Day 222 Jack and the Beanstalk

July 19, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70^th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day’s gift.)

Unknown weed in the fifth pot to the right.

It is now six feet tall—a weed growing in a flower pot on my back porch. Why am I growing a weed? I didn’t plant it. It just began all by itself. At the time, I did not know if it was a flower that I planted or a weed. As it turns out, the flowers I planted in that pot have not shown up.

Once I realized it was a weed, why didn’t I pull it up and throw it away? The answer is curiosity. I wanted to see what this volunteer plant would look like. It’s odd that it never spread out. It is only one very tall stem with thin leaves circling it all the way to the top. Small white growths just appeared at the end of the leaves, but only those near the top. Maybe they are flowers?

Funny thing is that just a few days ago, I noticed that my daughter has a smaller version of the very same weed growing voluntarily in a pot on her porch.

Maybe it is more than my curiosity that saved its life. I was always fascinated by Jack and the Beanstalk and how one very tall plant led Jack to an adventure and riches. I plan to continue to watch it grow and will only cut it down if a giant climbs down and if I can find my ax in the garage. 

Let’s just say I was testing the bounds of reality. I was curious to see what would happen. That’s all it was: curiosity.” ~ Jim Morrison

My gift today is a very tall weed.

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> Day 223: Muggy Reading

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html