FLOWERS WORLD

I can't figure out how to add the proper accent to that first e above, but I honestly want to mark every letter of this month with enthusiasm. February is nearly passed! February, dark and short-long, wet and sloppy, when neither blade of grass nor beast of earth venture forth to test the air, is almost behind us.

And this year I actually enjoyed it.

But I think that's mostly due to the flowers -- the lead-up to Vday and the slow happy come-down.

In other years I've felt more like the protagonist in Shane Jones' novel Light Boxes, for whom February is an unending month, a veiled monster, and a real freaking downer. If you're feeling shut-in, like the world doesn't understand your malaise, or if you just want some rich dark fairy-tale language to slide down your frozen throat, please pick up Shane's book. (Watch the trailer ((book trailers are such an interesting phenomenon)) here.)


Au revoir, Fevrier!

"I don’t want to die, said February. This is what is going to happen, said the girl who smelled of honey and smoke. She walked over to February and whispered something in his ear. I hope that works, said February. I really do."            - from Light Boxes

Bees and flowers communicate using electrical fields, reveals a study from Bristol University, UK, published in the magazine Science.

According to the article by the team led by Daniel Robert, communication  flowers methods are at least as sophisticated as an advertising agency, using colors, patterns and smell to attract their pollinators. Now, scientists have found that these forms of communication joins another: the emission of electrical signals, like a neon sign, which allow the bees to distinguish them from other fields and find reserves of pollen and nectar.

The researchers explain that the plants normally have a negative charge and emit weak electric fields. Bees, in turn, acquire a positive charge to 200 volts as flying in the air. Although there is no electric shock when a bee approaches a flower, a small electric field arises that potentially conveys information.

Scientists do not yet know how the bees detect electric fields, but admit that their hair can react the same way that people's hair reacts to static electricity of an old TV screen.

"This new communication channel reveals how flowers can potentially inform their pollinators on the true state of their reserves of nectar and pollen," said Heather Whitney, co-author of the study.

It's a weird place, and will get even weirder tomorrow when it's joined by the Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show. For $10 you can see both, and a host of taxidermied birds, wax lumberjacks, and whale skeletons besides.

Rebecca is a mom, a poet and novelist, a doula-in-training, a publisher, a resident of the beautiful town of Hudson, and was my first new friend in Albany when I moved back here, 5 short years ago. She loves cats and rabbits, jeans with low waists, and very milky tea.


Her begonias flourish and bloom profusely, even in the dead of winter, in fleshy tones of pink and peach. I spent a recent afternoon relishing their colors, as R's son Asher performed complex times-tables and Lego maneuvers on the carpet nearby, and the bunnies chewed willow twigs in their magical cardboard jungle.


If you're in need of a compassionate and fierce doula to usher you or a loved one through pregnancy, delivery, and life afterward, email Rebecca at dolldrum@gmail.com.


. . . and if you're not with child, but sometimes find yourself pregnant with language, find Rebecca and Fence Books at the New School in NYC tomorrow night for a fantastic poetry reading! I mean really fantastic.

not with the fervor, the adrenaline, the numerous sounds of delight, the armfuls of floral scent, or with as plentiful a feeling of community love as I experienced yesterday. Thank you to everyone who helped, checked-in, ordered, received, and smiled as I walked past. Thank you to the stoops and porches that held bouquets for those who weren't at home. Thanks to the stars and the moon for agreeing to align. Here's some evidence:

•  Local boxwood, grown near Averill Park
• Clove-scented stock from California
• White snapdragons from Ontario, Canada
• Californian ranunculus--some red, some maroon, some yellow or orange
• White irises with yellow centers, from South Carolina
• and piney sprigs of pink Californian waxflowers

If this list inspires you, let me know. There are still a few smaller bouquets available for pick-up. Contact me at flowerscoutfarm@gmail.com.

x  o  x  o  x  o  x  o  x  o  x  o  x  o

yes yes yes yes yes yes

This is what I'm talking about.

Thank you to everyone who has purchased a bouquet! I can't wait to actually GROW flowers for you all.

I also can't wait to show you photos of the flowers that will make their way into these love-filled bouquets. 

P. S. If you're still thinking about getting one, get on it! Email me at flowerscoutfarm@gmail.com by NOON tomorrow, Wednesday 2/13.

Are you a maker of grand gestures?

Do you have difficulty making the appropriate grand gesture?

Or is this the year you start trying to gesture, after perhaps flailing wildly in a gesture-less state all these years?