second chances

i believe in second chances. this story goes back to my cannery days.

the bunkhouse i used to live in was manila colored. smelled like dead fish and men. 6 guys to a room who only wanted to pass out after 18 hours of work, go figure.

i felt it could use a little umph. a little something. a poster of nancy sinatra maybe? nah the turks would never get it i thought...

so i went to the AC one day, it's the only grocery store in town. i was actually shopping for the finer things in life, yeah know, funions, chili cheese fritos and i came across something astonishing. it was the only succulent plant in the land. it was from the sephalophyllum genre.

i saw it and it was mine. but in this case, i felt like charlie brown in charlie browns christmas special. this succulent was so downtrodden and deteriorated that they placed it in the 50% off rack. i looked at the price tag and it was a mere $2 and .50 cents. then i looked at it really closely like a dentist explores your teeth. and whoah, there were about 4 leaves left on it and when i picked it up to examine it 1 fell off. i threw it into my basket and it landed next to a cup of maruchan. another leaf fell off.

at first, it looked like it was on it's last limb, no pun intended. my roommates laughed at it as i carried it into the room. flies would even swirl around it like vultures. but i watered it everyday. i gave it just enough sunlight. that every day it was something to look forward to after a hard days work. sometimes my hands wouldn't work. or my back would give out, but i still had time to nurture it.

and before long, it started to look like an actual plant, not like something at the bottom of a trash bag. and the day came when i left the cannery. i looked at it and i knew no one else would take care of it. so i took it with me.

i had my bags, my laundry bag hurled over my shoulder and my desert plant tucked into the inside of my arm. i walked down the gravel road looking like a fool. i had settled my belongings in my new home and knew this wasn't a place for him. he needed a home of it's own.

i took a walk along ski ridge. and then stepped more and more into the woods. past bear droppings and tall brush. i placed my succulent plant next to the tallest tree.

i said one day this stupid tree won't be here anymore. climate change is going to happen and soon the confers will no longer exist. you are the future. in 1,000 or maybe 10,000 more years your kind will thrive. your kind will thrive because of second chances. in 10,000 years succulents will cover all the lands of alaska.

i walked away.

i believe in second chances.