I am Stella, Queen of the Olde English Bulldogges. Hello! Plants are our friends. I hope.
Me: You sound doubtful.
Stella: Not all plants can be trusted. You told me so yourself. There are plants that are evil.
Me: Not evil. Poisonous. Thorny. Prickly. Full of stickers. Inedible.
Stella: In other words, evil.
Me: They have no ability to intend evil.
Stella: Tell that to my poor little toes when they get stuck with wicked cactus thorns. And didn’t you tell me that, when you were a little human growing up in the Piney Woods of what you keep calling Texas (though I don’t know what that means), you were sometimes afraid of the tall trees?
Me: Well, yeah, but I was a kid.
Stella: A kid? Like a baby goat? I thought that you were always human. How did you pull that off?
Me: I have always been human. ‘Kid’ is an expression for a young human and a baby goat.
Stella: Is that all humans do? Sit around making up words to confuse us?
Me: No. We do considerably more than that. Haven’t you noticed?
Stella: You mean Picture Boxes and Rolling Boxes? Meh. I have noticed that you let evil plants infest your ground.
Me: What ‘evil’ plants, Stella?
Stella: The tall spring plants that were not with us last year. They were frightening Snoopey and Tiger. Marching toward the house and every day growing taller and greener. An army of straight leafy soldiers, taking over our territory.
Me: Actually, they are called lamb’s quarters and some people really enjoy them in a salad.
Stella: Salad? Yuck! A bowl of green leaves? Yuck!
Me: We’ve had people ask if they can harvest them. And I say sure. There are plenty for all.
Stella: Eating leaves. Eeewww! Eating grass? Of course. But eating leaves? No. No. No. No. Humans have terrible taste in food.
Me: The lamb’s quarters have not been bothering you. I’ve watched you walk around them. All you have to do is stick to the paths.
Stella: But the crowding plants still bothered Snoopey and Tiger. The evil plants are the reason that they have not wanted to go outside alone, especially at night.
Me: So when Tall Man cut some of the lamb’s quarters, Snoopey and Tiger didn’t mind going out anymore. Okay. That makes sense.
Stella: All you had to do was ask me why they were balking and I would have told you that it was because of the evil plants.
Me: But Wiggles, Doodlebug, and Miss Sweetie had no problem with them.
Stella: You know how they are. They don’t believe in evil plants. All plants and animals are their friends. They are idiots.
Me: You didn’t have any problem with them either.
Stella: I am Flying Stella, Squirrel Fighter. No silly plant will get in my way when I am going outside to potty. Let the plants beware. Besides, the short ones tickle my belly.
Copyright 2017 H.J. Hill All Rights Reserved.
Bulldoggy 