Weed ~ noun
~A plant that grows where it is not wanted.
~A plant out of place
~A plant that is out of place in the environment in which it is found.
I love weeds. I guess that’s a given, seeing as how I’ve chosen to spend my life studying them, but it’s more than that. It’s a kinship that I feel for them. A knowing, if you will. I, to, have felt like a plant that grows where it is not wanted. Out of place.
Maybe that is why I find myself snapping photos of them where ever I go. Take the tenacious little fellas in the photo above. They didn’t really belong in that crack that runs along the edge of my driveway, surrounded by rocks and dirt and, quite likely, his poor roots were firmly entrenched in an area of ground previously soaked in oil, transmission fluid and all manner of other toxic substances. Yet, there he was. Taller, sturdier and more beautiful than the environment in which he was growing.
I didn’t have the heart to pull him up. He seemed so happy there. So I left him.
And snapped a pic.
And now, when I start to feel out of place I can come back and find him. When I feel like the world around me has gone to shit and there isn’t a single piece of goodness in sight I can look at that photo and find strength.
