Slow Bloom — Long-Sleeve Tee

You put on the patterned top to go out for one small plant. It looks good with a skirt you haven't worn for ages, and for a moment you consider finding a more elaborate errand. But the window needs something green to look at while the kettle does its considerable work, so you leave with an admirably modest intention. By the time you get home, the sunny end of the shelf has acquired three new occupants.

Now you turn the pots when you remember, move one a little closer to the light, and examine a new leaf with the seriousness normally reserved for a letter containing money. Nobody has asked you to be good at this. There is no prize. You have simply become interested in how something is getting on, and the interest keeps finding another small place in the day.

It is one of your favorite ways for a pleasure to arrive: quietly enough that you don't notice how much room you are making for it. A song leads to an album. An album leads to an afternoon spent listening while you turn a pot an inch to the left. You return it to the right. The plant offers very little guidance, but you have begun to enjoy its company.

Your friend comes round and asks how the plant is doing. You have to establish which one. While you are deciding, she notices a new leaf you hadn't seen. You move the kettle, pull out another chair, and invite her to appreciate the situation properly.

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