I’ve heard that removing the wilted flowers from a plant will provoke the growing of fresh flowers. I believe the process of culling the old blooms is called deadheading. As I have just planted some new flowers in our front garden, I decided to test this practice. So, at 9 am I made my way outside and began. And then… Something brushed my leg.
I thought it was one of those dang cicadas so I just kept doing my thing and then I turned to look because after a minute it definitely DID NOT feel like a cicada.
It was a Rottweiler.
A full blown not-my-dog kind of Rottweiler.
As I wasn’t sure whose dog she was, or where the heck she came from, I was a teensy bit apprehensive. I guess her curiosity got the best of her and she came to check out the flowers. She brushed up against me while sporting a giant blue cone and a bright pink collar. I knew that she belonged with someone, and as much as I wished in that moment that she belonged to me, I started to look around for her owner.
She got a little distracted (prone to them, this one) and started making her way towards the woods. I still hadn’t seen her owner, so I tried to lead her toward my back yard and away from any infectious woody elements. But, my new friend once again wasn’t listening to me, and she started to make her way around my house toward the road.
Out of nowhere, a man appeared at the other end of my street and yelled to me that she is friendly. I suppose he’s her owner. And, he looked like he had his hands full in an attempt to set up a basketball hoop.
So, I did what I hope anyone would have done for me in this kind of predicament and I made sure that my friend stayed in our area. She sniffed and hopped and slowly wandered around the trees. Probably smelling the bunnies that had been out this morning or the deer that I had seen in the woods two days prior. But, once again, distracted, this beautiful, pink collared girl trotted happily away from me and the man and the hoop and adventured out our lines of sight.
I had just begun to follow her, when the man curiously gazed toward me.I just pointed outside the court and he said “thanks!” And ran off to get her. He wasn’t far behind her and was able to bring her attention back to him and the hoop and the empty street. And I finished deadheading, swept the porch, cleared off the welcome mat, and made my way back inside to finish laundry.
Leah Kristin 