the mystery of the unknown weed

To start at the beginning, last spring, a weed appeared in an empty flower pot on the back patio. I like to keep empty flower pots outside for exactly this purpose, so when the interesting plant started randomly growing in it, rather than pull it out and throw it away, I decided to cultivate it. This hobby is perhaps the most low-maintenance hobby ever. I never have to buy plants. I just wait for them to appear.

I was surprised to see the weed grow so tall over the year. And the leaves were so alluring. I can remember walking out there one evening last summer, and the way the weed stretched toward the sky, holding its leaves up to the moonlight, took my breath away. What was this beautiful creature?

I consulted my wildflower and tree guides. I tried a leaf identification app. But the identity of the plant remained obscure.

Whatever it was, my neighbor had one just like it, maybe a year older than mine. The seed must have fallen from hers. Her tree had grown fifteen feet high, and mine looked like it was well on its way there too, without me having to do anything to it. No fertilizer, whatever rain happened to fall on it, and it grew like a magical beanstalk.

I suppose I could have asked my neighbor, but it didn't really bother me that I didn't know what it was. I enjoyed it for what it was, whatever it was, and for the mystery its oddly geometric leaves cast over the patio.

I think that's a good way to live life. Prepare your soil, and be open to whatever lands in it and grows. Maybe the weed will grow into a common grass and wither when fall approaches. Maybe the weed will grow into a mysterious tree whose name you never figure out.

In any case, the mystery is over. My friend Ed and I were out on the patio yesterday morning. He was mouse-proofing the hole in the outside wall where the air conditioner lines -- and mice -- go inside the house. I was sitting under the magical tree, learning about how air conditioners work, and when I looked over the fence I saw the tree in my neighbor's yard, heavy with green papayas.