Perhaps there are moments of beauty in the middle of a war. War in this instance may be a bit too strong of a word, but I have been engaged in combat in the Great Thistle Battle of '12. Through the misty haze of 2,4-D I spotted this and couldn't help but snatch a photo. And in a moment of weakness I gave this bee protected weed a pass.
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| Bee and the Thistle |
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| Thistle Monster |
They say it is hard to calm down after fighting a long fight and perhaps that was true of me last night. As I thought of how the thistles would slowly lean over, wither, and die I fell asleep and began to dream. The drooping, curling limbs became snakes in a nightmare that I had to slash at and kill again.
Maybe the good news is that others are on the battlefront waging the good, and perhaps uphill, fight against the thistle to keep pastures and fence rows clean. You can read reports from
Sgt. Goodman and
Lt. Bussard on their exploits against this prickly problem.
And don't forget to look for beauty in creation even when or where you don't expect it.
