🍀 Clover That Sleeps at Night (En)

The four-leaf and five-leaf clovers I picked six days ago have been sitting in a vase, and I’ve been watching them closely. One evening, I noticed that their leaves had closed like little flowers. I thought they might be fading, but after changing the water and leaving them overnight, they opened up again the next morning—fresh and full of life.

After seeing this happen for two days in a row, I realized something. Clover leaves actually close at night as if they are “sleeping.” They are not wilting, but simply resting in their own rhythm. This movement is called nyctinasty and is common among plants in the legume(beans) family.

Even when they seem to droop, they open again in the morning as if nothing had happened. Watching them, I am reminded of the quiet strength and mystery of small living things.

I felt sorry to press them into dried leaves, so I kept them in water. And somehow, this brought back an old memory.

More than thirty years ago, I once bought clams to cook. But when I saw how lively they were moving in the water, I simply couldn’t bring myself to prepare them. Instead, I filled an old decanter with sand and salt water and kept them for a while. 😅

On another occasion, I went to a sushi restaurant with a friend. A shrimp was served still moving on top of the sushi. I couldn’t eat it and said, “I can’t eat it while it’s still alive. Please wait until it’s not.” 😅

Through these small clovers, I found myself remembering things I had completely forgotten. 😊

※“nyctinasty”は夜行性という意味ではなく、植物が昼と夜に応じて葉を開いたり閉じたりする動き（就眠運動）のことです。



にほんブログ村

にほんブログ村　　　　　

多言語学習ランキング