Dandelions

Hi all! Sorry, it's taking me a lot longer to write the post I've been working on then I thought it would... However, I did want to post something so you don't think I'm falling back into bad habits--like completely ignoring this blog.... ;)

A couple of days ago I was walking out to my car from work and decided to take the short route. There is a sidewalk that would get me there, but it wanders in a roundabout fashion--something I usually have no problem with, but this day was made for something else.

The sun was shining, birds were singing, it hadn't rained in a while (which meant the ground was solid as opposed to a morass of mud)--so I decided to cut through the mediumish swathe of grass that stood between my vehicle and myself. This minuscule meadow was populated not by sidewalks, but with a person-tall tree or two, and a huge horde of... dandelions!!

Naturally, I kicked them.

Keep in mind, these were the... well, I don't know the word for it, but these were almost entirely dandelion flowers gone to seed. They were at the fun stage, where they invite random passerby to partake in their life by tossing their seeds to the four corners of the earth. I thought oblige.

It started out small. A puffy white thing was by my foot, so I kicked at it as I walked by. A step or two more and another was next to my other foot--I kicked again. Before I knew it, I was in their midst, kicking bunches of the flowers to pieces with every step! It was bliss! And joy! And delighted my five-year-old soul to no end!

Then I looked up.

Remember those trees I mentioned earlier in my description of this happy place?

Yeah, I didn't either.

Thankfully, I happened to look up prior to impact. The trunk of the tree was mere inches from the tip of my nose--I leapt back & sideways, more than a little startled! Then I hastily glanced around, just to make sure no one was nearby.

Of course, someone was.

But, no worries! Being the college student I assume he was, the young man passing me in the opposite direction was completely absorbed by gazing at his phone, his ears preoccupied by his head-phones.

Thank goodness.

Thinking that I had escaped unobserved, I mentally patted myself on the back and resolved to keep my eyes up and have done with dandelion kicking. Except for that one. And maybe--NO, we must focus!! ... you get the idea.

Upon entering the parking lot my mind wandered off to make dinner plans and wonder what the weather would do tomorrow, all but forgetting the dandelions behind me. As I passed a--what I assumed to be vacant--bus on my right, I was startled by the gruff voice of an older gentlemen.

"Didn't leave many of them dandelions alive, did ya?"

He was laughing. He'd been in the bus. The whole time. With a perfect view of the mini-meadow I had been frolicking in.

There was no way of denying what I had done. So I owned it.

"Nope, no dandelions--but man, those trees really put up a fight!"