Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

From June 2000 through September 2005, my husband, kids, and I lived in beautiful, hilly Southern Indiana. We lived on 6 acres of what I called “my little piece of heaven on earth.” 

One day, my father-in-law and I walked the 6-acre property.

“That is a noxious weed,” he said, pointing to what I had previously considered a wildflower.

I said nothing, because frankly, I was offended for the tall, pretty, purple flower I admired daily.

Gary was typically my go-to for all things nature. I trusted his wisdom and welcomed his advice. Until now.

Later, when alone, I looked up the word in the dictionary.

Noxious. Merriam-Webster says, “physically harmful or destructive to living beings.”

Humph. This wildflower had done nothing harmful or destructive to me, nor to anyone else I knew of. 

The second definition, “Disagreeable, obnoxious.”

This flower and I never had a disagreement, and I, in no way, found this flower to be obnoxious. Maybe a little tall and the purple may have been a bit showy, but I appreciated the confidence.

I looked up “noxious weed” on the internet. To my surprise and dismay, a picture of my tall, pretty, purple beauty loaded right in front of my eyes. As if this flower was the prime example of a noxious weed. These words followed, “A noxious weed is any plant designated by a Federal, State, or county government as injurious to public health, agriculture, recreation, wildlife or property.” Apparently, this wildflower of mine could harm other plants and possibly wildlife.

Frozen in time, I pondered my relationship with the familiar flower. I had welcomed and enjoyed it, with not a hint of hesitancy.

But Gary was right. As usual. I never admitted to Gary he was correct in his assessment, since my argument with him had only been in my mind. Gary’s weed had battled against my wildflower, and the weed had won.

I never looked at my wildflower the same, but it would be impossible to remove the plethora of the noxious weed scattered over our 6 acres. At least I would not be the one for such a task. 

From that day forward I suspiciously side-eyed my noxious weed-wildflower. But dang, it was a pretty shade of purple.