Chapter 9

It was my first basil plant ever. I got it from the farmer’s market together with a mint plant in the summer. I wouldn’t consider myself someone with a green thumb. My only prior botanical experience was a stray watermelon plant I found in my parents’ garden. And that didn’t end well. Anyway, the basil and the mint grew fast. They were really a joy to look at. I wasn’t even thinking about using the herbs – I just liked seeing plants in my kitchen. The mint soon died though. But the basil kept growing and growing. I was told to prune it but didn’t have the heart to cut anything off. And how could you? Every stem was a limb and every leaf was a face. It would have seemed cruel somehow.
 
But then of course, the top became bushy with small branches growing every which way. The weight started to get a bit too much so I went to the local park and got a couple of sticks to support the plant. That was our bond: I gave it food, water, and support. It gave me all the green I could ask for in my kitchen.

Summer came and went. Autumn too. And they stole sunlight with them. I moved the basil close to my window for the little light there was. Soon it began to climb onto the glass to absorb as much as it could. I never thought a basil plant could become a vine. But that’s what it was. The leaves pressed themselves against the glass as if they were trying to break out… And what a sight to see. My friends would come over and talk about it. One day it started flowering. Tiny white flowers at the end of the long green stems. I had heard that’s when basil plants die. So I was expecting the end and I was sad. But then nothing really happened. It kept going deep into the winter. It kept going till the night was longer than day. Till there was frost on the window. Till it hurt to keep your fingers on the glass.

I think about it sometimes. My basil plant. What a marvelous thing it was.

Jan, 2021