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Dear Susan,

You were one of the caretakers of my life. The moment you saw me, you recognized me as one of yours and brought me under your wing. What a big wing it was—you brought so many people under there. I found some of my best friends under your wing, where you were sheltering them, as you sheltered me. We were all lovers of that “impractical” thing, children's literature. Until I came to Simmons and met you, I didn't know there was a place where people like us could go.

I think—I hope—I told you, before you died, that I have the best job in the world for me. It's not possible to be happier about one's daily work than I am about mine. Do you know who held the lantern and lit my way to this work? I would not be here without you. You changed my life, enormously. Do you have any idea how many women and men are thinking about you right now and saying to themselves, “She changed my life?”

You were so unique. You were a person who could never, ever be mistaken for anyone else. If faced with a line of your clones, it would’ve take me the briefest glance into your expressive, thoughtful face, the slightest sound of your careful grasping for the right words, for me to know which one was you. I would recognize your hug, too. I would certainly recognize your skirts and your earrings. I think I would recognize your perfume. After I got married last summer, you surprised me at tea. (Thank you, Cathie, for arranging that marvelous surprise.) You and Cathie gave me a bouquet that contained a beautiful flower and a beautiful umbrella (because you knew how much I love umbrellas). I brought them home to Kevin. As I showed the umbrella to him, trying so hard to express how much it meant to me, I exclaimed, “It smells like Susan!”

Last weekend, I was in Vermont by myself when I got the news that you’d died. I spent the day sitting on the porch of the cabin, looking out over the mountains, watching for hummingbirds, and reading a mystery novel by A. A. Milne. But really, I was thinking about you. I wondered if you knew that A. A. Milne wrote mysteries. I bet you did know that. I would've liked to talk to you about it. The story I read was just exactly the smart, funny (and annoyingly man-centered) sort of mystery you would expect A. A. Milne to have written, though Pooh is better. I wanted to know what you would have thought of it. You would’ve offered some perspective it wouldn’t have occurred to me to have. I would’ve gone to my friends, the ones I found under your wing, and told them, “Listen to what Susan said about this mystery by A. A. Milne.” And they would've laughed, delighted, then said, “That's so Susan.”

While I was thinking about you, a hummingbird landed on my foot. It's less surprising than it sounds; I was wearing pink and red socks with flowers on them. I thought to myself, “I hate that I can't show this gift to Susan. It would have delighted her.” Like Edna St. Vincent Millay in her poem “Dirge Without Music” that was read at your service yesterday, I am not resigned to your death, and I do not approve. The best was lost when you died. “More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.”

And now I'm writing this letter because you are gone, and I don't know what else to do. How else can I express what you meant to me? I'm writing it to myself, and for all the people who loved you. I think—I hope—it helps to share grief, and to hear one's own gratitude expressed. There's no tidy way to wrap things up when someone dies, so I'm not going to try. I'll just say thank you, Susan, for that place under your wing. I love you, I miss you, and I'm not resigned. I will never, ever forget you.

Susan Parker Bloom, 1938-2019

Horticulturalist Ben Cross is working with supermarkets to donate flowers to NHS workers.

Once a bed of colourful flora, the famous Kaas plateau in Maharashtra is now witnessing less blooms, worrying officials, tourists and nature lovers alike. The plateau, recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee as a heritage site in 2012, is home to around 350 flowering plants, including some rare and endemic species.

Kaas Plateau. File pic

With the flowering already going down, a couple of fire incidents last month in the area, causing a damage to the flora at the site in Satara district, has now set off alarm bells for the administration. The state government has thus decided to take up a slew of measures, like better guarding of the place and inviting researchers to study why this picturesque site in the Western Ghats is losing its blooms, which were a big tourist attraction.

According to forest officials, human negligence, possibly lit cigarettes, could have caused the twin fires that gutted a portion of the world famous plateau recently. "The forest department, along with a joint management committee of forest officials and local villagers-turned-volunteers, has now decided to take certain safety measures to avoid incidents which could endanger the flora of the Kaas plateau," the range forest officer, Sachin Dombale, said.

He said those guarding the plateau have now been provided hand-held pressure water sprayers. "The plateau does not have big trees or plants. It is actually a grassland, so even if the grass catches fire, it can be doused with the help of these sprayers," he said. Earlier, six people used to guard the entire plateau of around 1,800 hectares. After the fire incidents, now 12 people are manning it in the day and six at night, he said.

Now, the visitors are frisked at the entry gate of the tourist site and are not allowed to carry inside combustible items like cigarettes, matchbox or lighters, he said. Somnath Jadhav, the president of the joint committee, said they have also started putting up "firebreaks" along the roadsides. "For the firebreaks, we burn the vegetation and grass in five metres of area along the roadside, so even if someone throws a combustible object, there won't be a fire," he said.
However, due to unavailability of power supply in the forest area of the plateau, they have not been able to put up CCTVs for keeping a watch.

"But, we are now thinking of using solar panels to address the power issue, Jadhav said. He said the gram sabhas of five villages (the locals of which are part of the committee), have also decided to put forth their proposals to safeguard the plateau and conserve its biodiversity and flora. One of the committee members said the state government should provide funds for proper maintenance of the site.

"We have to depend on the fees collected from visitors during the season, which is only for two months (September and October), to pay for the maintenance and salaries of the people working to guard the place," he said. "We seek government's attention, cooperation and funds so that this plateau of flowers can be conserved," he said. Jadhav said for last three to four years, the growth of some species of flowering plants on the plateau is on a decline, thereby calling for a study to find out its reason and restore the beauty of the place.

"We are now planning to write to various universities in Maharashtra to send some researchers and students of botany to study the reason behind this," he said. "We are making all-out efforts to conserve the plateau, which is home to some rare, endemic and threatened species of flowering plants, as it would then also lead to an increase in the number tourists at the site," he added.

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