I've been wondering. Can humans be considered annual or perennial? Stick with me here, I know that this connotes (thank you Mrs. C) a certain amount of "death" but that's not what I mean in the literal sense. Let's use the idea of "death" as a sort of breaking down into essential parts in order to gather oneself (Connie would be doubly proud) and rebuild.
In one sense I think I am an annual. It seems like every time I finish a year of school there is a period where things begin to break down and confuse themselves into tiny bits of unrelated "stuff", into proteins and unwanted toxins, sugars, excess cellulose; remnants of a sustaining cell wall that has long lost it's zest for support. In theory my former self passes on. The continuing time period of 2006 doesn't need the 2005-2006 me anymore and so life withers and blurs into seeming chaos in hopes that a brand-new me-plant might benefit from the old.
But lest I begin to wax despondent, it is necessary to say that on the other hand, I might be perennial; paying special attention to the kind of perennial that grows continuously through many seasons only withering periodically those worn out, no-longer-needed parts and replacing them with new variations on a continuing theme. Classes finish, relationships end, routines collapse, but new ones promise to sprout near (but not from) the empty spaces they leave.
So, which will it be? Where do I fall today? What do you experienced gardeners say? And I know you're out there because I learned much of what I know from all of you (and the occasional plant diversity class... please say I got an A).
And in case you didn't look this up but wanted to merely because the sound of it is so cool, here is one definition.
5 comments:
Of course I'll have to agree that its both, but if I had to pick one, I would say that tend toward perennial.
i told you i would comment and i am.
yes. of course people are annuals and perennials (see me in person for a more full discussion of the plant-human metaphor). i like how you handled death. connie would indeed be proud.
however, you are NOT an annual.
perennials break down too, but they change and grow from that process. annuals just die.
not to say that annuals are bad. some are beautiful, but short-lived. some are vegetables who fill their short lives by enriching mine with their tasty goodness. and some are "tender" perennials who are trying hard to make it in the harsh climate of utah. marigolds keep bugs out of your vegetables. tuberus begonias are edible. pansies are impossible to kill, even in the snow.
perennials may not have as vibrant colors, but they are dynamic. every year they look different, and yet it is the exact same plant.
you are a perennial. you may break down, but it is only to shoot forth again renewed and building on the previous year. you do not come back as a duplicate of your former self, none the wiser for the events of the past;
you are one of those extra special perennials that have the same brightness of their annual fellows. some kind of exotic iris, i think.
or a raspberry bush...blackberries!!
but some kind of thornless variety. maybe you're a strawberry plant. like the one i got from wal-mart that never dies. (it out lived the over priced ones from the garden center.) it rocks.
i think i'm a perennial vegetable. less obvious beauty and appeal, yet absolutely purposeful and functional. asparagus? artichoke! that's cool. then i could live in spain.
i think there are annual people, but they're harder to pin point. maybe live fast and die young? or people who live in a constant curve instead of the continual ups and downs of growth and break-down.
maybe i envy the annuals.
the best part of all this is the fact that you help us see that we are in actuality more related to plants than we may have thought.
indeed, i would have to go with perennial because all of the core concepts found in the 'annual' theory are enveloped in the 'perennial' theory.
plus, perennials are dependable in that they continue to emerge year after year even in a zone 8 climate.
i think Natalie Merchant said it best: 'spring keeps her promises - no cold can keep her back.' perennial for sure.
hey, wait! this isn't new!
testing, testing, 1..2...
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