Birds are messy eaters. So I wasn't shocked when the ground beneath our backyard feeder started sprouting a healthy crop of weeds.
The swath is tucked between the fence and our bird bath, too narrow to reach with the lawnmower. Unpacking the trimmer seemed like a chore, and so did pulling the weeds by hand, so we just kind of let them grow.
And about a week ago, a bright yellow bloom appeared — a happy, healthy, accidental sunflower.
Had I intentionally planted sunflowers in our garden, and fertilized and fretted over them the way I do with our tomatoes and cucumbers, I doubt they would have survived.
But this one, sown by starlings and tended by nothing but sun, wind and rain, has thrived and bloomed.
A lesson on the beauty of summertime — and surrender.
