PHOTOS:Mary van Balen
My daughter and I have shared caring for her plant (a schefflera) for years since since she is, in her words, "a nomad." Such is the plight of an archaeologist. I did not mind, but worried when leaves turned yellow and dropped or an attack of some pest or other threatened to bring its end. Once I cut off healthy stems, rooted them, and carried the rest to the compost pile.
Most recently, after an unusually vicious attack by bugs, I cut the stems off at almost dirt level, and took them with me to my daughter's new apartment since she would probably be able to stay there for a couple of years. I intended to dump behind the garage what remained and then dispose of the pot since none of my efforts had eradicated the bugs.
I never got around to that, and the other day when I walked through the spare bedroom where it was kept, I was surprised to see tiny green "umbrella" leaves sprouting form the stump. Read More
My daughter and I have shared caring for her plant (a schefflera) for years since since she is, in her words, "a nomad." Such is the plight of an archaeologist. I did not mind, but worried when leaves turned yellow and dropped or an attack of some pest or other threatened to bring its end. Once I cut off healthy stems, rooted them, and carried the rest to the compost pile.
Most recently, after an unusually vicious attack by bugs, I cut the stems off at almost dirt level, and took them with me to my daughter's new apartment since she would probably be able to stay there for a couple of years. I intended to dump behind the garage what remained and then dispose of the pot since none of my efforts had eradicated the bugs.
I never got around to that, and the other day when I walked through the spare bedroom where it was kept, I was surprised to see tiny green "umbrella" leaves sprouting form the stump. Read More
And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the laborers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to his harvest.’
Who wouldn't be overwhelmed? Easier to stay home cocooned in one's close circle of family and friends and let the world fend for itself. We have enough problems of our own. After all, what difference can one person make? 
Short gray hair replaced the long dark cascades that framed her face in younger years and some songs were voiced in a lower pitch, but Joan Baez still sang songs that called blessings on the poor and homeless, the "salt of the earth," that lamented the injustice suffered by "deportees," and that called for peace.