I'm waiting for someone to say "begonia"...

So last night I was watching “Bones,” which is another CSI-type show. Television has been taken over by CSI and all of its successors. But hey, it’s better than a few years ago, when television was being taken over by Law and Order and all of ITS successors. I mean, how many shows about the legal system do we really need? Law and Order, the Practice, Boston Legal, Law and Order Special Victims Unit, Law and Order Criminal Intent, Law and Order Meter Maid Division, Law and Order Royal Canadian Mounted Police… when does it end?

Anyway, like I said, I was watching “Bones.” And I was also looking at some websites so I can start thinking about Christmas presents. I like to do most of my shopping online, and if I can, I like to order as much as possible before Thanksgiving. That way I can have a bit of extra time for anything that happens to be backordered or for when the UPS truck goes careening off a cliff and none of my packages arrive (hey, it could happen…). Of course, this year it’s going to be a bit tricky, because we’re leaving for Hawaii next week, and then Thanksgiving is the week we get back home. So I’m not sure I’ll make my “order everything before Thanksgiving” deadline. But I figured I’d start looking around for ideas, anyway. So I was surfing through this website, and came across an item called “Daffodil socks.” They were multi-colored knit socks, and had nothing to do with flowers of any kind, so I’m not sure why they’re called Daffodil socks. But never mind the why and wherefore (Gilbert and Sullivan? H.M.S. Pinafore? Anyone?) – it doesn’t matter. The point is, at the precise moment I clicked on “Daffodil socks,” a character on the TV show said, “I know what your password is – it’s daffodil.” To which I thought, “what – did he just say daffodil??” and backed up the Tivo to make sure I’d heard correctly. I mean, it’s one thing to be reading the same word that someone on TV happens to speak, but it’s another thing entirely when that word happens to be “daffodil.” Is it a sign of some sort? Should I be planting daffodils in my garden?

Wait, what am I saying – I don’t HAVE a garden. And if I DID plant daffodils in a garden, they would no doubt wither and die rather quickly. I’ve never had much of a green thumb. Okay, I’ve never had ANY kind of green thumb… unless I’ve written on it with magic marker at some point. And it’s weird, because I come from a very green-thumby kind of family. Mom’s parents AND dad’s parents always had gardens. There were always fresh strawberries for the homemade vanilla ice cream we used to eat at family dinners (I believe I may have even eaten a few of those strawberries myself, back before I developed my bizarre aversion to seeds…) and there were always homemade stews and pies and jams and jellies – made from fruits and vegetables straight from the garden. Not to mention flowers and trees and vines and shrubs… you name it, my grandparents have all grown it.

And mom picked up at least a bit of this love of greenery – I remember plants scattered throughout our house when I was a kid. Spider plants and aloe plants and African violets… I even have a memory of digging a hole in the dirt for some kind of flower bulb… a tulip maybe? I planted it out in our backyard by the pool… I can’t remember if it ever actually grew into anything. (I’m guessing no, since I’m the one who planted it…) And mom still hates to see weeds anywhere. There have been many times when she is out in front of my house, and can’t seem to help stopping by the front walk to pluck offending growth out of the ground. Whereas I, in contrast, don’t even pay much attention to such things (which I suppose would explain why I always kill the plants I’ve tried to grow…).

So I really hope all this “daffodil” nonsense was just a coincidence… because by tomorrow I will have forgotten that I was even considering the idea of planting a flower…