Please put your palms together …

Several months ago, the kids got a couple of little “plant your own palm tree” kits. They buried the seeds in the soil, and then placed the soil-filled, “Go, Diego, Go!”-themed cups in a brightly lit windowsill. At least two or three weeks went by with absolutely no sign of anything breaking through the soil, and I was pretty sure that the outcome of this little experiment was going to be two cups of dirt in the trash.

Well, wasn’t I surprised when, just as I had written them off for dead, the palm shoots began peeking out. I just took this shot yesterday, so as you can see, palm trees grow slowly … at least, they do when raised in a plastic cup in the sill of a window that looks out upon a snow-and-ice-encrusted back yard. The one on the right is looking a bit sketchy, owing to the time it got knocked out of the windowsill and onto the floor. I scooped its remains up and returned it to its rightful place next to its counterpart, but I don’t think it ever fully recovered from the shock of that catastrophe.

Of course, the long-term prospects for New England-based baby palm trees are not promising under even the most delicate of care … but, in the meantime, we might as well ride this out and see how far we can get.

Plus, also, they gave me something of visual interest to stick up here, which is helpful, because publishing five photos per week sometimes leaves me looking for whatever crap I can find laying around the house.