Dragon's Orchid Garden

Hello.  My name is Leigh and I have been a horrible blogger.  I have been practicing blog neglect, or bloglect, if you will, due to a terrible case of "I don't give a flying crap about anything".  I am pulling myself out of that netherworld.  Triggered by being told by the library director that my position will be eliminated, I flew into a depression that is slowly subsiding.  I have since been offered a position and I will still have a job at the library doing the exact same thing, albeit with a smaller paycheck.  It's my reward for 30 years of dedicated enthusiastic service to the public.  Yeah!  I still have a job.  Damn!  I have to find a way to pay the mortgage. Full disclosure...I've added an Amazon thing to the blog.  If you click through a book link, and buy something, I get a couple of pennies. What has helped my mood is spending time in my garden, knitting, and my wonderful husband, Wayne.  Also, reading other blogs that I love, like Mara's blog

I was so glad to have the work week over.  Upon arriving home, I went straight to change into shorts and put my hair up, grab a beer and head out to the back patio to commune with my husband and with nature.  We sat chatting for a bit when Wayne mentioned that the heat and humidity seemed to make the air smell a bit musty.  Hmm...yes, it did.  In fact, it smelled a bit like something was rotting somewhere.  We talked a while more and Wayne went into the house to start dinner.  I sat in my rocker, checking out NPR news on my ipod.  It wasn't long before the aroma of something rotting caused me to start breathing through my mouth instead of my nose. I put the ipod down and walked around to the back of the house where the voodoo lilies are starting to come up.  There, I saw the origin of that fetid stink.  An Amorphophallus bloom!  The flies were all over it. We have a fan on the patio to move the air about and it was moving the perfume of decay right at us.  I love my bizarre pla