Contrary Nature

We mow less than anyone in the neighborhood, and yet our grass insists on staying beautiful and green while other better cared for lawns look parched and neglected.

We mow down every year the tulips the previous owners planted 5 years ago, and yet they multiply and continue to bloom.

We neglect and mistreat the poor Mother-in-Law plant that our friend Claire gave us 10 years ago, but if we give it the slightest bit of water when it is yellowish brown and almost completely dead, it perks right back up.

I let the rose bushes get overgrown until they start ripping the screens in our windows, and then I butcher them with pruning sheers until there is hardly a stick remaining...and they suddenly bloom beautifully.

Nature at our house insists on surviving despite our indifference, inability, and general black thumb. I think there is a spiritual message in there somewhere.