Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Weeds One, Me None


If there is such a thing as recycling the soul, then I want to come back as a weed. Weeds are tough. In drought conditions, they are the plants that, not only survive, but actually thrive! They populate the area where they live without a bit of help from rain, seeds, or fertilizer. If you yank them out of the ground, they come back. If you try to kill them with weed killer, part of the plant might yellow and die, but lurking underneath are fresh roots that spring up in another location. Some weeds attract monarch butterflies. Other plants, though called weeds, produce beautiful flowers, such as Queen Anne's Lace. Other weeds, such as Burdock, have healing properties. In my driveway, I have a thriving community of weeds. I have pulled them out, yet they come back. When my yard was landscaped last year, the landscaper sprayed all the weeds in my driveway and told me that nothing would grow there for years. I think that now there are more weeds peeking through the cracks of my driveway than ever before. In an effort to reduce the dandelion population in my backyard, I purchased a gel that guaranteed if I sprayed the gel on my dandelions, they would be gone the next day. I took off the spray and poured the substance directly on top of my dandelions. The next day, the dandelions looked like they had been fertilized. They were greener than they had been the day before. As a matter of fact, they are even more populous than they have been since I poured the weed killer on them. I must admit, I have a grudging admiration for weeds. Yes, if there is a chance that I could come back after I die, I really do want to be a weed.

1 comment:

angelinabeadalina said...

You're a good woman, Mallory- fertilizing those dandelions, LOL. What can you do besides laugh and admire some of those weeds,just like you said, right? I'll bet if you'd have put your ear to the ground while that landscaping guy was explaining the weedkiller spray to you, you could've heard all the snickers coming from the roots :)