Dandelions – what are they?
The past two summers I have been yanking dandelions out of the lawn and commiserating about the fact that they are so prolific. I wonder exactly what are these plants and why do they seem to spring up out of thin air immediately after I scanned the lawn and dug up a bucket full of them. They seem to be the first to bloom in the spring and the last to die in the fall. Sometimes I think that if there is an afterlife as a plant, I may want to come back as a dandelion.
I have put the dandelions on notice about my mission to find them and remove them from the lawn. This declaration got me to thinking about this wondrous plant and why they seem to be the bane of every lawn owner in America. So I decided to read a bit about these plants. I found some details on Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taraxacum.
In summary, dandelions are edible, medicinal, support wildlife, benefit gardeners and are a source of natural rubber. I knew that dandelions had value other than being a pesky weed for lawns, but I was not aware of the extensive value they offer. Best of all I know that wine can be made from dandelions.
From my personal aesthetic point of view these plants pop up as a cute little yellow flower, but then morph into this gangly stem with a fuzz ball on top. As a child I used to love to pick them and blow on that cotton ball seed head and watch the little seeds float on the air. For some reason the yard just doesn’t look as nice with those stems standing tall over the green grass.
Although I have made it my mission to remove the dandelions from among the grassy patches in the yard, there is an acknowledgement of the relaxing exercise of the weeding practice. I find the effort to remove the plant and its entire root to be a great diversion from the general complexities of life. When I am on my hands and knees and I dig down into the soil I get this connection to plant life and all the amazing intricate relationships we have in this world.
After reading about dandelions and writing this little narrative, my attitude toward the plant has changed and I like the idea of coexisting with the plant for it is a great interconnected part of the environment and it provides countless hours of a relaxing exercise. I wonder if this could be translated into a broader scheme of things and perhaps there is a possibility that I can accept and coexist with all other life within this existence of ours. For now I think I will just focus on the plants!
I hope you have a delightful experience today and everyday henceforth.
What is there to say about me? I am not sure if I am typical or not, average or not, smart or not, BUT I think I definitely have a sense of humor. I am an aging baby boomer wondering if I have something to say about the world as I see it.
fillsmusings 
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