sweet t:

This is Elphie.  I bought him at Whole Foods this afternoon for several reasons.  One, because I needed a plant in this room with its traces of old cigarettes and Chinese takeout, and lucky bamboo with its symbolism and the fact that I just left some with my sister and mother-in-law made it seem right somehow.  Two, because my old counselor collected elephants, whole ceramic herds of them, and though I found them tacky and even threatening at times, they now just remind me of him; the importance of quiet acceptance and of challenging ourselves.  Finally, because Whole Foods with it’s bags of organic apples and seven kinds of prepared tofu made me happy, and in fact, when I saw him sitting on his shelf of plants, I was sure that Elphie was smiling at me.  In a city of strange license plates (which look oddly like New Hampshire’s) and trees I don’t know the names of and women half my age who call me “girl”, I have my own green elephant…now, if in two months, it’s just me and Elphie, and we’re wearing matching t-shirts, you can start to worry.  But for now, know that I have something smiling and green in front of me, and sometimes that’s enough.