Plant Anything
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2012-12-11 05:56 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
A good friend of mine was going away on a long trip during the fall. Miriam thought she had given herself plenty of time to do all the things that are required when one goes out of town.
 
I called her the day before her departure to wish her bon voyage. She was a wreck1. She was completely behind on everything she needed to do. "And to top it all off," she lamented2, "I bought some wonderful corms to plant for next spring. I'll never get them into the ground now!"
 
Well, I'll tell you, I can't bear the thought of an unplanted corm, bulb, seed plug, you name it. I always start too many seeds in March and by June I'm tucking them everywhere I can. I just can't bear the thought of a plant not getting a chance to grow. In other words, she was in luck.
 
"I'll plant them for you," I said.
 
"Oh, would you? You would do that?" Miriam was elated. She promised to set them out on the porch for me. I knew her garden well, as we have spent many hours together, toiling3 in each other's gardens. We quickly brainstormed4(动脑筋) some nice places for them to go. But then she said, "Oh, just put them wherever you think they'll look nice."
 
I arrived a couple of days later on a chilly5 autumn morning and spied a frost-covered paper bag on the back steps. With my trowel and bone meal in hand, I set off in search of just the right place to plant.
 
The corms were weird-looking - not the usual miniature, rootlike bulbs. I hadn't asked what kind they were when Miriam and I had last talked, but the two of us were always trying out new varieties of anything we could get our hands on. Being a consummate6 experimental gardener, there isn't a lot I won't try to plant and coax7 through our seemingly endless Minnesota winters. So I shrugged8 my shoulders and went to work. After a lot of digging, arranging, changing my mind, digging some more and rearranging, I finally stood back from the patch of disturbed earth and nodded to myself in satisfaction. They were all planted in the perfect spot.
 
When Miriam got back a few months later, she and I went out to dinner to celebrate her return. At the restaurant we laughed about what a wreck she had been when she was trying to get out of town. And then she said, "You know, I still can't believe I forgot to put those corms out! What a ditz brain I am!"
 
I looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean? Of course you put them out. They were sitting on the porch in a paper bag, right where you said they'd be."
 
"No," she said, "they're still sitting on the counter where I left them."
 
Then an expression of dawning realization9 spread across her face. It held an odd combination of amusement and alarm.
 
"Valerie, I'm so sorry...."
 
"What?"
 
"I'm truly sorry...."
 
"What?!"
 
She paused as if to prepare me for her news. Then she slowly said, "That was cat poop."
 
"What?!"
 
"Cat poop," she repeated. "I'm afraid I cleaned the litter box out before I left and forgot to put it in the garbage. I guess I must have left it on the back steps. You planted cat poop."
 
News like this doesn't sink in immediately. It sort of bounces around in your head and all you can hear are the echoes. Cat poop... cat poop....
 
Miriam looked at my face- and did the best she could to keep from laughing. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she pressed her lips tightly together. I usually have a good sense of humor. But I was too busy replaying the images of me picking these hard little corm-like kernels10(核心程序) from a brown paper bag and lovingly planting them in Mother Earth's bosom11. I took a long drink of my wine. I wasn't sure I could laugh about this.
 
Miriam managed to pull herself together. She cleared her throat and, sensing my state of shock, politely asked, "So, where did you plant them?"
 
"Uh, next to the catnip," I replied. The next thing I knew we both had collapsed12 into a fit of laughter. Much to my surprise, I was laughing. And it felt good. Very good.
 
Years have passed since then, and both our gardens and our friendship have continued to grow. That story has grown, too - to become one of our dearest bonds. I guess, true to form, I really will try to plant just about anything.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 wreck QMjzE     
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难
参考例句:
  • Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
  • No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。
2 lamented b6ae63144a98bc66c6a97351aea85970     
adj.被哀悼的,令人遗憾的v.(为…)哀悼,痛哭,悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
  • We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 toiling 9e6f5a89c05478ce0b1205d063d361e5     
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉
参考例句:
  • The fiery orator contrasted the idle rich with the toiling working classes. 这位激昂的演说家把无所事事的富人同终日辛劳的工人阶级进行了对比。
  • She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎,心中涌满愤恨。
4 brainstormed 5f9ee7cf9034d11f499b7cbc481e9377     
集中各人智慧猛攻( brainstorm的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The marketing team brainstormed for hours in designing the marketing campaign for the new product. 行销小组脑力激荡多时,集思广益,设计新产品的行销策略。
  • The team brainstormed the CAR response. 这队有人提供脑力激荡或意见者。
5 chilly pOfzl     
adj.凉快的,寒冷的
参考例句:
  • I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
  • I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后,寒气逼人。
6 consummate BZcyn     
adj.完美的;v.成婚;使完美 [反]baffle
参考例句:
  • The restored jade burial suit fully reveals the consummate skill of the labouring people of ancient China.复原后的金缕玉衣充分显示出中国古代劳动人民的精湛工艺。
  • The actor's acting is consummate and he is loved by the audience.这位演员技艺精湛,深受观众喜爱。
7 coax Fqmz5     
v.哄诱,劝诱,用诱哄得到,诱取
参考例句:
  • I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
  • He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。
8 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 realization nTwxS     
n.实现;认识到,深刻了解
参考例句:
  • We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
  • He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。
10 kernels d01b84fda507090bbbb626ee421da586     
谷粒( kernel的名词复数 ); 仁; 核; 要点
参考例句:
  • These stones contain kernels. 这些核中有仁。
  • Resolving kernels and standard errors can also be computed for each block. 还可以计算每个块体的分辨核和标准误差。
11 bosom Lt9zW     
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的
参考例句:
  • She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
  • A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。
12 collapsed cwWzSG     
adj.倒塌的
参考例句:
  • Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
  • The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。
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