It’s almost October, the month when we get our first killing frost. But just before all the other annuals bite the dust, our asters come out in full force. Here they are just starting to open. They started as a tiny plant purchased by mail from an offer from some magazine insert. I didn’t have much hope for the scrawny plant when it arrived, but put it into an empty spot nonetheless.
That bedraggled little plant has actually thrived and has grown from a three inch specimen into a plant which now spreads across three feet of the corner. It emerges slowly, allowing the zinnias to outshine it, the hollyhocks to emerge among its sprouts and the cherry tree overhead to blossom and fruit. Just as every other plant winds down for the winter, the aster announces its presence.
I read once that late learners usually catch up if they are given enough encouragement. Boys especially seem to learn to read later than girls, but in a supportive atmosphere they can flourish. The race isn’t always to the swift. Neither is the aster, though late to the party, any less of a welcomed guest.
Saved By Words 
Wow, so lovely!
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Indeed.
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They are beautiful.
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They are very cheerful.
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I wish someone would break the secret to boys that reading is pretty darn sexy and it’s well-read/well-educated men (esp in medicine and tech) who often take home the most money outside of privileged circles.
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Do you follow Leslie Reese who has a blog called Folklore and Literacy. She has been running a great series of interviews called something like “Black Men Reading.” You would really enjoy her posts.
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I didn’t recognise the name at first, but I remember that blog title. I’ve been seeing it in my feed!
I don’t know if it’s a saying here in the US, but in Jamaica teachers used to chastise the boys that they shouldn’t make the stereotype true. The stereotype was, “If you want to hide something or keep a secret from a Black man, put it in a book”.
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I think her writing is to refute that.
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It is 🙂
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