Morning Glory
In the early Spring of this year, I dug small holes in the earth, along an ugly chain link fence. Into each small hole, I carefully placed a seedling that I had nurtured indoors. Then, the dogs and I stood there, dreaming of a fence of magnificent sky-blue morning glories. Well, I really don't know what dogs dream of, but I felt wonderful that morning. I felt as if I had just conceived and knew that, in a few short weeks, my babies would poke their tiny green heads above the soil and burst into glorious flowers. I would see them each morning from my bed. But no detail ever escapes Tall Husband's notice, so I told him I had planted flowers along the fence, lest he mistook them for weeds. Then I very carefully told him not to tell our lawn man to pull anything from around the fence.
Tall husband* must have only heard the word, "pull," as he later gave instructions for the lawn man...one could not call him a gardener...to "pull out all the thorny vines that grow along the fence." Later that evening, I got the bad news, "You may not have any morning glories growing along the fence." His defense was that Juan* does not speak English well.
Have you ever been so angry that you were afraid to let that anger loose in the world? Yes? Then you know why I only shrugged and walked into the next room.
Months Later
The other morning, I was standing on the second-floor, screened porch of the guest house, watching the morning sun come up. Then I saw it. At the very top of a bare tree, gently dancing in the breeze, was a lone morning glory. It was as though that little seedling had known to climb a tree to get out of harm's way.
Since that first sighting, the other flowers have become brave enough to come down from the tree and grow along the fence. So, each morning I open my bedroom blinds to take in the heavenly blue of those beautiful survivors.
*Names have been changed to protect the culprits.
