Stargazer Lilies

 

When Friend Kathy came for the GNO, I picked her up in Collegetown.  We stopped off for breakfast, drove to my house, and then on to Winter Gardens.  It was nearing the end of July when my 'bonus bucks' were due to expire.   In May, Winter Gardens gives out 'bonus bucks' based on how much you spend.  You can use them like money at the nursery but only in the month of July - a marketing ploy to get people to return to the nursery as business slows down for the season.   Works great for me.  I use the bonus bucks to defray the cost of a tree.  I like having a living Christmas tree and pick one out at the nursery every year.  It does it's stint at Christmas and then is planted the next spring.   Kathy's never participated in the ritual of getting a tree and thought it would be fun.  Forgot that Kathy loves odd things.   I do too but obviously not to the same extent.  We walked over to the tree section at the nursery and split up to search for the right tree.  Kathy said she found one that 'spoke to her'.  It was a little white spruce.   One branch stuck boldly out from the rest close to the top.  There was an 'octopus' section near the bottom where branches seem to radiate in every direction from a single spot.  Interesting.  Located just behind it was another spruce more traditionally shaped.  I liked that one.   Kathy is not one to give up  easily and began to tell me a story of a pet store w/ a bunch of identical labradoodles for sale and one black lab mix puppy.  Which would I want?  She went on to compare her uniquely shaped tree to that tiny mix puppy.  I found an employee to help move the tree to my car - the pretty shaped one I had picked out.  Kathy can spin a good story but even I can recognize empathy transference.