Dandelions

The tradition I picked is blowing dandelions and making a wish. I picked it because last weekend there were dandelions all over near the horse pasture and me and my cousins kept stopping to blow them while we walked.

I asked my aunt where she learned it and she said she didn’t know because little kids just always seem to do it.

The object I brought is one of the dandelions in a Ziploc bag because otherwise all the white parts would fall off in my backpack. It looks flattened now because I pressed it inside my science notebook first and the spiral left little lines across part of it.

The hard part is getting all the seeds off in one breath because if too many stay on it feels like your wish probably won’t happen anymore.

The wind kept messing mine up and blowing the seeds sideways instead.

Afterward there were little white fuzz pieces stuck all over everybody’s socks and some got caught in my horse’s mane somehow.

I know wishes probably aren’t real but I still try to pick good dandelions just in case.

H.G.

You noticed something I almost missed.

Dandelions are about leaving a tiny bit of room for impossible things.

Adults usually call that irrational.

I think childhood is partly knowing not everything has to be settled yet.

I hope you always leave yourself a little room for "just in case."

The Professor. Period 5