Dandelions; The Dogs Next Door; Fly Away.

As I looked out of the bathroom window onto my backyard, I spied about eight or ten dandelion blossoms, each in a different place. I thought, "Oh, no! They're going to go to seed, and there will be oodles of dandelions in the near future!" -  Please understand that I dearly love those little flower heads, and I like dandelion greens in the spring as a sort of tonic to get the body a-going again after the sluggish winter.

In truth, the bright yellow dandelion is such a beautiful greeting to us in the springtime. In the dead of winter, if we happen to see a lonely dandelion blooming, it is indeed a sign of hope.

But nevertheless, I went out to the backyard to pick all the blossoms so they wouldn't increase in my backyard. I began to pick the stray dandelion blossoms, and the dogs next door alerted their owners that there was something going on here! They barked and barked, and I, as always, will say to any barking dog, "Hi, Doggie! Hi Doggie! How are you? Whatcha doin'?" And they tone down their anger and annoyance a bit. I talked with them as I picked dandelions.

When I was finished with my chore, I walked close to the fence so they could see me between the boards. At first they were apprehensive, but then they were less guard-like. There are two dogs there, one older one, more sedate than the younger one. He used to be so quiet and appeared to be very shy when I'd go out beyond my fence for a look-around.

Then the younger one, a large, slender dark brown dog not yet fully mature, came to live there. I do believe that Mr. Old Guy was quite happy to have this new friend and companion join him in his backyard. Mr. Old Guy now doesn't hover around his own little cabin, and he joins in the barking since Young One came along. This pleases me, because I felt bad for him: he seemed so lonely and shy before.

I wish to be friends of theirs. One of these days I am going to go out the back gate and let them see me. They can see me the way it is, through those narrow spaces between the fence boards, but I would like to see them better, too.

I've been thinking about the dandelion. It is very clever in the way it grows. They seem to bloom close to the ground at first, then the stalk grows a bit every few hours. Finally when it has finished the first phase,  the stalk is like a tower almost like the Empire State Building, and the blossom has suddenly, magically changed into a golf-ball sized sphere of white fluff like a prom gown, with each seed having its own part of the dress.

Before we could sing, "Blow away, Dandelion!" almost all of those hundred seeds are gone to see the world. The few seeds that remain attached are just too shy to fly away from the yard. Maybe in their next lifetime...



I'll see you at the Corner Post...