Antidote For A Gloomy Day

Despite the lyrics, "it never rains in southern California," unseasonable dark, overcast skies have cast down drizzles, sudden downpours, thunder and lightening for the past three days and I am experiencing "cabin fever." While my garden appreciates the atypical rainy weather, I long to go outdoors, but Mother Nature has other plans. Suddenly I remembered we had a bulky, dust-gathering terrarium replete with indoor fluorescent lights that had been banished deep in the recesses of our storage room downstairs. Wondering if the lights still worked, my husband managed to drag the apparatus upstairs and to my delight, it lit up after years of neglect! Once cleaned, it was as good as new and now houses all my cold-sensitive orchids, including an epicattelya hybrid 'Siam Jade' that has just come into full-blooming glory. Besides adding light to our dark hallway, I discovered the 'Siam Jade' is perfuming the air with its exotic, heady fragrance. Fixing up our terrarium was the perfect antidote for a gloomy day.