And now for something completely different

You see a lot of different things wandering around college campuses, and a few enter into the area of strange, but you get used to different.  So it was this morning while wheeling along between the coffee shoppe and my office that the Phactor noticed a very short person under a very large head of red hair strolling, if that be the right term because it was not a standard gait, in a flouncy sort of skirt.  Nothing strange here, although the costume was a bit unusual for summer when t-shirt, gym shorts, and flip-flops are the norm.  But how often do you see a red-headed hobbit playing a blue ukelele?  Now we got major different and maybe border line strange.  So some four hours later, the Phactor hears the unmistakable sound of a ukelele outside his office door, and then a knock.  A red-headed, ukelele-playing hobbit wants to visit the greenhouse, and with the normal student and faculty traffic down to a trickle, the door was locked.  At least she didn't ask to play for the plants.  Apparently red-headed, ukelele-playing hobbits like greenhouses filled with plants, especially the hibiscus, the frangipani ("smells fantastic"), and a mimosa sensitive plant ("did I kill it?").  "Are you like the herbalist professor at Hogworts?"  No, the Phactor is just a botanist.  "What's this?"  It's a sweet acacia.  "It smells like lemon fresh Joy."  Yes, that's pretty accurate description of the floral fragrance.  "And if you listen to it closely will you hear Whos?"  It takes a few seconds for the Phactor to realize that this is not a reference to a musical group, but a literary reference (Horton hears a Who).  Well, yes, this is in the same plant family as Horton's clover.  Well, have a nice look around, and make sure the door is locked when you leave.  "You trust me?"  Sure, red-headed ukelele players are notoriously honest.  "That's right! This is even my real hair color."  Ah, an almost certain untruth, but no one is perfect.  She picks an hibiscus for her hair.  "Oh, was that OK?"  It will grow more.  Every day needs a little bit of a different for an interlude, a musical interlude, in this case.