@gertu13
@gertu13
The Dieffembachias. These are a group of plants whose most striking feature are the colors of their leaves. Although there are many in my garden there are only two species. The diefembachia maculata and the one with green leaves, the maculata has thin, oval leaves with shades of white and green, and then there are those with green leaves and a characteristic central nerve. The leaves are shiny and must be cleaned of dust to maintain their permeability. They enjoy the…
@gertu13
Enjoying life? Juan, that was his name, and although he was not murdered, he put his life at risk many times. He was about 68 years old and he had a liquor store in town. Not because he needed money but because he was fond of drinks and the girls who worked in those places. So he had the best deal of his life, that's what he thought; he drank and sold liquor while enjoying his girls. That’s not a smart thing to do... if you work selling alcohol you shouldn’t ingest it since…
@gertu13
The dream. I thought I knew everything, but when I entered that forest everything was confusing. First, a weird message that appeared before my eyes. I tried to grab it, thanks to this awkward way of mine to have everything in control. Shortly after that I saw… an amusement park inside a forest... what's wrong with me? Why do I see all this? It’s just impossible! But there it was, what seems to be a park in the middle of a forest somewhere. Someone, or something left this…
@gertu13
My elephant ear. Alocasia Cucullata. It belongs to the Araceae family and its scientific name is Alocasia Cucullata. Its common name is elephant ear. It comes from three continents Asia, Oceania and South America. It’s a plant that, as its common name indicates, belongs to a group of plants that has large leaves similar to the ears of an elephant. The plant doesn’t have a single stem, rather each leaf hangs from a long stem or petiole whose leaf in turn is born from the…
@gertu13
A bullet in my leg. When I was about 27 years old I was at my University. From time to time riots would occur that started off peaceful and ended in fights between the police and the students. So one afternoon I was walking home from university, I was going down a busy street with few people and I heard a loud buzz, like something going through the air, and then I felt like a thump on my leg. I stopped to see what happened to my leg only to see a hole in my pants. I touched…
@gertu13
John's death. John is a jovial person, 20 years old, and very studious. He gets along with everyone at his university and makes friends with ease. He’s not a person to go out to noisy parties, but he does meet friends to spend time chatting before returning to his studies. He likes nature, he studies plants and animals. He wants to go to Africa to see animals in their habitat. He is a boy with a great future from the point of view of his drive and disposition to botany and…
@gertu13
For good luck! Zamioculca: It belongs to the Aracea family. Its scientific name is Zamioculca Zamiifolia and its common name is money plant. The plant is native to Africa. It is a plant requested in my country because of the belief that it opens the way for luck and prosperity. The plant develops from a bulbous rhizome with an erect and rigid stem which has oval leaves arranged on each side of the thick stem, in an orderly manner and with the underside up. The leaves are…
@gertu13
An accident. She grew up happily, she was a great schools with great friends with parties and everything that a girl like her has in her home. But something strange happened one day, somehow when doing some blood tests for whatever reason she noticed something weird; that her blood type doesn’t match her father's. This is how she tries to find out why and eventually discovers that she’s adopted. Her father tells her that she was adopted as a baby. But she decides to look out…
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Caladium plant. Caladium Candidum: It belongs to the Aracea family and its scientific name is “Caladium Candidum”. Its common name is “Caladium”. This is Caladium is native to the Amazon rainforests. The most common species are: Caladium pictaratum, Caladium bicolor, Caladium schomburgkii and Caladium candidum. Caladiums are a species of plant with two colors, in the case of this plant its leaves are green and white. There are many species of caladium, in various colors,…
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Good news!!. After having spent more than two months without being able to move my right leg, this was due to a sciatic nerve injury that disabled my entire right leg, from the gluteus to the heel of my foot. At the end of three months with two medical treatments I was finally able to stop the pain and be able to walk again. Now I must start my leg rehabilitation. My doctor prescribed some rehabilitation therapy for me. The physiatrist evaluated me and indicated several…
@gertu13
The fern and its ants. Ant fern: The scientific name is Myrmecopteris Lomarioides and its common name is ant fern. This name stems from the fact that the plant maintains a symbiosis with ants, but it only does so in its natural habitat. The ants are placed between the branched roots of this plant where they live and the plant also feeds on them. In its natural habitat it’s an epiphytic plant but in aerial pots it can grow perfectly maintaining the humidity conditions…
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Another collectible Alocasia. Amazonian Alocasia: It belongs to the Araceae family, its scientific name is Amazonian Alocasia and the common one is Alocasia, it also comes from the group of “elephant ear” plants. It’s native to the Amazonian rainforests. This plant in my country can be seen in the gardens of homes in common. This plant has striking leaves, their shape resembling an elongated heart or a lance of sorts, with a dark green color. It has a central white rib from…
@gertu13
Memories, joy, Christmas! We’re in the middle of Christmas season. The atmosphere, despite everything that happened this year, is one of proximity, of celebration. But there’s a lot of pain around, everywhere I see there are stories of pain. But still, people want to spend days of peace and reconciliation. Many comment that children don’t have to miss Santa's visit due to the fact that we are deprived of liberty, of food, of conditions to celebrate. As long as we have loved…
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The sweet hope! Will days like those we had at the beginning return? When my family and I arrived at this house, everything was gray, little by little it was fixed and expanded. Basic services were placed eventually, there was electricity, water and the garbage truck passed. Then came the telecommunications service and cable television. I'm talking about 45 years ago, when everything was evolving towards modern life. Little by little the amenities were installed until in…
@gertu13
I have been an adventurer. I was 18 years old when I was about to get my nursing degree. Once I turned 19 I already obtained my degree and immediately began to work in a town in the plains of my country. After 6 years of practicing my profession as a nurse, I retired, and ended up at the opposite end of my country. I went to study in what would be the longest adventure that I have had to live in my life. In this my city there are beaches of all kinds, with clear waters, so…
@gertu13
Changes are good. I was bored with the look of my dining room and decided to put a curtain to separate two rooms. It separates the two environments in a nice way, I was also able to give a “different” air to our dining room and that gave me the feeling that I made a major change. I think that just as we eat with our sight in the same way our mind is fed by looking. The appearance of our environments at home sometimes causes the feeling of visual fatigue, which causes or own…
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Another cactus! It’s a cylindrical cactus. Its body covered with yellow thorns, which are soft; they can't hurt the skin if you touch them. When I changed it for another cactus of mine, I saw that this cactus was very inclined. I changed the pot, the stones and supported it on other stones. Now she’s finally growing and trying to get into an upright position. Towards the top it has the tip a little thinner than the rest of the body and the thorns are white. But they are…
@gertu13
Life experiences. I was living in a town far away from where I live now. I worked in a hospital, our nurse coordinator told us one afternoon that the next day we would have to vaccinate in a population with very difficult access. Early in the morning we went to the hospital to equip ourselves with the necessary material to lead the vaccination campaign. There was also a group of soldiers who would help us carry things and ensure a bit of tranquility in those intricate…
@gertu13
Ladybugs. Ladybugs are one of my favorite insects. I know there are many species but I only know the ones that come to my garden and this just so happens to be one of them, round, red, and with black dots on its shell. They have these striking colors which are as bright as they are polished. Nature gives them this appearance to fool their predators. Ladybugs often appear in my garden among plants that are being attacked by pests. Since I have known this part of them as…
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A love story from Greek mythology. The god Hades and his power over death originated many stories in Greek mythology. I’m personally moved by the story of Orpheus, who plays the lyre while singing in such a way that it moves all who hear him. One of the people he managed to captivate with his music was the beautiful Eurydice, they fell in love and loved each other in a very peculiar way. The way both Orpheus and Eurydice loved each was something that the gods envied;…
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Feeling fear is one thing. Feeling terror is another. There was a night when I felt terror head-on in my own face. Many years ago when I was studying in medical school an event happened that none of us who live in the university city of the Venezuelan Andes will ever forget in our lives. It was 6:30 pm on March 13, 1987, it just so happened to be birthday, but we had an exam the next day and I couldn't celebrate my birthday because I was busy studying with my classmates.…
@gertu13
My beloved cat!! This cat is the pet of my home, my son wanted a cat and when the opportunity presented itself the cat’s own mother brought this sweet kitten home to us. He spends all day inside the house but at night he goes out to the streets and looks for his gang. Sometimes they make so much noise outside between cat fights and meows that I have to go out with water and throw it on the floor to scare them off to another place, otherwise they start fighting right there.…
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The friends of life. It feels like everything that happens in your life seems to happen through many years, but it doesn't. Life is just a breath. I remember it was only yesterday that I went to my elementary school, where my parents didn't allow me to have friends. The people I met were classmates and I could never tell them that they were friends to me because my father would not allow us to use that word. After elementary school I never saw my beloved classmates again. I…
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My mother, my best example. My mother was a very kind woman. She was a fighter, that's how life had made her. She came to this country carrying her oldest son, in her country things weren’t going well and my father decided to come here first to send money to look for her and my oldest brother. They came to this great country from Portugal, crossing the seas for more than two months. I don't know how my father knew when and at what time the ship would arrive and I can't…
@gertu13
The fig plant and its benefits. Fig plant: This is a fig plant that is in my garden, I planted this plant myself a few years ago and now it is very tall. Its scientific name is Ficus Carica. The fig plant known as the fig tree gives me very tasty fruits, these fruits are green while they’re waiting to ripen and once they do they become purple. Their pulp is very sweet and it produces its fruit throughout the year, which is known as the common “fig”. Although it’s of Asian…
@gertu13
Christmas traditions. In Venezuela, during times of Christmas, it’s a family tradition to place Christmas decorations around our houses, like a tree made of plastic. Some families do it according to the color that is fashionable for the current year, but most people adorn their houses with the motifs they like best for the occasion. The manger is also placed with baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph and animals like a mule, ox and sheep. In some cities they have some different customs…
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Leeches and their medical use. They are invertebrates that, since ancient times, have been used to heal the human body. Many people are repulsed by these parasites because of their slimy, shrink worm-like physical appearance. But their repulsive aspect is less important when compared to the curative aspect that they represent from the ancient alternative medicine. There are many species of leeches, in this article I refer to the leeches of the species that sticks to the…
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Herons out of place. This black heron walks across the front of my house. They are always in a black water lagoon that is at the entrance of the urbanization where I live. I say black water because at first it was a natural lagoon with a lot of weeds, but then the intelligence of urban planning came and placed the drainage systems in this lagoon. The herons don’t mind apparently, they just stay in places where they can subsist. This heron was in the gutter on my sidewalk,…
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My sadness. I started my therapy to rehabilitate my right leg after long days of being unable to perform normal movements, thanks to an inflammation of the sciatic nerve throughout my leg. I walked for 45 minutes to get to the place where they would give me a series of stimuli with currents and heat. I had to stop very early to arrive and take a place among the first patients to be seen. But it was something nonsensical, because after they opened the door I had to make…
@gertu13
Surprise! It was an ordinary day for me, but for others it was a happy day since most celebrate the day a child was born. Some religions claim that it’s someone important who saved them but I don't know from what. Still, no one saves me from anything. I'm roaming these streets and I pretend not to see anywhere because I think someone may notice my presence and may want to be tempted to wish me Merry Christmas. I don’t want anyone to approach me and say such impudence. But…
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To forget, I forget… I was alone, I felt alone. I was already 22 years old and it had been a lot since my last relationship. I couldn't get the memory of that bad experience out of my mind, I met him on my way to college and he was introduced to me by Anna. She was not his friend but she did see him much more than I did. At that time I was 19 years old. He was passing with his car while I was standing waiting for the bus to go to my university, then he would stop and offer…
@gertu13
Hugs and kisses. These are days of family, friends, parties, togetherness and a lot of joy. But unfortunately an unexpected enemy arrived who separated all these words and the action they express. Families are separated, most of their members left this country to seek a better quality of life in other countries. Some few are well, many others found death on the way or arriving at their destination or already being in other places temporarily resided. The friends had to…
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Three aromatic plants. Aromatic plants I consider myself a lover of plants. In my garden I have many, but this time I will only talk about the three aromatic plants that I have. In my garden I have basil, rosemary and oregano plants. They, apart from being important as species in the preparation of our meals, have in their composition the basic elements to treat many diseases. Each of them acts in a different way in our body, although they have the same function. Basil…
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Do you know crocodiles and alligators? Crocodiles and alligators have always caught my attention. I never learned the difference between them, although I could always notice many differences between them, I could not differentiate them properly. For example, I could see the ugly teeth that protrude from the crocodiles’ jaws that can’t be seen on alligators. I also observed that, in movies and documentaries, the crocodiles were very aggressive in attacking their prey when…
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Rice recipe with chicken and vegetables. Rice is one of the most consumed carbohydrates in the world. It’s very versatile; it can be prepared in both sweet and salty foods and is also used to make drinks such as “chicha”, to make vinegar or even liqueurs such as rice liquor. But today I come to give you a simple recipe for rice with meat and vegetables. This recipe can easily be modified to suit each individual, if the person is a vegetarian, he can leave only vegetables to…
@gertu13
I leave. Mary was a very nice girl, always had a smile and it seemed like she always knew what to say. She had personality, charisma. She had graduated with honors and ran her own real estate company. She worked her laptop all day and didn’t go out without her smartphone, which worked as an assistant. That day she had been invited to a party, her best friend Susan invites her to go to a party in the area of the most sought after artists. She assured her that she would be…
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Sweet Papaya. In my country, this green papaya sweet is common to prepare and eat on Christmas and New Year holidays. It’s a preparation with dedication because it consists of several steps that will make it a very tasty sweet. The first thing to get is a papaya that is green. Several longitudinal cuts must be made for her to distill her latex for a day and both edges are cut too. The next day the green skin of the papaya is peeled and the seeds must also be cut inside. Then…
@gertu13
A new beginning. Today the year ends but tomorrow is the continuation of today. This feeling of friendship, solidarity, peace and love that we feel with everyone because it’s New Year’s should not be different, we should live as if every day is the end of the year, because yes, it’s true that each day has an end. It would be so nice if at the end of each day we went to bed thinking that we made many people happy because we gave them our best smiles, our best energies, we…