Drops of Blood and Sunshine

Drops of Blood and Sunshine

It was a perfect 75 degree day with a cool breeze. I had finally decided to take advantage of the small patch of dirt near my door situated in full sunlight. I began digging around to get rid of rocks and debris, throwing them to a shadier area. I went back into my home to retrieve the few small pots of pre-grown marigolds. They were perky, moist, and ready for their new home. I had a bad track record of killing off plants but decided maybe I would have better luck with ones that were already fairly mature. I knelt down on the grass and began the process of gently twisting the potted flower back and forth to dislodge it from its pot. I used my trowel to move the dirt out of the way and hit something sharp. I didn’t have a pair of gardening gloves so I just reached in trying to shake loose whatever I had hit. Turned out it was a bottle that had been buried there and in my excitement I had broken it. I felt the bite of hitting glass and immediately withdrew my hands. I put my hand into my mouth seeing the cut that looked like a smile start to form. “Damn,” I thought, “should have gotten gloves.” I figured I would hurry up and pot this marigold first then run inside and get something to help with the bleeding. A few drops of blood made contact with the bloom and dirt but it wasn’t painful so I dug the plant in opting to leave the bottle in place. It was deep enough down so I didn’t think it was an issue. I go up after making my new golden friend comfortable but what I hadn’t noticed was that the bloom had shuddered a bit. Had I seen that then the next events may not have been such a surprise.

I wrapped my hand up and decided I would wait until the next day to finish planting the other three marigolds. I went about my day coddling my injury and joking to my friends about how glass seems to find me even in my backyard. I laid down that night and found myself wondering about the origins of the bottle and if I should dig it up to make room for my other marigolds. I awoke in the middle of the night feeling so thirsty I had no idea where the craving came from. I immediately went to my kitchen sink and grabbed the largest container I could find and drank two large glasses. I couldn’t drink anymore with out getting sick so I sat the glass down and just stood at my sink for a moment. That had never happened before and I was still thirsty. I decided to lay back down and try to get some sleep when suddenly this feeling of excitement came over me. I couldn’t fall back to sleep no matter what I tried! I didn’t know what was coming but I knew it was going to feel amazing! Then I heard it. The light drops of an early spring rain. I sat upright in my bed finding myself joyful beyond words. “AH!” I found myself exclaiming causing my two dogs to wake and stare at me intently. It felt as if every nerve on my body flared up all at once. I could feel every nutrient soaking into my skin lighting me up from the inside. It had begun to rain! The water was warm, comforting, and I didn’t feel thirsty anymore. The rain stopped feeling like water on my skin and began to feel like droplets of life that I could use to power myself for what felt like at least a week. I felt so exhilarated that I didn’t remember falling asleep. I could only recall the feeling of the spring storm.

The next morning, I felt completely intoxicated but satisfied. It was strange, I hadn’t felt this intensely good in years. I completed my normal morning routine and shut my door on the way to work. I happened to glance to see how my new golden friend was fairing after the heavy rain and found it was double its normal size! I did a double take but I had to leave so I pulled up the camera app on my phone and took a quick picture. Did I really just see that? The over sized marigold weighed on my thoughts all day to the point that I sent the picture to a few of my gardening friends who of course did not believe me. I then shared the photo to my FB and IG pages and was overwhelmed with notifications before noon. Someone suggested that I take a picture every time that I noticed growth with the flower and to not plant anything else near it because if it was growing that fast it would most likely kill every thing around it. I was so excited to head home after work to check on my friend that I almost got into an accident merging onto the highway. I got home and found that the flower had grown again. The bloom was so heavy the stem had broken in half with the bloom sitting on its side. My landlord who lived above me came down after she saw the picture I posted on FB. Her and her boyfriend helped me create a small crate to support the bloom but we knew at this rate it wasn’t going to hold. This incredible growth continued and every time it rained during the night; I would feel every drop pulsing through my body.

Within a month the marigold had grown to weigh about 45lbs with no signs of slowing down. I had generated so much interest in the flower we had to start setting appointments for people from all over the area to stop by and investigate the flower. I knew something was really off when a photographer tried to move the bloom and a petal broke off. I immediately felt a small knife make contact with my left hand and found that I had small drops of blood now forming on my hand. I had to stop people from coming to see the flower until my hand healed. I didn’t want people to being to suspect what I already knew. This marigold and I were inexplicably connected and I had no clue what to do next, except to allow it to continue to grow. And grow it did. And just like anything unknown every one began to complain. Neighbors complained about the increased foot traffic, the dropping property value, (which was of course inaccurate but hey Karens gotta Karen) and more importantly me waking in the middle of the night with multiple scratches on me from people ripping pieces of the bloom off. I had to start charging ungodly prices for people to be able to touch the bloom and this allowed for me to save for my own 27-acre property and allow educational field trips to be held for free.

I was able to stop working and hang out with my golden friend full time. But then once my new home was built with 5 acres being dedicated to just my Goldie, the issue became would I be able to move her? And if I did move her what would be the consequences to both her and myself? I had to set up meetings with several prominent horticultural societies and landscaping experts as she was still growing. Within two weeks there was a comprehensive plan in place to dig her up, carefully, and relocate her to the middle of the 5 acres that was set up to handle her. The only real problem was would I suffer negative outcomes due to the move? I was not prepared to let any one know that I would most likely feel every thing the marigold was feeling before, during, and after the move. I went outside during one of the last rains of fall, the drops still felt amazing but had the bite of the season to come. I sat beneath Goldie and tried to relax. I talked with her about the upcoming move and about where we were moving to. She shifted with pleasure seeming to understand what I was conveying which made me smile. I knew every thing was going to be ok and we would have a long life together. The next day all the teams were in place along with several flat beds connected and sealed to prevent any extra dirt from being lost. The first backhoe dug in just a little too close to a few of her roots and I felt small pinches as contact was made. I had to retreat into my apartment and jump into a bath that I prepared for this possibility. It helped a great deal to ease both myself and her as her roots were being cut off from their water supply so I was temporarily her water source.

Within the hour she was uprooted, loaded, and on the way to the new property that was around 20 minutes away. I had to re-fill the tub several times during this move but I knew instantly when they re-rooted her as I felt so much relief and calm when they covered her carefully back up. She was comfortable. Now it was my turn. It took me about 3 weeks to pack up everything I owned, purchase appliances and furniture and gather great friends to help me move. I could only sit and be grateful to every one around me and I began planning on the best way to use my new found fortune to give back to my community.

That was five years ago and the way that Goldie was able to help me build a well known community has been unbelievable. And of course, she hasn’t stopped growing! She has just about filled up ½ an acre and people continue to journey from all over the world to take pictures and witness her size. I was able to build one large home and several smaller homes for folkx in need and start several small gardens and farms. There was even a horse ranch on the property with a bee keeping area.

Moral of the story, buy plants from your local farmer’s market and spill a little bit of your blood on the branches and dirt around the plant. You never know what may happen!