PIckleweed and Pickle Puss
Well, today is done. Praise God! Here is some advice for all you bloggers – Never think that you have seen it all. I make this mistake all the thyme and today was no exception.
Today was my first day back at the Lavender Fields in Valley Center for the 2008 harvest season where I am a docent to (literally) busloads of farm guests, and it was a "two-tour" doozy!
On the first tour of the day, were 20 of the sweetest folks from Temecula, CA. I enjoyed them immensely. One elderly gentleman, asked to speak with me after the tour was completed and the folks were released to go SHOP. He asked for a cutting. Now I was confused, not because Folks normally do not ask for cuttings, ’cause they do, no – I was confused because the man was pointing toward the ravine and just off to the left of some scented geraniums and 180 degrees opposite to the acres and acres of organic lavender I had just shown off with great pride. If he had pointed to the lavender I would have had no problem, no confusion – I would have told him "No" and why (One reason is that, on average, it takes 100 cuttings just to get 10 plants to grow. The other is we need our plants…) and then I would have taken the opportunity to sell him some lavender plants. However, he was not pointing toward any lavender so I asked about the nearby scented geranium, "do you want this herb?" I asked.
"No, this", and he bent slowly downward to touch what I was dumbstruck to believe. "This", he said as he touched the "PICKLEWEED".
No, you cannot mean that! I exclaimed. "What on earth do you want that for?"
"I like it", was the simple answer. "What do you call it?"
"Why it’s Pickleweed. Take all you want."
He bent back down and started to take a modest stem and I gestured to take a bigger piece, which he did. He said thank you and headed off to proudly show his wife his pickleweed trophy.
Amazing.
I was still marveling at the event when the next bus came. This bus had more folks, about 50 from somewhere in O.C. and as I launched into my docent spiel, a woman started heckling me.
"I wanna go home", "I don’t wanna be here" and "She (meaning me) has nothing to say worth listening to…" It sounded like a petulant child, not an ancient old woman.
So, I treated her like a petulant child, took the group, and ditched her! When I caught back up with her at the end of the tour, she was on the porch still complaining.
"I wanna go home", "I don’t wanna be here" and "She (meaning me) has an annoying voice…" It still sounded like a petulant child. &, unfortunately, I lost my cool and told her in no uncertain terms that "It took an annoying voice to know one!" Take that.
What Picklepuss. What a day. What a life!
