Shelter in Place, San Francisco, September 17, 2020
This little orchid-like flower grows on a plant called, surprisingly enough, "Velvet Elvis" (Plectranthus), and it blooms just when most of the garden is pretty well spent. Like most of the pretty things in California, the genus comes from somewhere else but tolerates this climate as long as it gets a little water through the dry spells. I’m guessing the name comes from the soft (almost hairy), dark leaves which do, indeed, remind me of those Elvis paintings you used to see for sale on the side of the road. I like the whimsey of both the name and the delicate flower and I welcome the smile they brought to me today.
Whimsey generally seems an uphill slog after so many weeks of quarantine. Today a friend shared an article by a science journalist that explains just why it is that we cannot sustain our “surge capacity” to cope with the waves of disaster and pain this year has so far thrown our way. It isn’t just you. It isn’t just me. We’ve all depleted our emotional reserves. But wait, we have to cope with what is yet to come… we have to make it through the fall. Oh, lord, I hope that Elvis’s blossoms are kind enough to stick around!
https://elemental.medium.com/your-surge-capacity-is-depleted-it-s-why-you-feel-awful-de285d542f4c