One does not have to be familiar with names of plants or flowers to feel surprised by the programmed manner with which the flowers, buds and leaves make their ornamental presence in the garden. In fact, I do not yet know the names of most plants in our garden. But it is not so important as receiving them with a sene of wonder and surprise.
What surprised me beyond measure first was the uniform design on the stem of a cactus plant. When I turned to the other side, I noticed the flowers in the Hydrangea in different stages, withering, blooming and about to open. This amazed me about the programmed attrition that is the way of some of the flowering plants.
It brought me back to recall a technical jargon I hear ever since I migrated to use Apple products, Mac and iPhone about twenty five years ago. The Mac products I am told, have a predetermined life span after which they might exit their functions. There is an interesting incident which forced a computer programmer to suggest me to try using a Mac. He was trying to get me used to enter data of children whom we used to welcome at the Child Development Centre on the first computer ASHIRVAD acquired in 1987. He designed a data entry format which would help us to access data of all children and develop a retrieval system. Anna got used to it and went on to be computer wizard with advanced skills in the subsequent years. I remained an almost non starter with no progress in the technical skills needed, to be proficient in the use of computers. That is when he suggested that I migrated to the Apple computers from the Android, which he said was easier as apple products were meant to be easy for those who had limited application skills. I could move to the Apple only in the mid nineties as only then they became more affordable. Since I got started with the Apple products for computing, I confess that I depend on the computer to guide me rather than choose the several short cuts which most people use. The hall marks of Apple products is the support system that it offers when in trouble and the programmed attrition that they are conditioned for. In fact the Apple products would not get support after its preset life time from the authorised support centres. Even after writing 3764 blog articles in the last ten years, I get confused when the Mac asks me questions to instruct me about new programmes or steps to improve the format of the blog spot, I feel confused and stay in the safe zone I have discovered for myself. Anna attributes to my mind set of staying safe instead of stretching myself to try new programmes or simpler steps!
When I came to the red Ixora, I found a row of flowers in similar stage of blooming. As against this the Rose bush had one flower that was open partially and others still hiding under cover. The next flower bunch is mostly of buds. The Poinsettia plant below has yellow leaves at the bottom and greenish yellow ones in the branches above.
Each of these had a distinct feature and design which gave me a sense of the abundance of surprising stories of the genotype and phenotype of these plants, flowers and leaves.
A verse in the Book of Romans in the New Testament of the Bible in chapter one, verse 20, came to my mind as I meandered in my mind about the surprises we discover in nature, 'Since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made...'!
The nature is such a theatre, testifying to the variety of order and pattern inherent in nature. To whom can we attribute this except to God the Maker!
M.C.Mathew (Text and photo)
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