By Gretchen Rubin

The other night, it was my turn to host my children's literature reading group -- I'm now in three of these groups! Partly because I am in three of the groups, I keep the bar low, so I served take-out Chinese food and store-bought cookies, as I always do -- but I did resolve to take the trouble to buy flowers for the table (though I must confess, I didn't even go to a proper florist's shop, but went to the deli around the corner from my house -- lower the bar).

When I want to get the flowers, I was thrilled to see that one of my very favorite flowers was available. I hadn't even known the name of this flower until a few years ago, and I've always been sorry that it has such an unlovely name: ranunculus.

I was moved to post this observation on Twitter (@gretchenrubin). I... More...