What’s on my mind? We call them the lurkers.
No, not the deer, whose early-morning raids are brazen and obvious. A big chomp here. A little chomp there. Everywhere a chomp-chomp.
The lurkers don’t take. They give and give and give. Hiding under bushes, lurking in flower beds, they grow larger and heavier by the minute - until, at last, one of us says: “Good grief, here’s another!” The first to show itself was small, tucked under the flowers. Back then, we had no idea what awaited. No idea at all …
Friday, I followed the winding vines to count seven. I couldn’t hack my way through to the rest. And now …?
We can’t possibly keep up. We’ll soon have no choice but to wrap them in swaddling clothes and deposit them on doorsteps, hoping they’ll find their “forever home.”
Take my advice. Never put two squash plants in your garden. One is bad enough: A family of five could dine for weeks on the single, small plant you start with. It will grow and grow and grow. Plant two and you’ve got trouble.
Himself says planting two varieties of squash was an “experiment.” Frankenstein was also an “experiment,” and look how that turned out. So I’ll quote from that famous book.
The squash? “Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”
Himself? “Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature.”
And me: “My mind began to grow, watchful with anxious thoughts.”
There’s a food bank in our future. Of that, I’m certain.
© Nicole Parton, 2019
© Nicole Parton, 2019
