BLIND TO THE BLOOMS

My husband, Steven and I were sitting on the couch watching a movie when a commercial came on. I reached over for my bottle of water. “Aren't the blooms on my African violet spectacular!” I said looking over at him and smiling.

Steven looked completely confused. “What?”

“My African violet.” I pointed to the beautiful plant in the middle of our coffee table.

“Oh...” Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I hadn't noticed.”

Now I was confused. “How can you not notice it?” I once again pointed to the coffee table, only this time to his slippered foot. “You're foot is literally two inches away from it!”

Steven moved his foot and looked at the plant. “Oh yeah.” he moved his foot back. “Sure, it's pretty.”

I shook my head. “It's been blooming for over a month!” I turned the pot so the deep purple flowers faced him. “Right after Christmas the first bloom came out.” I pinched a speck of dust from one of it's soft leaves. “Seeing it every morning has certainly helped me with my winter blahs.”

“Really?” Steven looked out the window at the dreary rainy day we were having. “Just looking at that plant has helped you forget all about this time of year?”

Now I had to laugh. “I didn't say it made me forget all about winter. It's not a magical plant! I'm just saying at this time of year a few flowers around the house sure helps.” I pointed over to the white orchid on the side table.

Steven looked over to where I was pointing. “When did we get that?”

“Seriously?” I really couldn't believe it. “You never noticed that either? It's been here for weeks!”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Nope, never noticed it.”

“It's two feet tall!” I cried. “I thought the white flower against the gray wall really made it pop!”

Steven nodded. “No, you're right, it does look pretty against the gray.” Steven looked around the room. “Do you have any more flowers in here?”

“No, just the two. Why?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Just wondering.”

Our son Alex came into the room. “What are you two watching?” he asked as he came up behind us and leaned on the back of the couch where the two of us were sitting.

“A movie.” I said as I patted the couch cushion next to me. “Want to come watch with us? It just started.”

“Sorry, I can't. I'm in the middle of something.” he leaned over and gave me a kiss on the top of my head.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” I turned to look up at him.

“Sure.”

I pointed to the violet on the coffee table. “Did you notice how many flowers were blooming on this plant?”

Alex looked over at it. “Nope, I never noticed.”

“See!” Steven cried, “It's not just me!”

“How can you two be so blind?” I cried. “It's in the middle of the coffee table!”

Alex shrugged. “I might not have noticed the flowers but I can tell you that I'm not so blind that I didn't notice the brownies on the kitchen counter.”

I had to laugh. “You didn't noticed them. I just took them out of the oven a few minutes ago. You smelled them.”

“Smelled them...'noticed them'...” He began to walk to the kitchen. “Either way I'm on my way to having one. Anyone else want one?” he called over his shoulder.

“I'll have one.” Steven called back. He looked over at me. “They do smell good.”

“Hey, I'm just glad one of your senses is working.”