The flourishing African violets and other greenery in our home are testimony of my wife’s green thumb.  She grows new plants from cuttings and often has African violets to give away.  When she has too many little succulents she will take a few to a store in our nearest town that sells antiques, home decor and succulents. Richard usually gives her a plant or two in return.

Last Friday she came home with a tiny little plant in a 10 cm pot. At supper time, Chris noticed a scent in the air and wondered where it was coming from. I couldn’t smell anything, but my sinuses were becoming congested and my throat sore.

Chris finally traced the scent to that little pot that she had placed on the corner of our table. The tiny plant in there was flowering, tiny, tiny little flowers, but with a powerful scent.  Chris put the plant in a different location and put a glass cover over it with just a little gap for air circulation.

I turned on our air purifier and started taking decongestants and echinacea. I made it through the weekend with their help, attending a wedding on Saturday, Sunday morning worship and taught the intermediate Bible study in the evening. But the effect of the decongestants kept me awake most of Sunday night.Yesterday I took care of some needed business in the morning, then took it easy the rest of the day.

Today I feel like I’m almost recovered from that allergy attack. That little plant carried quite a punch for someone like me who is susceptible to allergic rhinitis. I suspect that I may have run a little short on sleep in the days prior to this incident, which compromises the immune system and makes me more apt to react as I did. But I’m quite sure it was those flowers that triggered the attack.

My mind remained active during the time I was trying to rest my body. I pondered where I was going with this blog, what is it that I felt a need to share with my readers.  You will start to see the results of that pondering tomorrow.