To Buy or Not to Buy (2)

I passed by the shop which sold me the two pots of bamboo plants last new year. I saw new pots of plants which are auspicious for the Chinese New Year - bamboo plants twisted or bundled together with red ribbons, etc. I only like the ones that are grown naturally.

Should I buy or should I not buy? Am afraid that my bamboo plants will wither on me like they did last year and that would mean another S$29.90 down the drain. This $29.90 could feed my Nepali orphan for one whole month.

I like pussy willows and always like to feel the velvet-like bulbs on the stalks. However they are quite expensive. One can buy the pussy willows at fifty per cent discount on Chinese New Year eve, but it is always so crowded at China Town that I decide to stay home to watch television programs instead. Hence the next best thing I did (if I could take on the confidence of my readers) is to pick up pussy willows discarded by some neighbours after the Chinese New Year. ! I thought these flowering plants could last at least 5 months to a year; yet why are people discarding them?

Some people say it does not bring a person good luck to pick up pussy willows after the Chinese New Year. For my concerned friends, I would say that the pussy willows have not affected my luck or lack of it. Someone said that a superstitious person is bound by his superstition. Since I am not, I am free of it. Mom used to believe that we could not sweep our floors on the first day of Chinese New Year. However, with the huge number of visitors, mom could not stand the messiness that at the end of the day, she had to sweep the floors anyway. Her children still all grew up healthy and successful! I would prefer to believe that all blessings come from the Creator above.

I remember when mom was still alive, she would make cherry blossoms and my sisters would help her. They gathered the stalks of guava trees and placed lumps of styro foams onto the stalks and later painted them randomly with cheerful splashes of pink. My artistic sisters would help mom to do some floral arrangment with some fresh flowers as well so that the end result was lovely and natural. One need not be rich to make the home look more cosy and artistic.