(Scene: Plant and Linda are sitting in Linda’s kitchen in the morning sunlight.)

Plant:  Top of the mornin’ to you.

Linda:  … Oh, nuts.  It’s you again.

P:  Here you come again with that inquiring mind.  I so look forward to these conversations … after you wake up. 

L:  You can run but you can’t hide, Plant.  … Wait …You can’t run.  Nor are you hiding… so… what’s on your mind, Plant?  … What am I saying…?

P:  Let’s talk color.

L:  Color?

P:  Yes.  What’s the dominant color in this room?

L:  I’m not ready for this.  I need coffee.

P:  You should reduce your stimulant intake.

L:  (reheating coffee):  Why? 

P:  Think about not having to depend on having a morning simulant to get going.

L (sipping coffee):  Nice of you to care.

P:  Caring is part of the human condition.  Moving on.  Color?

L:  …Uhhh…wait … human condition … you’re not human…. will think about that later…  yellow kitchen walls.  Multicolored, circular hanging of 1,000 paper cranes.  Blond or white cabinets.  Neutral laminate floor.  Brown Thai wood bar used to stash pots and pans.  Black and stainless-steel appliances.

P:  Don’t forget the green.

L:  …Oh.  The plants.  In their winter habitat in the window.  The motherlode geranium, her daughter plant, the parsley – though that was dying so we ate it in a salad.  “When you’re green, you’re growing.  When you’re ripe, you rot.”  Ray Kroc said that.  What a giant of an idea.

P:  I don’t have any children.  Maybe we should look into that.  What month is it?

L:  Month?  March.

P:  What does that mean?

L:  To march:  regularized stepping.  Or, time marches on;  a musical march; March Madness; winter ends, spring begins.

P:  … You are so hard to work with.  So dense.  Use your brain.  Think.  Hint: rhymes with hat trick.

L … Oh.  …Patrick?  …St. Patrick’s Day.  In March.  The color green.  I get it.

P (grudging approval):  Now you’re almost conscious.  On second thought, don’t give up the coffee.  Just dilute it to dilute the effects.

L:  Once again, Wikipedia to the rescue.  Our country’s a melting pot.  So many diverse cultures with their own tradition.  The green from the Irish comes from Ireland being so green…

P:  Repetitive.  Sounds like your brain just took a cognitive step backward.

L:  … from lots of rain.  The Irish potato famine and unemployment drove many Irish to emigrate to the United States.  St. Patrick’s Day celebrates St. Patrick, a patron saint of Ireland.  The Irish diaspora celebrate the holiday. 

P:  Two steps forward.  Diaspora?

L:  Irish or any other cultural group of people who leave a home country to settle somewhere else, like in the United States.  And we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.  Shamrocks; a three-leafed green plant that St. Patrick used to explain the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to non-Christians.  Parades.  Festivals.  Celtic crosses.  The pubs are open.  Green clothing.  Kermit would approve.  Smurfs would turn green with envy.

P:  Good word, diaspora.  Noted.  And I like Kermit.  So, are we going to decorate?  To celebrate this important holiday centering around an ingress of people into our country stimulated in part by the potato famine and unemployment?  In addition, maybe we could even celebrate the role of green plants in creating a breathable atmosphere for survival of all the humans and animals on our planet?

L:  Well, when you put it like that, of course we can.  We should feature the color green.  I have these plastic shamrock lights I can string up.  Maybe even green Frankenstein lights and green Saguaro lights.  Festive, quirky, diverse, happy, green.  Like life.  Rejuvenate inside while nature rejuvenates outside.  And let’s add green plants to our personal celebration because they’re world-wide oxygen producers. 

P:  St. Patrick’s Day – what a perfect day to wear green, be green, and extend the meaning of green. 

About the Author:  Linda Lemery llemery@gmail.com writes down what Plant says and wonders what it all means.  She and Plant wish readers a Happy St. Patrick’s Day.