the wildflowers and trees i walk by these days are mostly friends. oh, hi, black-eyed susan. how’s it going? nice to see you again.  hey there, mr. oak. looking regal again today. my how you’ve grown, burdock. it seems like just last week you were only knee-high. but then i walk along a mixed prairie grassland, or a stretch of silky trailside seed heads swaying in the summer breeze, and i can only manage to be distantly polite. how do you do? yes, i saw you here last week. your name again is . . . oats, was it? wheat? i’m so sorry.

unidentified roadside grass

sucker creek, saint paul, minnesota