I believe that my Christmas cactus1 has an identity problem2. I just don’t know what it is. A Christmas cactus is supposed to bloom3 at Christmas time4, but mine has been blooming since before Halloween5. We have had it in our sunroom6 for about ten years now, and each year it has been blooming a little earlier. At this rate, the blooms will all be gone before Christmas.
My Christmas cactus has beautiful bright pink blossoms7. It brightens things up considerably8. Perhaps it realizes9 we don’t really need it to bloom at Christmas time anyway, because then we always have some beautiful red poinsettias10. We can always count on11 receiving a poinsettia or two as gifts each year, usually from people who don’t know what else to give us and know that flowers (and books) are always welcome at our house.
I can remember that I was surprised a few years ago when I realized that our Christmas cactus was blooming a month early, at Thanksgiving time12. I’m no longer surprised. It will do whatever it wants and we’ll enjoy it no matter when it blooms. I guess we can use some extra brightness as we see the leaves fall from the trees in our yard. Also it’s not just for our enjoyment alone. We keep it just inside our front entry way13 so that people can step from the bleakness14 of the outside these days and enjoy the beauty of our sunroom.
Don just told me that he knows why our Christmas cactus blooms at Thanksgiving time. Don says he has taken care of this plant every week for all these years, and it blooms at the time it does because this is the time of his birthday, and the plant is doing this for a birthday celebration15!
Notes:
1. Christmas cactus: a branching, flat stemmed plant native to Brazil, which produces bright showy flowers of red, pink, white or violet, and produces these flowers about Christmas time in the northern hemisphere (蟹爪仙人掌，原产于巴西，花开十分鲜艳，有红色，粉色，或紫色，在北半球大约在圣诞节期间开花).
2. identity problem: difficulty in knowing what it is and what it is supposed to do (身份问题).
3. bloom: produce flowers as part of the plant’s life cycle (开花).
4. Christmas time: about December 25 of each year (圣诞期间).
5. Halloween: a holiday celebrated on October 31 in the U.S. (万圣节前夕).
6. sunroom: a room of a house which has many windows to permit growth of plants and give sunny exposure to the room (阳光房).
7. blossoms: a synonym for blooms, the showy flower parts of a plant (花).
8. considerably: a large amount, or by a great deal (相当程度地).
9. realizes: knows or understands (意识到). This is an anthropocentric use of the word, because we believe that plants do not have the ability to know or think since they have no nervous system.
10. poinsettia: the name of a plant of tropical origin which has scarlet, pink or white leaves which look like blossoms surrounding the small, inconspicuous flowers (一品红，一种热带植物，围绕着不太显眼的小花周围，有一些红色，粉色或白色的看上去像花一样的叶子。). In North America this is traditionally used to celebrate the Christmas season.
11. count on: rely on; expect it to happen (依赖，指望).
12. Thanksgiving time: around the last week in November (感恩节期间，大约为十一月的最后一周).
13. front entry way: the area near the front door of the sunroom (阳光房前门进来的地方).
14. bleakness: the state of being cold and without any pleasant or comfortable features ( 阴冷的状态)
15. celebration: 庆祝
