It’s a Thin Line

The Pretenders said it first, and we have all been led to believe their song was referring to relationshps.  But really, who is to say that they weren’t referring to, say, wildflowers. 

Phil and I have had many debates about whether a given plant is a wildflower or a weed.  It escalated last year to the point where Phil solicited the opinion of an expert at the Tanque Verde Ranch as to the proper classification of Burro Weed.  I, of course, emphasized that if weed was in the name, that cleared it up for me, but the expert we consulted defined the differnce between a weed and a wildflower as the difference between a plant you didn’t want versus a plant you did want.  I, for example, didn’t want the burro weed.  Phil’s wildflower, my weed.

One of the things that is so surpising to me in the edesert is that the wildflowers bloom differently eachc year, and bloom in sequence.  For example, this year, we started with the little purple flowers, which turned into infernal burr weeds that attach to everything and hurt.  So a few weeks ago, Phil an dI spent a day pulling all the burr weeds.  But at the time, the purple tall flowers were so pretty, so we left them.  Today, I did so wrk on the purple tall ones, because now, they are just taller versions of the burr weeds.  However, because I a mairly stupid, I pulled the new burrs, but left the wildflowers.  Currently blooming.  Or, better said, the current wildflowers.  They will be weeds shortly, I am sure. 

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