Weed Beauty, Unusual Gifts, and Other News Fresh From the Farm

Inside: Weeds can be beautiful, my favorite kind of gifts, and my daughter the doctor.

Weeds Can Be Beautiful

When I was a child, dandelions were the most beautiful of flowers. Their bright yellow centers just invited the picking, and nobody yelled at you for it. Moms feigned delight and surprise at being presented with such bouquets. And the ones that escaped us kids? They rewarded us with white globes of traveling seeds, daring us to blow and set them free.

Then adulthood sets in. . .

Suddenly dandelions are the enemy, and we’re in the garden center waging war, buying products for weed control or handy tools to easily expel the dreaded weeds from our yards and gardens.

I’ve picked my share of dandelions in younger days and dug them up for being in my way as I’ve gotten older. I’ve blown on the seeds to see them fly and thrown them over the fence to be rid of them. But the other day as the sun sank low behind the farm, I saw them once again through child eyes. Dozens and dozens of tiny balls set aglow by the waning light of evening. My path illuminated.

And it was beautiful.

My Favorite Kind of Gifts

I’m not the conventional type, especially when it comes to gifts. Case in point, we were leaving the restaurant where Mike and I just met Emily for my Mother’s Day lunch a day early. We were in our cars ready to leave when she opened her door to say something and I rolled down the window. “They [the radio] just told me I should get my mom diamonds.” She laughed.

She knows me well. Her gift to me was a galvanized tray which will double nicely for both a photography prop and home decor. Plus the always appreciated Amazon gift card. And the following day her father surprised me by carrying a large black resin box with doors and vent holes, which got me all excited when I saw it. A compost bin! (Yes, Virginia, expect a post on the subject soon.)

I am such a practical gal.

Over the years I’ve gotten gifts that have raised more than a few eyebrows. Like the head lamp (think miners’ hats) Hubs got me for Christmas one year. When a friend from church inquired about his gift and he told her about the lamp, she looked horrified. I then explained that it was one of the best gifts I ever got. That I was feeding calves at night after milking, and holding a flashlight between my knees, several bottles of milk in my hands, plus trying to unwire the door to the pen while hungry calves were pushing to get at their supper. All in the dark, usually between 8:30 and 9–and in the cold during winter. That one gift relieved a mountain of stress and still ranks high in my memory of good presents.

My all time favorite gift, admittedly, wasn’t practical, though it didn’t cost anything. Newlyweds, we were living in a tent in Florida (by choice) and getting ready to go to the nearby town to work cleaning hotel rooms during the busy tourist season. Mike left to go to the shower and then returned a second later, huge grin on his face, and he placed in front of me a large green husk with coconut inside. That grin on his face, that time in our lives, seemed to be wrapped up in that humble gift. Some things really are priceless.

By the way, we never cracked open the coconut, and I still have it.

My Daughter the Doctor

The past two days we’ve been celebrating with Emily as she received her doctorate degree in political science. Thursday we attended her hooding ceremony at Washington University with Mom, which was pleasant. Early Friday we were back for the university-wide graduation held in the quadrangle. Outdoors. In the rain. Rows and rows of white, pristine chairs with puddled water in the seats. Parents, friends, and family donned rain ponchos over dress clothes and huddled under umbrellas listening to speeches–and, thankfully, spared speeches from speakers who put the water-logged grads and their loved ones’ needs before their own. We hung out with our son-in-law Jared and endured the rain together. The lower portion of my sweater sleeves where the poncho didn’t cover were soaked, along with my purse. (I was thankful I wore my boots instead of the sandals I’d been considering.) Mike’s pants got wet, and Jared’s raincoat got drenched to the point that it didn’t keep the rain out anymore. But he was patient and helped us navigate the campus and find Emily after the proceedings were finished and offered to bring the car around for us. Later we relaxed at their home, dried out some, and then went out for a late lunch at her and Jared’s favorite pasta restaurant.

Graduations are sometimes long with many speakers–and introductions to speakers–quite a few whose opinions differ from mine. Long walks around campus and to parking. Uncomfortable weather conditions–cue the steady rain. But the thing is, a little discomfort doesn’t hold a candle to the many, many hours of work and striving and disappointments with few triumphs that make up a post graduate degree. To say Emily worked hard is an understatement. She stretched the limits and pushed through at times when she wondered if she would make it. I admire her determination and perseverance and strength. She is an amazing woman!

I was glad to share in her graduation, standing there, watching her with a lump in my throat, moist eyes, and my stylish plastic rain poncho.

What’s been happening in your neck of the woods? Tell us about it in the comments.

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