Muddy Spring

Tenacity

You've probably noticed just how enamored I am of dandelions lately. I just can't get over them. I suppose part of it is that I have a neighbors without any--or many in their yards, while we seem to have millions. In fact our garden is in large measure a result of our efforts to remove them from the backyard. We tilled up the ground thinking we'd reseed since the dandelions had taken over and a friend of ours thought we'd tilled for a garden. Why not? We thought. So now we have this great garden space. I digress. Recently I spent some time pulling dandelions out of an area that is going to be a flower/herb garden. They were big and plentiful. I was intent on ridding this little space of them. This is the pile or at least part of it. Do you notice anything?

Take a closer look.The next day (I don't always have time to complete tasks in one day) when I went to clean them up I was astounded at their tenacity. None of the dandelions I pulled were even close to going to seed as far as I knew. So here I was intent on ending their existence and in the tiny space I gave them (by leaving them on the sidewalk) they insisted on doing what they could to fulfill their purpose. To send out their little seedlings into the universe. I'm in awe. Never give up--not even when all hope is gone. That's my lesson from the dandelions.