Volunteer

I had to work today, but our great nephew Jordan stayed with Jilda after she returned from the morning class she teaches on Wednesdays. She had a long list of projects. He loves projects. That trait passed down to him from his mom. She too loved projects and Jilda is a master at project creation.

Today, Jordan picked a gallon of blueberries and checked the tomatoes plants for hornworms. She then had him paint flower pots for the floral arrangements she's making for upcoming "Decoration Days." She'd warned his mom to send him in old clothes that she could toss if he got too much paint on them. That was a fortunate decision.

I went to work early, so I left sooner than I normally do. I wanted to join in the fun. Gathering eggs was one project I had for him. Sometimes gathering eggs is like an Easter Egg hunt because the chickens tend to lay them all over the backyard.

After we did our chores, I remembered something he needed to see. It was a watermelon plant that volunteered to come up by the firepit benches. His face lit up when he saw the young watermelon plant. "Do you know how that got there?" I asked. His face got pensive as he tried to solve the puzzle. He was unsure but made a few guesses. I asked if he remembered eating the first bowl of watermelon while sitting on the bench back in March. It was a melon that I'm sure came from Mexico or South Florida. He smiled at the memory. I asked if he remembered spitting his seeds out while he ate. He remembered and he began to giggle. I told him he planted that watermelon and didn't even know he was doing it.

Both Jilda's and my grandparents said that when plants come up from discarded seeds that they were "volunteers." This thought brought a smile to my face because our little volunteer planted a "volunteer" and didn't even realize it.