Thursday, April 11, 2013

Poison Hemlock Masquerade

Note:  Poison Hemlock is often mistaken for Queen Anne's Lace. One way to tell the difference is to crush the leaves and smell them. Hemlock smells very bad but Queen Anne's Lace smells like carrots.
Needless to say, one is highly poisonous, the other is not...


Funny how those dried twigs and brittle flowers lured me in.
I brushed my thumb against their soft spikiness and tilted my face toward the breeze that blew in from the bay.  Heaven lay beyond, in the blue sky and grey clouds.  I felt like I could melt my spirit into the wind.

A sneeze from my dog brought me back to reality.  "Poor dog,"  I laughed.  "Maybe you shouldn't sniff so hard."   I envied him his sense of smell.  For some reason mine had always been weak.

I looked back at the plant again.  Queen Anne's Lace - I'd heard the roots were good to eat.  "I'll come back in the Spring and dig some up," I thought.  "Maybe make a Wild Carrot Cake - that would be a nice surprise for my friends."


My dog barked impatiently and tugged at his leash.  "Alright boy, I'm coming!"
Before leaving, I gazed back at the sky one more time and relished the wind on my face.
Heaven seemed closer than ever.

1 comment:

Karen Gough said...

If you think this story is sweet, you are mistaken.
Read it again.