A Plant Moment.

I had a plant moment today.

What’s a plant moment? I was introduced to plant moments down at the UofO in plants class where we learned to not just remember plant names but to really respond to their unique qualities and beauty.

It was a homework assignment to illustrate and share a plant moment with the class. Mine was the fuchsia pink of the Flowering Dogwood in front of my parents house. I hated pink as a kid, but I could never stop staring out the window at that gorgeous hot pink explosion that happened every year around the 5th of May. 

Flowering Dogwood Plant Moment: Spring 2002

I was lucky to have many plant moments as a child.  My mother would often find me climbing a tree while wearing my favorite dress. I relished my time amidst the branches of our Port Orford Cedars.  I would peer out over the houses enjoying the view of the emerging suburban forest in our 40 year old neighborhood.

Other times I could be found lying in the grass looking up at the dark branching patterns of the black locust trees with their tiny leaves waving back at me. Or leaping about trying to catch yellow leaf as fell to the ground. My senses were mesmerized. A feeling that as an adult I find I have to work at, came so easily as a child.

Today it was easy. My plant moment came while looking out another window. My new apartment is on the third floor and looks out over the houses and tree canopies of another neighborhood. There are also three Honey Locusts right in front of my window and I find my eyes forever content to follow the winding patterns of their branches or watch the clouds float behind their dark silhouette. 

What a gift it is to have a home that sits in the canopy of the trees again. Sort of my own grown up tree house.

Whats the view out your window? When was the last time you had a plant moment?