BY JULIE SEYLER

Every spring The Orchid Show comes to The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. And every year, Steve and I try to make a trip out there because orchids never fail to dazzle. This year was a bit of a challenge because of my toe-cyst surgery.

The stitches had been removed, and the doctor had confirmed that his bone-packing procedure looked to be working very well. But to make sure that the mending continued on schedule, I was ordered to wear the post-surgical boot religiously for the next four weeks. This was going to make walking around the botanical gardens impossible. But as usual Steve, the pragmatist, solved the problem. He suggested that we get a wheelchair. He could drive me around the flowers.

My immediate reaction was vocal, passionate resistance. I definitely was not chronologically prepared for the idea that I was to be consigned to a wheelchair. But last year when my mother happened to have a bad back, we had taken advantage of the free companion chair that is offered to all visitors of the garden so they can participate in the beauty of the place. Ultimately, logic, my love of orchids, and the gorgeous Sunday sun trumped my personal sense of embarrassment. I was able to get my orchid-fix, (along with the knowledge that I was a lot harder to push around than my mother, i.e. “heavier”).

And, as I write this I only have two weeks and four days until the boot comes off. Looking forward to it because, as you can see, the boot is hardly a fashion statement.