Flower or Weed?

Inspired by my good friend JTho, I decided to take a stand against the small crop of dandilions currently trying to make a place for themselves in my front yard. I don't remember there being as many in past years (or maybe I was just ignoring them), but this year I noticed more of the wanna-be-flowers than I care to see.

Out I went, armed with a mystery tool from my garage that I think is for digging up weeds, but I'm not sure. I saw Jane use it the other day, I will admit, or I wouldn't have known what it was for. One and one-half hours, two slightly sunburned arms (it's going to turn to tan, I'm sure!), and four...count them....four...ice cream buckets full of offending dandilions later, I was finished.

Or so I thought. As I type, I can peer at the window and see at least two taunting little yellow flowers...what?!?

Related thought: picking dandilions when I was little. This past weekend, my sister Amy told me that Amber (the niece with the pink purse in the previous post) was very distraught earlier in the week when she discovered that the dandilion that she had picked for her mom at the babysitter's was wilted in the bag. Reminded me of picking dandilions for my mom in the yard at the farm.

The rule at my parent's farm is that if it's green, it's allowed to grow in the lawn. Therefore, there's a mishmash of grass, clover, and weeds, including dandilions. I thought it was so great that we had a huge patch in the back yard. My mom had a special little vase for dandilions. It was a simple ribbed milky white glass, just the right size for a bouquet of five or six dandilions. She would place the vase right in the middle of the kitchen table for the entire two-hour life span of the flowers, and I couldn't have been happier.

Ironic, isn't it, that a flower that I loved as a kid is now a weed that I suffer stiff legs and sunburn getting rid of. Hmmm....philosophical life lesson or just a matter of maturing...y0u decide.