When I Nearly Got Shot By....

Early one evening this past Spring while I was in the living rooom eating supper from a tray, watching TV news and talking with a neighbor with whom I share my evening meals, a gunshot rang out across the room. "Did you see that?" "No, but I heared it", he responded. We were flabbergasted. How dare anyon disturb our evening meal. Well, we looked towards the windows on each side of the fireplace--no holes or cracks there. Then our eyes searched the wall thereabouts with no sign of damage there either--just a cobweb or two....maybe three...Then we inspected the rooms adjoining the living rooom--no one there; followed by going outside to see if anyone lurked thereabouts...nothing. So, we resumed our meal wondering if we were going to be shot at again. I went to bed a little uneasy that night. The next evening while eating alone as my neighbor was out of town , all of a sudden a gunshot came straight towards me. I looked up at the mantel across the room thinking it came from that direction. Slowly I crept over there, and what did I find on the mantel...among other things..three wisteria bean pods that had dispersed their seeds by forming a gas and upon imploding had shot their seed several feet away...after all it was Spring and time for planting.(Later, a friend told me if I didn't clean that room up, those wisteria seed were going to come up and the vines would choke me!)The wisteria bean pod, when maturing in the Fall, is a fuzzy velvety brown color. I had picked several (the first time I had ever seen any) and put them on the mantel forgetting about them. If you care to see what they look like, Google 'em, but none look as interesting as one in your hand. If you were to go out looking for some now, look deeper in and higher up on the vines as they will be among the older, darker leaves...not on this year's growth which is lighter in color. Now, go to my Facebook page and look at the pic I posted yesterday showing two new pods growing.