A trip to Krohn Conservatory

Republished from August 2002 I was down near Krohn Conservatory, so I decided to stop and smell the flowers, literally! There is something that automatically puts everything into perspective when you walk into the tropical room. The smell of the flowers, the plants, even the dirt smells alive. I find that I miss the smell of the ocean here in Cincinnati. Mostly, because it reminds me that there are things beyond the walls or cubicles where ever I am. Sure, I am sitting here with a bad case of poison Ivy but that is another matter. The sweet fragrances that are part of the plants here are mind numbing. The huge list of things I have to do for myself and lots of others is not really so bad when I am sitting here. Actually, this is the first time I have actually brought a laptop to this place so I have not been able to write down these things before. Kinda neat to be able to write them as I experience them instead of going home, sitting down and between screams of someone taking another's toy or hearing the TV and/or Stereo blasting, that actually makes things difficult to remember and write down. I have become so accustomed to the incessant drone of noise in my life, I guess I will not be able to write after all. The silence here is rather deafening. Even the wind that is blowing through the open doors to the outside is horrendously loud when you come down to it. This is making the ringing in my ears even worse, because I can hear it as part of the background noise (that no one else hears). It's interesting to hear all these things (sorta). Concrete Benches Now I am sitting on the far end of the room. They have taken out one of the concrete benches. the girl that works here, [Man, this must be a fantastic job to have] she told me that the bench was badly cracked and they were afraid someone (she didn't want to say anything about the humongous woman that was scuffling by) would have set on it, collapsed it, then sued them because "they" caused her injuries (since it would not support her 400 pound frame). Ignoring others: I have noticed that people that are walking by me are actually ignoring the other members of their respective parties. Parents ignoring their kids, husbands and wives ignoring each other, trying to take it all in before they complete the circuit and have to pass out through the door. I am the only one here by myself, or I should say, the only one who came to this place by myself. It is funny how everyone stops talking in here. If they spy something they want the other one to see, the are not talking per say to their companion, but they're merely tapping them on the shoulder (or pulling their pants leg for the kids) and pointing and mouthing the things their trying to say. Very interesting. It's not just on MTV: There is a group of teenage girls that just blew by me and they all seem to be oblivious to the amount of attention their "not" getting from the boys in their little group. I walked by the whole group (about 8 pairs of kids about 16 or so) on the outside and they were play fighting and holding hands and laughing and screaming. But when they walked in here, the boys (OK, their 16 or so but kids to me) all stopped talking and slowed their pace down to a crawl, totally ignoring the girls and their flirting. The girls got agitated and quickly bopped their way out the side door making their "quick escape" so obvious in a vain attempt to regain their hold on the boys attentions (instead of the "stupid plants" as they called them). It seems that they didn't want to stay in a place where they were not the main attraction. Really funny to observe that one. I had never really watched the mating habits of the class of 2004/5 before and I don't remember all the flirtatious things they girls were doing to get the guys attention. I always dated the "Cerebral" girls who didn't put up with any guff from anyone. Guess I was the smart one back then also but just never realized that I had things pretty good. I guess that is part of living through the teenage years and reflecting on it. Another observation is that half of the boys and all of the girls and would never make it through a airport screening checkpoint, even if they were naked. There was enough stainless steel in those kids to make a Dutch oven. If the girls didn't have a belly button ring, it is because I didn't see it because they ran past so fast. They all had those midriff shirts to show their belly buttons (I surmise) and one even had what looked like a fishing lure hanging on hers. I almost asked her about it, then thought twice about it an kept my query to myself. After all, I must look like some demented "Mr. Clean" sitting there with my khaki shorts, Shaved head, Japanese Manga shirt, and laptop. Well, what ever metal was not in their brows, was in their ears like earrings all the way around. What was not in their ears were protruding from their tongues. I think the one girl must have just had hers done several days ago since she was constantly having trouble speaking and pointing at it. "Sidebar"Bree and I have a friend that has enough steel embedded in her, well lets just say from the neck up, she sports about 2 pounds. She likes it or the last time I saw her she had most of it still in. "To each their own" is my saying and if she likes it, what the hey. I do wonder what they would have to go through if they wanted to make a airline flight. I don't mind piercings myself, actually I think their quite.... "interesting". The thing I don't like is watching kids walk by who need to have their pants pulled up from around their knees. The pant bottoms were dragging (yeah, I know their supposed to do that) and you could tell what color and type of underwear everyone was wearing (and even the type on most of the girls because it was pulled up about 4 inches above the waistband of their pants). It was a true MTV moment, right here in River City. I didn't think teenager girls wore thongs but I guess they do now. Shoot, and they pull them way up on the sides so everyone can see them so I guess the question is; are they called "underwear" still or are they now called "outerwear"? The power of being powerful: The bench I am sitting on is rather wide, but no one else is sitting down, except for the woman (she dressed like a rich yuppie lawyer) who wanted to know about my computer. I guess you have to have your priorities when you sit down in a wonderful place like this, on an old dingy concrete bench, with what looks like a $1000 suit and $400 pair of shoes. "High maintenance" is the first thing that came to my mind upon spying this one. The guy with her was either her husband or co-worker by the behavior and familiarity they had. I think it was her husband due to the matching hunks of gaudy gold on their ring fingers and the sparkling rocks that looked about the size of a peanut M&M. She also, completely ignored her companion's wishes to move on around the bend when she stopped to chat about the computer. She actually waved him to go on without her for a minute until her questions were answered. Damn tinnitus: The ringing in my ears is either getting louder or I am just not able to ignore it now. damn, it is really loud and I have not been listening to any loud music. yes, that makes it worse, but I can usually overlook it most times. I should have brought my camera but I didn't expect to come here today. I did bring my watch, I took some pictures that I will put in here when I get home and have a real mouse to use since editing is a real tough with this little button mouse thingy. (Which I did) Have a better one!