The Resort Town
When the eye has tired of the human scenery of the resort town, and the body is weary of the town's repetitive entertainments, the visitor may finally notice the fury of alien plants. The misting systems at every resort, designed for cooling rows of prostrate bodies, also provide the right conditions for equatorial jungles. The resort had made the most of this opportunity. I started to feel the more patient offerings of botanical companionship. To greet these plants, though, I needed to know their names. For that, I would need a nursery, and only one was close enough to walk to.
From the front, it looked normal enough. I wandered in past the unattended outdoor register and into the usual towers of annual trays -- petunia, impatiens, salvia, and so on -- the same seventeen brief and predictable thrills that scream from annual-towers everywhere. Behind them, a small display of cactus, unlabeled but neat. Behind that, the beginnings of a jungle of larger containers. Along the side of the property, a large unkempt man drove in a golf cart with a tree in the seat beside him. The proprietor.
At once, I saw some of the plants that I had come to identify. I looked for their labels. There were none.
Glancing around, I realized that I hadn't seen a label anywhere. No prices. No identities. No instructions for planting and care.
No customers either. I moved alone through a containerized wilderness, all sights obscured by overgrown but anonymous vines, trees, shrubs. Finally, there, a label! A low, greyish shrub cowered in a hexagonal pot whose nursery tag still clung to its side. Making my own path through the sea of containers, I bent down to read. "Strelitzia," it said.
My mind flashed a picture of Strelitzia, the "bird of paradise," a soaring tropical plant with foot-long leaves and an audacious backward-leaning orange and blue flower that has always made me think of Marilyn Monroe reclining ever so slowly onto a great divan. Flashy and tender, Strelitzia was the perfect opposite of the tough and humble desert shrub that actually grew in this container. Well, I thought, at least they transplant things here.
Perhaps one pot in a hundred bore any label at all, and each label was not just wrong but perfectly so. A screaming red honeysuckle vine was labeled Opuntia -- prickly pear, the familiar cactus that grows in rounded flat pads.
the name of a poisonous plant. This is quite scary as the home of the
Literary devices are used by Sandra Cisneros throughout the vignette “The Monkey Garden”, to highlight the mood of the piece. For instance, Cisneros uses personification to encompass feelings of mysticality when she says things disappeared in the Garden, “as if the garden itself ate them.”(95) Personification was used by Cisneros to plant Esperanza’s humanlike description of the garden, while creating a sense of mystery and enchantment in the reader. Similarly, Cisneros describes how the tree Esperanza was near “wouldn’t mind if she lay down” (97). In this section, the tree is personified as a friend Esperanza can lay with. The fictional and humanlike style that the situation is described in further accentuates the mystical mood Cisneros is
Dillard then goes on to examine the intricacies of life. She describes the Ibervellea sonorae desert plant that sits on the desert like a dead plant but grows roots and shoots when it is rainy season (162).
diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than 12,500 of an estimated total of
First, Cancun has gorgeous hotels. The architecture of one representative hotel is fabulous. Walking into the entrance of the hotel is like walking through a breezeway because there are no doors. Upon entering, the visitor is mesmerized by the colossal tropical floral arrangement that’s so stunning and full of vibrant color that her mouth drops in awe. Soon, she realizes, after the initial shock, that she is walking on marble floors that look like mirrors reflecting rays of dancing light. Indoor waterfalls accompanied with lavish foliage engulf her; every sense is stimulated. Happily greeted and escorted to her hotel room, she is delighted to see that the hotel’s beauty continues throughout every part of it. Posh describes the room exactly. The bathroom floors, counters, and the shower walls are polished stone, native to Mexico. Surprised, she looks over the balcony to see the S-shaped pool with a floating bar and the bar’s roof covered in bamboo. Walking through the hotel lobby, through the fresh gardens, through the pathway to the pool are picture-perfect peacocks flaunting their beauty, and, indeed, they are very beautiful. Every minute detail of the Grand Hotel is designed to give her an unf...
Key West is many people's paradise. It has dazzling waters, beautiful beaches, and a wonderful climate. This tiny island is located off the southernmost part of Florida is the only true tropical island in the United States. Thousands of people from all over the world come to Key West every year for the relaxing lifestyle and rich culture. As well as being rich in culture it is rich in history too. Key West has also been the home to many great authors and artists and is known for having a very diverse population.
Walker, Alice. (1974). “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens.” Ways of Reading. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, pp. 694-701.
One might think, based on the cultural importance of individualism in the United States, that a person can lead a successful life without any companions or loved ones. However, in The Bean Trees, author Barbara Kingsolver shows otherwise. Through the development of a flowering plant motif in this novel, the world is shown to be a place where people need others who love and care for them to live a fulfilling life. The motif of flowering plants develops meaning through the author’s continued use. Kingsolver introduces this motif in the chapter “The Miracle of Dog Doo Park” when the wisteria blossoms out of the seemingly hostile environment of the polluted, parched park. The word “miracle”
Plants of the genus Strychnos have opposite leaves and bear cymes of white or yellowish flowers that have a four-lobed or five-lobed calyx, a four-parted or five-parted corolla, five stamens, a solitary pistil and bears fruit in the form of a berry. The seeds and bark of many plants in this genus contain the powerful poison (4 p.2). Strychnine is obtained commercially from the seeds of the Saint-ignatius's-bean and from the nux-vomica tree.
When I found myself on my Feet, I looked about me, and must confess I never beheld a more entertaining Prospect. The Country round appeared like a continued Garden, and the inclosed Fields, which were generally Forty Foot square, resembled so many Beds of flowers. These Fields were intermingled with Woods of half a Stang, and the tallest Trees, as I could judge, appeared to be seven Foot high. I viewed the Town on my left Hand, which looked like the painted Scene of a City in a Theatre.
... a doubt makes it apparent through her desperate tone she is willing to continue to deny the truth so that their lives will be unchanged and blissful. Her position on the issues disturbs the king and he wishes her death.
Within the picture before me, I see myself. I was dressed in all black; black dress shoes, black pants, a black button-down shirt with a sleek black tie, a black suit jacket, black gloves, a black ski mask, and a black fedora to top it all off. I am not entirely sure what I was supposed to be. Was I a mobster, a thief, or even a personification of the night? The date was Halloween and I was sitting on a bench in front of my house, waiting to scare or give out candy to anybody who approached the door. That year, we had not decorated our house as well as previous years; but we still had a few last minute ideas implemented o let people know that they were welcome to approach. There was a rotating red beacon flashing, jack-o-lantern cutouts over the porch light, and creepy music playing loudly. Despite the decorations, not one person came to our house and hardly anyone had decorated for the holiday along my street. I remember feeling disappointment when I realized that nobody was going to¬¬¬¬ come and anger as people walked by our house without a second glance.
The autumn sun beat down still and hot as Trey peered over the whitewashed fence. Widow Harris' garden was just on the other side. It was a very sad looking garden. There were weeds everywhere. He scanned past the zucchini squash, the only thing doing well in the whole garden, and over the cantaloupe vine.
While young adults might do costume parties and children may wear costumes on October 31st, it is rare to see children go trick or treating or see a house decorated with Halloween decorations. While I enjoy Halloween and its myth, I grew accustomed to not celebrate it. However, when I came to Japan, I was surprised by how colorful and how fun shops decorations and designs for any kind of products would become during October as Halloween approached. The commercials of Disneyland on television would amaze me with its amazing costume design and its rapidity to adapt the park for Halloween and Christmas. Back in high school, I discovered the joy of celebrating Halloween with my friends as we wore our costumes to Japanese most famous spot during Halloween: Shibuya. The town was flooded with people, celebrating Halloween like there was no tomorrow. This year, however, as I fell ill I, unfortunately, could not go anywhere. Nonetheless, I tried to celebrate Halloween by watching one of my favorite Halloween themed animated movies: Paranorman. Released in 2012, Paranorman is a 3D stop-motion animated comedy horror movie that tells the story of Norman Babcock who is an 11-year-old boy. Norman can speak with dead but no one believes him besides his friend Neil. One day, Norman's strange uncle explains him of an important annual ritual he must do to protect the Blithe Hollow from a curse cast by a witch it doomed centuries ago. Norman agrees to cooperate, but things do not go according to plan. A magic storm of the witch menaces the town as the dead rise. With unexpected new allies, Norman struggles to save his town, only to discover the horrific truth of the
During my trip to the Arboretum I thought a lot about the importance of the desert. I thought about how complex and beautiful it is. It is a landscape that I do not think many people view as beautiful. I know that when I first came to visit Phoenix I thought the desert was quite ugly. It wasn’t until I made an effort to find its exquisiteness that I did. Participating in activities like visiting the arboretum and taking day trips to Sedona and Tuscon have helped me to see the magnificence of a cactus existing in the sand with no water for weeks at a time. This one thing amazes me so much. The blooming flowers on a cactus are breathtaking to me. I think the contrast of cactus flowers and the vastness of the sand in the desert is what makes it so striking.