Dear Wigleaf,

In my backyard of tall trees and bright yellow dandelion flowers, I'm watching squirrels in Oklahoma.

Did you know that you can make tea and salad from dandelions and that sucking the milk from their leaves alleviates pain? Dandelion flowers are good for butterflies and bees pollinating flowers. Some of the most beneficial plants for the soil, dandelions remove toxins and renew the earth. Why do people kill dandelions and eradicate them from their yards? I'm happy to have a yard full of weeds because weeds are virtuous plants.

Squirrels run up and down the old pecan trees, chasing each other in circles. They chatter and scold, flicking their bushy tails. They steal sunflower seeds off the broken plate on the picnic table on the balcony. One fat squirrel eats so much birdseed. She approaches the chair where I sit and leaps onto the picnic table. Now, she's eating the birdseed right next to me. Should I try to touch her? If I'm careful, I could stroke her tail. Just as I reach out, the squirrel looks up to the sky and leaps off the balcony.

Barred owls make sounds like human laughter as they call each other from the trees. Suddenly, all the squirrels in the yard are silent. The owls are watching me, and I'm watching the owls.

Yours,

Aimee