Persistence

Years ago when I was living in Lincoln Park in Chicago, I saw a petunia growing in the concrete where the sidewalk met a wall. It was a bright pink petunia, if I recall correctly. I wish I had had camera back then because I would have taken a picture of it, framed it on my wall, and called it "Persistence."

When the Boy was in a gifted program back in elementary school, I would say that the mothers of these very bright girls thought of their kids as precious petunias, which is ironic because petunias are hardy perennials flower that are easy to grow. The Boy, on the other hand, is an orchid. He needs precise living conditions in order to thrive.

I digress. Today when I let Fox on the condo patio to pee, I saw a little plant growing in a crack in the concrete between the patio and the wall. I immediately snatched the little sapling before I could think. As soon as I picked out, I was immediately reminded of the petunia on the sidewalk in Chicago.

It is interesting to see this plant has nothing but one skinny little root that found its way to some soil buried underneath my sidewalk.

I was going to compost this weed--a plant that nobody wants--until I saw my pot with a matching plant in it. I decided to replant this fragile yet hardy little guy in the soil with another snapdragon. Will this plant be better off in the concrete or in the dirt? We will never know because we can't compare the two paths, the one we took and the one we didn't.