As I was practising my arpeggios with Nancy Nightingale earlier today, a thought suddenly crossed my mind. “Nance” I said “It has just occurred to me that we have a lot in common, we both make our living from doing something we love.” “Yes” she agreed “Consider the fools that don’t!” And we laughed in a sinister manner, throwing our heads back with gloating glee.
Many years I go, I used to visit an acupuncturist who had only recently arrived in the country from his native China. Once the needles were safely in place, and he had a captive audience, Dong would quiz me on the vagaries of the English Language. These would be words or phrases he had heard throughout the previous week and had puzzled him. He was puzzled a great deal. I would do my best to explain why training shoes were called trainers, or why people said sorry all the time. The receptionist said that usually there was nothing but hushed voices coming from behind the closed door, when I was having my treatment there was raucous laughter. The best medicine they say. On one occasion Dong asked me what “sinister” meant. I was stumped for a while. I can’t remember what I said, but I wondered how this word had come into his world. Quite why I didn’t ask, I am not sure.
There is nothing sinister about this Magnolia stellata, quite the contrary in fact, it has something of the ethereal about it. The balance has been redressed.
Off The Edge Gardening 
Well I would hope that half of the magnolia is, in fact, sinister. The other half would then be dexter, Otherwise it would be markedly out of balance. I’ve always preferred pink magnolias though. Like M. acuminata. ‘Fertile Myrtle’x M. sprengeri var. diva (http://www.magnoliastore.com/en/the-collection/menu/magnolia/article/magnolia-flamingo).
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I was going to go into the “dexter” “sinister” thingy but didn’t as I would have confused the lovely Dong. I saw a marvellous M. Leonard Messel today, should have pulled over and taken a photo. You choice is beautiful!
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I miss our Magnolia stellata that had to be left behind. Too early for this climate and so usually the buds/flowers were damaged by cold, but in rare occasions it didn’t happen and was glorious 🙂
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It is a wonderful tree, we are lucky that we have few frosts here, the blooms are often damaged by the winds but still it is a sight for sore eyes.
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I went to an acupuncturist once and yes it was very quiet. They put the music of ocean waves and seagulls on for my musical enjoyment. I went to sleep each time, lying on my stomach with my face in a hole. Strange. You had more fun. Maybe it was me.
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I think laughing might be the exception rather than the rule! Whatever, I always felt wonderful when I left, I am a great advocate for the practice.
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What ? Magnolias in bloom? Oh to live on the balmy south. I expect you are picking ripe mangoes too and wearing frangipani leis.
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Are you spying on me in my hula hula skirt?! 😉
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Lovely photo. Languages other than our own can be terribly confusing. We had a friend who moved to the west coast from Quebec. Her native language was French, and she was trying valiantly to master English. She attended a party and told a story which was met with the comment, “You’re pulling my leg!”. “I am not!” she replied, “I am not anywhere near you!”
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And when you start thinking about your own language you can quite understand!
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I just planted a M. stellata, so beautiful. Sinister comes from the Latin sinistre meaning left. Left handed was considered evil etc.
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One of my favourites, stellata describes it beautifully. I love the stars.
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