We planted typical palm trees, birds of paradise and tropicana canna, but I think my favorite is the hibiscus plant that produces beautiful, sweet red flowers.
 |
| photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org |
The plant would have about 50 blooms on it right now - I can see where the flowers should be. Except Barkley has eaten every.single.one of the flowers.
A few mornings ago, as I stood in my bathroom straightening my hair with both kids and my husband sleeping in our bed a mere 2 feet away outside the bathroom door, I spotted Barkley in the garden amongst the tropical plants. As he bit off the one hibiscus bloom that seemed to have appeared overnight, he meandered across the backyard ever so slowly, right by the bathroom window, smirking at me as he passed by. Oh how I wanted to scold him and yank the flower from his mouth! But to wake my babies up at 6:15am would not be worth it.
Not like scolding him over that one flower would ever change his future flower stealing behavior.
He loves them. He's an evil thief. And I have learned to love the plant with only its green leaves. I dream about the red sweet blooms it is capable of having. And I laugh at the dog we have named Barkley.
Every Thursday we come together to share the harvest of intentional living by capturing a glimpse of the bigger picture through a simple moment.
Those pesky pets -- I think they know just when to be irritating so that they'll get away with it. Our neighbor's cat always starts meowing at our door after bedtime, and if it weren't for the sleeping kids, I'd yell and bang pot-lids together to scare him off...
ReplyDeleteBut alas, we choose the wiser path ;)
That of insanity. Heh.
I love that he paraded right by you with the flower in his mouth. Naughty dog!
ReplyDeleteI forgive Jibbers (my cat) a lot of things. I understand that compassion for a part of your family, because they are a part of our family. Although I'm sure your tropical paradise is utterly delightful. :)
ReplyDeleteLove your bigger picture chica. Thanks for sharing!
Alita
Robin, you are SO much more self controlled than I would have been -- I'm the crazy neighbor flying out her door at 7 a.m. to shoo my dog away from the raspberry bushes. I know what I look like, but when he eats the bushes, it's bad news in more ways than you want to know.
ReplyDeleteOh, Barkley, may you never know the same fate as my dog, and may your owner never become the crazy neighbor who lectures her dog in full conversational tones. :)
No way, man. That dog would be in deep trouble with me. Quiet deep trouble, but trouble nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteHa! I would've been yelling and banging on my bathroom window -- good self-restraint there, Robin :) Our last dog drove me to insanity and tears. Unfortunately, rather than quiet victims like pretty flowers, his victims were UPS drivers. We all breathed a sigh of relief when he was "gifted" to our in-laws ;)
ReplyDeleteI love hibiscus! We were just talking about picking some up for our front porch.
ReplyDeleteI have a cat that is like that. We finally spent money and got a really nice leather chair and the first weekend we went away he scratched it. We just now tell ourselves we will have nothing nice for at least 18 years! (needs the kids and cat to grow up!)