August is the month for orchids, and the pale extravagance of this stem of white cymbidiums, suggests both waywardness and a certain self-assurance. Like a stop-motion on an Olympic gymnast, the stem demonstrates a series of poses very like a somersault with a half-pike. The single bloom, detached, in a minor fall from grace is winsome in a vintage Worcester cup, with its perfectly mended handle -  reattached with metal solder, suggests the virtue of endurance.