A Weed to Love

in the past while sitting waiting for the train I would look at the milk weed and other miscellaneous plant life growing around the tracks and think, this place needs a good weeding.

My desire to tidy up the train tracks is probably a by product of growing up in a post Highway Beautification Act world. I'm certainly happy that Ladybird Johnson decided our road ways should be beautiful and have stretches of manicured plants and greenery along them.

I'm also happy that a walking tour at Duke Farms enlightened me to the beauty of the milkweed. Milkweed, I learned is the sole food of the Monarch caterpillar. Monarchs lay their eggs only on milkweed and the plant sustains and houses the caterpillar until they finally metamorphsize into lovely orange and black butterflies. Turns out this odd looking plant is not just a "weed" but a food source and habitat. Now, I now longer feel the urge to to see the train tracks all nice and tidy.

How I viewed it before:

How I see it now: