The Ghost Orchid

When choosing a logo, there are many things to be considered... I knew none of them.

All I knew was that I wanted it to symbolize the fragile, beautiful and exotic nature of my state. I wanted it to look old because our history was old. I wanted it to be different. No palm trees or shells for me, no sir! Palm trees and shells are everywhere, not just Florida. MY goal is to show the Florida most people don't know, and to champion those threatened or endangered, precious and overlooked facets of Florida's nature, history, culture and people. There is no compelling reason anyone should especially care about any of those things, and I knew that if I tried to make people care that I would fail. So I thought about what I might do to save what I could. I'm no evangelist or charismatic. I'm more likely to tick someone off with my preaching and lecturing. I was going to have to come up with a symbol to remind myself that I had to be subtle.

Years ago, a friend who knew of my love of orchids, good writing and Florida, suggested I should read THE ORCHID THIEF by Susan Orlean. Ms. Orlean's book was brilliant, painting the character and mystery of her subjects with a brush so fine and precise it was like reading a Flemish master. After reading her book, I needed to see a picture of a ghost orchid and I wanted to know more. (Ironically, my copy of the book has a phalaeonopsis orchid on the cover.) How could I have lived my whole life in Florida and not know of this flower? When I finally saw one, I was disappointed. I couldn't understand the big deal. Compared to other orchids, it was kind of... bland. It's white but not bright white. It has hints of green and a funny shape. All in all, there are much flashier, more beautiful orchids. It isn't large, has no leaves and rarely blooms. When it does bloom, you rarely see more than one flower and the likelihood of that flower getting pollinated is pretty remote. The pollinator is a moth, brown, large and mostly nocturnal. About the most interesting thing about the giant sphinx moth is it has an unusually long proboscis--about 5 inches. So why the fascination? And why choose this as our signature flower?

It grew on me. Haunted my subconscious. Floated in the background of my thoughts like a half finished puzzle. I came to realize that the ghost orchid epitomized all that had happened to Florida. The search for eternal youth, escape, the harsh abuses, the hopes, the struggle for existence, tenacity, and the sudden joyous surprise of something so rare it makes you cry.

Florida is not the most beautiful place on earth... except to those who love her. It isn't the answer to world peace or global warming. It's just a place to live, no better or worse than many others. But like all the places I've ever been, it has unexpected beauty, and like the ghost orchid, it is worth preserving.