These are from the ramshackle garden at St. Timothy’s. To me they have all the qualities of martian immigrants. A kind of science fiction flower. They are enormously dramatic and I’m almost expecting them to threaten the existence of humanity. Do they become the people who admire them? Do they inject microbes into the blood stream? Do they mesmerize and control? I’ve never seen a flower quite like this before. Its colors are tremendous, and obviously alien. They sit in a garden filled with many things that started out life in different parts of our tiny globe, or possibly different parts of our tiny orbit. I attended mass at St. Timothy’s not long ago. I wanted to experience what my Catholic friend experience. I’ve heard the mass in English twice — once when my older son became a Catholic. I heard it in French when I was married. The rest of the time I heard it in Latin at the Norbertine Abbey when I lived in Orange County. But hearing it in words I fully understood, I was somewhat lost. I was all set to say “pax vobiscum” at just the right moment, but they don’t say that in English. I’m not even sure they say “peace be with you.” I sort of smiled and mumbled. But I got to thinking that maybe this plant isn’t martian at all. It may just be English slowly invading the Church while no one pays attention. Maybe that’s the plot. In the end the priest stands up and speaks English and everyone solemnly says, “Amen.” And the camera pans to an audience with reddish and golden eyes. And…