Look what is happening 6 inches from my property line.
When we moved into our house 3 years ago, our yard was an outright jungle. It was impossible to walk in front of our house without a profusion of dead leaves and debris fiercely adhering to the bottom of your shoes and to any other body part which had unfortunately flirted too closely with plant matter. We later learned that this fierce adhesive was aphid droppings. Indeed, our yard was so entirely floriferous and abounding with aphids that their syrupy, clingy shit covered every surface.
Since that day, our free time has largely been devoted to brutally taming our yard into submission. We adopted a take-no-prisoners demeanor towards the vines, trees, weeds and other organisms that were choking the life out of our yard. The most heinous offenders were the blackberries. Barbarously snaking their way through every marginally viable bush with their savage and unrelenting thorns, the blackberries were our most formidable adversaries. After a siege lasting nearly 3 years, we seem to have subdued our rivals. For now anyway.
Our neighbor does not share our ruthless attitude toward these prolific vines. She is of the more live-and-let-live mindset. She has expressed to us that she likes her blackberries. I am unsure if she likes the look of them or if she likes snacking on the summer bounty of berries. I was too aghast to ask her to elaborate. But today as I was walking by her new crop just inches from our property line, I thought, wow, they're actually kind of pretty. Maybe I should mellow out a bit.
They don't look...inedible. I could make a pie.
But is it prudent to eat a berry from a plant which undoubtedly served as some sort of makeshift urinal just 2 weekends ago during Seafair ? I think I'll just continue being an obstinate blackberry murderer. Safer in the long run, I think.
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