Plucking the Tulips

It is always strange to watch from our big window as a woman, and it is always a random woman, looks into our yard, and then stoops to pluck one of the six tulips that bloom near the sidewalk, imagining no one is watching. Of course it is rather funny that someone is always at the front window when the offence occurs.

I would understand and not feel badly if they picked the plentiful bluebells at the other end of the patch, but every year we see at least one woman pick at least one of the few tulips in the garden.

We puzzle over it because it is not something we would do. They are not ours and they are not in large supply.. So what compels someone to do such a thing? Six tulips are not a bunch, so removing one is quite significant. And if I am not taking them into my house, what would make someone feel that entitled to have it at theirs?

Anyway, not a big deal, it just puzzles us every year.

Luckily we have a gazillion bluebells to soothe our out-of-joint noses. (Photos to come)

Dusting off, moving on ...

I'm feeling like I'm finally going to dust off this old thing and get it moving again.  Hoping that there aren't too many of you out there, but just enough for a conversation. Will it be intense? Perhaps. My intention is to work through some bigger thoughts that have been making me feel pretty crazy, like this one: The Modern-Day Nation-State is a Cult. Too many hyphens? Perhaps so. That can be the start of the debate, but I'm hoping by the time the debate peters off, as these things generally do, we won't care one wit about hyphens, ellipses or even the carefully placed commas.

And if there is no debate, if there are no readers, truthfully it doesn't matter. Because it is time once again to get going, to practice, to find a voice.

So here we go.