It finally feels like Spring has arrived. It’s the time of year when those of us in the Northeast begin judging our neighbors’ lawns and waging war on dandelions.
Since I don’t use pesticides, our lawn does not win any awards for lushness. When I get ambitious, I’ll pull the dandelion plant out by its roots, meaning that our lawn looks patchy (on a good day). At the very least, I’ll try to remove the flowers before they go to seed.
Many years ago, a friend related this story. Her husband, from Switzerland, would talk about how much he missed the fields of beautiful yellow wildflowers. When she finally visited Switzerland, she was shocked to discover that the beautiful wildflowers flowers were actually dandelions.
This story has stayed with me because it demonstrates that our attitudes are learned. Somebody decided that we needed to destroy dandelions, rather than enjoy their beauty. Life would be easier — and quite honestly a bit more beautiful — if we would view dandelions as a hardy, colorful wildflower and not a suburban plague.
Today, write about something that you believed and then questioned. What was your belief and what brought it to your attention?
