Maybe not like normal times
Today I went to Trader Joe's
Once I wouldn't have given it a second thought
Another stop during the day
But today this was an outing to prepare for, to anticipate
To savor, to enjoy.
Yes, I washed my hands twenty times after arriving home
Sanitized my phone, my glasses, my credit card
But I have my green plant to recall this visit
It will be on my desk after the quarantine ends
A shiny, emerald leaf reminder of a time
I might want to forget
But its new round leaves will continue appearing
Reminding us that life goes on.
Shabbat Shalom- may you always look and find the life and beauty in
flowers and greenery
