Looking out my Backdoor: Beginnings, mysteries and a mixed bag of nonsense

Bob T, a long-time friend from my past, used to compare life to a battery. In order for it to work, life must have both positive and negative poles. I, of course, wanted only the positive, the easy, the serene. Ha! Wantin’ ain’t gettin’.

On my patio I have a vine that I potted some three years ago, a vine, but more branch than leaf. I don’t know why I’ve kept it; it is not a bit pretty, but rangy and the leaves fall off leaving naked brown stems. In the cold of this morning, that ugly step-sister plant had borne two beautiful blue trumpet flowers.

My son is on the mend followi...