In Tove
Jansson’s Moomin books (which you should read, if you haven’t), there’s a
character – a Hemulen, if
that means anything to you – who collects stamps. He finally collects all of
the stamps in the entire world. He despairs, because now his life has no
purpose anymore. But then he realizes: he
can start collecting plants instead! His life has meaning again!
I love plants. I don’t have a garden, which means I
subsist on a few houseplants and a few office-grown things (which I’m very
proud of, as they’ve grown extraordinarily). So, when I walk back and forth to
work, I examine the gardens and yards and fields I pass by, and I identify the
plants I know, and I puzzle over the ones I don’t know.
The one above, for example. What is it? Yellow vetch?
Alfalfa?
Nope. I finally identified it. It’s Lotus
corniculatus: bird’s-foot trefoil.
I walk by a field full of it every morning on my way to
work. First I noticed them out of the corner of my eye, thinking I knew what
they were. Then I took a closer look, and realized I wasn’t so sure.
I checked the leaves the other day, and now I’m sure. It’s L. corniculatus, all right.
Any day upon which I identify a strange plant is a good day.
It gives my life a tiny bit of added meaning.
I think I must be a Hemulen.
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