Hot
At 3 o'clock
One one day at the end of last year, when I was on my way home, I passed a small box containing small pots of plants. The attached message told me that I was welcome to help myself and take one of the green pots home with me. Well, I didn't know at all what contained, but my curiosity convinced me nevertheless to put one of the small flower pots in front of my door. Even after a little research, we still didn't know what it was, but we were interested to see how our little pot would develop over time. It really took a while, but in the last few days something finally happened. The first flowers opened and appeared in a bright and cheerful yellow. The interesting thing was that these flowers only seem to open in the afternoon and close again towards the evening. And even in the morning you can only see a little red from the buds, so I initially assumed that outside our door there would soon be a splash of red. But as I said, the flowers are yellow and I meanwhile also know what our plant is. We are dealing with _Bergeranthus_, a member of the midday flower family, which is probably native to South Africa. The Japanese name is _Sanjiso サンジソウ_, which means “three o'clock grass”. The plant's name is really fitting, as it indicates exactly the time when you can enjoy its yellow flowers. Let's see how many more flowers will eventually open. There are only two so far, but I've discovered more buds, so it may soon glow a little more yellow on our doorstep. At least in the afternoon, and coincidentally I should be home tomorrow at exactly 3 o'clock. Let's see if our little flower has set their clock too...
At 3 o'clock
One one day at the end of last year, when I was on my way home, I passed a small box containing small pots of plants. The attached message told me that I was welcome to help myself and take one of the green pots home with me. Well, I didn't know at all what contained, but my curiosity convinced me nevertheless to put one of the small flower pots in front of my door. Even after a little research, we still didn't know what it was, but we were interested to see how our little pot would develop over time. It really took a while, but in the last few days something finally happened. The first flowers opened and appeared in a bright and cheerful yellow. The interesting thing was that these flowers only seem to open in the afternoon and close again towards the evening. And even in the morning you can only see a little red from the buds, so I initially assumed that outside our door there would soon be a splash of red. But as I said, the flowers are yellow and I meanwhile also know what our plant is. We are dealing with _Bergeranthus_, a member of the midday flower family, which is probably native to South Africa. The Japanese name is _Sanjiso サンジソウ_, which means “three o'clock grass”. The plant's name is really fitting, as it indicates exactly the time when you can enjoy its yellow flowers. Let's see how many more flowers will eventually open. There are only two so far, but I've discovered more buds, so it may soon glow a little more yellow on our doorstep. At least in the afternoon, and coincidentally I should be home tomorrow at exactly 3 o'clock. Let's see if our little flower has set their clock too...
At 3 o'clock
One one day at the end of last year, when I was on my way home, I passed a small box containing small pots of plants. The attached message told me that I was welcome to help myself and take one of the green pots home with me. Well, I didn't know at all what contained, but my curiosity convinced me nevertheless to put one of the small flower pots in front of my door. Even after a little research, we still didn't know what it was, but we were interested to see how our little pot would develop over time. It really took a while, but in the last few days something finally happened. The first flowers opened and appeared in a bright and cheerful yellow. The interesting thing was that these flowers only seem to open in the afternoon and close again towards the evening. And even in the morning you can only see a little red from the buds, so I initially assumed that outside our door there would soon be a splash of red. But as I said, the flowers are yellow and I meanwhile also know what our plant is. We are dealing with _Bergeranthus_, a member of the midday flower family, which is probably native to South Africa. The Japanese name is _Sanjiso サンジソウ_, which means “three o'clock grass”. The plant's name is really fitting, as it indicates exactly the time when you can enjoy its yellow flowers. Let's see how many more flowers will eventually open. There are only two so far, but I've discovered more buds, so it may soon glow a little more yellow on our doorstep. At least in the afternoon, and coincidentally I should be home tomorrow at exactly 3 o'clock. Let's see if our little flower has set their clock too...
Where is the break?
Time is always flying and things are always moving way too fast. But why can't we just hold on to what we have a little longer and keep enjoying the moment forever? I know that there will be no satisfactory answer to that. Life doesn't stand still and everything, from day one, is designed for progress and change. Even if progress is sometimes questionable and extremely subjective and you don't always want to come to terms with what is happening around you. But our own feelings are part of what defines us and I don't want to hide them. Especially as when I see that our kids just want to be kids. When I look at life, kindergarten is the most carefree and happy time of life, even if I can't remember it very well myself. But when I see all the smiling children coming out of the kindergarten building in the afternoon, I know that this place is something very special and that the time our little ones spend there should never end. The magic of those happy and carefree days later fades far too quickly and from the first day of school our children are encouraged to grow up. And if possible as quickly as they can, because life is not supposed to wait for anyone. Actually its probably us grown-ups who are responsible for this. If we wanted to, we would have the opportunity to slow things down a little. But the zeitgeist is probably standing in the way of that; today everything just has to happen quicker and sooner. Playing is only allowed to a limited extent, it is time to learn. Learning in order to reach the top very fast, and unfortunately on the way there you usually forget those carefree and happy times you had at the very beginning. Personally, of course, I also try to teach my children as much as possible and prepare them sufficiently for all the challenges they will have to face later on. I probably also contribute to the fact that they can't keep their cheerful carefree attitude forever. But I am aware of this and I don't always feel comfortable with it. Who wants to stop a child singing and dancing and laughing? There is nothing more beautiful and nothing more infectious than a child's laughter. Pure and honest laughter simply for the joy of life, which reminds us of how we used to be. Who wouldn't want to go back to that time?
Where is the break?
Time is always flying and things are always moving way too fast. But why can't we just hold on to what we have a little longer and keep enjoying the moment forever? I know that there will be no satisfactory answer to that. Life doesn't stand still and everything, from day one, is designed for progress and change. Even if progress is sometimes questionable and extremely subjective and you don't always want to come to terms with what is happening around you. But our own feelings are part of what defines us and I don't want to hide them. Especially as when I see that our kids just want to be kids. When I look at life, kindergarten is the most carefree and happy time of life, even if I can't remember it very well myself. But when I see all the smiling children coming out of the kindergarten building in the afternoon, I know that this place is something very special and that the time our little ones spend there should never end. The magic of those happy and carefree days later fades far too quickly and from the first day of school our children are encouraged to grow up. And if possible as quickly as they can, because life is not supposed to wait for anyone. Actually its probably us grown-ups who are responsible for this. If we wanted to, we would have the opportunity to slow things down a little. But the zeitgeist is probably standing in the way of that; today everything just has to happen quicker and sooner. Playing is only allowed to a limited extent, it is time to learn. Learning in order to reach the top very fast, and unfortunately on the way there you usually forget those carefree and happy times you had at the very beginning. Personally, of course, I also try to teach my children as much as possible and prepare them sufficiently for all the challenges they will have to face later on. I probably also contribute to the fact that they can't keep their cheerful carefree attitude forever. But I am aware of this and I don't always feel comfortable with it. Who wants to stop a child singing and dancing and laughing? There is nothing more beautiful and nothing more infectious than a child's laughter. Pure and honest laughter simply for the joy of life, which reminds us of how we used to be. Who wouldn't want to go back to that time?
Where is the break?
Time is always flying and things are always moving way too fast. But why can't we just hold on to what we have a little longer and keep enjoying the moment forever? I know that there will be no satisfactory answer to that. Life doesn't stand still and everything, from day one, is designed for progress and change. Even if progress is sometimes questionable and extremely subjective and you don't always want to come to terms with what is happening around you. But our own feelings are part of what defines us and I don't want to hide them. Especially as when I see that our kids just want to be kids. When I look at life, kindergarten is the most carefree and happy time of life, even if I can't remember it very well myself. But when I see all the smiling children coming out of the kindergarten building in the afternoon, I know that this place is something very special and that the time our little ones spend there should never end. The magic of those happy and carefree days later fades far too quickly and from the first day of school our children are encouraged to grow up. And if possible as quickly as they can, because life is not supposed to wait for anyone. Actually its probably us grown-ups who are responsible for this. If we wanted to, we would have the opportunity to slow things down a little. But the zeitgeist is probably standing in the way of that; today everything just has to happen quicker and sooner. Playing is only allowed to a limited extent, it is time to learn. Learning in order to reach the top very fast, and unfortunately on the way there you usually forget those carefree and happy times you had at the very beginning. Personally, of course, I also try to teach my children as much as possible and prepare them sufficiently for all the challenges they will have to face later on. I probably also contribute to the fact that they can't keep their cheerful carefree attitude forever. But I am aware of this and I don't always feel comfortable with it. Who wants to stop a child singing and dancing and laughing? There is nothing more beautiful and nothing more infectious than a child's laughter. Pure and honest laughter simply for the joy of life, which reminds us of how we used to be. Who wouldn't want to go back to that time?