Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Dumb Botany Joke

First, I have the coolest neighborhood. It is a mix of large Victorian houses, more modest family homes, a mansion with a purple atrium brought over from England, and a few small duplexes, like ours. This is definitely not a neighborhood with a neighborhood association that tells you what colors you can paint your house and what type of trees to plant. The following picture was taken this fall while walking around our neighborhood. I have it as one of my photos that comes up for my screen saver.


Second, privet is a type of shrub (Ligustrum sp., family Oleaceae). I don't have any personal experience with this plant, but I know that it is often used to create hedges.


Third, when I am sleepy I can be a little strange. And last night I fell asleep on the couch (seems to be my modus operandi during the winter) with my computer on the coffee table. At some point I half awoke and saw the following picture on the screen saver.





And all I could think of was
"Privet eyes are watching you"
"They're watching you, watching you"
Then I went to bed.

2 comments:

fillyjonk said...

Down where I live, privet spreads like crazy. I have it all over the place and have to cut it out. (I am guessing it's because birds eat the fruits, and poop out the seeds).

I'm also finding in much of my research that it (or a close relative of it) is considered invasive in such far-flung places as New Zealand and Brazil.

I think having something like that privet-guy in my neighborhood would give me nightmares; I already find those "tree faces" you can buy in some catalogs kind of creepy.

Jennifer said...

Well, I guess they are kinda creepy. This house is three or four blocks away and not on my daily walking route, so I don't see it that often. For Halloween, I drew eyes on a brown paper and stapled them to my trees. It did look a little creepy, I just need to find the pictures. When I do, I will post them,

I had forgotten that Privet was invasive.