On Boundary Conditions

Three years ago I wrote a post about boundary conditions, those irrevocabilities that set limits on our lives. (You don’t like having limits? you want to negotiate limits? too bad. Boundary conditions like uncertainty and change, for instance, you want security? too bad; you want to make plans? too bad. Or old age, too bad; and of course death comes to mind.) Anyway, I illustrated that post with an errant phlox that just showed up in the amsonia, that seemed to be a sign of something good. That phlox: even with all the non-negotiable boundary conditions, boink! here I am anyway! Anyway, today, after a few days of staying inside because the smoke-soaked air came with excited public health warnings, I went outside. The air was better, not green yet but yellow and at least not orange let alone purple. So I walked around the garden, looked at the amsonia, and boink, there was the phlox again, only not just one phlox but two. The phlox had doubled. What could this mean? Was it good? It…