Thief be damned

Since I am somewhat of a botanical enthusiast, I have a lot of unsual and some even rare botanical treasures. I estimate my total plant collection to be around 100 (I stopped counting at 60). Only a small handful of people whom I trust have seen my entire collection--for good reason as I don't want some of my treasures stolen and sold on the black market--no joke. Yes, there really exists a black market for some of the things I own.

One of my favorite, but not rare plants is my Meyer Lemon tree. I have have nutured it for about five years. Each year it blooms flowers that smell like fragrant jasmine. Pure delight on the olfactory senses. Each year the blossoms set fruit, but no sooner does the ovary start to swell, the tiny fruits drop. So, I nutured it and babied it some more. Last year the fruits got to be about the size of a small pea before they dropped. At least progress. But I came to accept the fact that most likely, I will never get any fruit off of it.

Somehow, through trial and error, I finally got two fruits to grow to well, the size of lemons. I was estatic. Each day I watched them grow larger and larger. Just waiting for the day for the green color to lighten...

Until yesterday. When someone ripped off one of the lemons from the tree. The tear marks still evident on the branch.

This is just to spite me. Just to tear away at the little joy it brought to my daily life. Because it meant something to me and brought me delight.

So, I learned my lesson. I took my tree home yesterday and nestled it with my other plants. From now on, I no longer show my treasures. Someday I will build a greenhouse--even if I have to build it with my own two hands. I will put on it a lock and security system. If that security system goes off, I come out with a shotgun...

For the thief? I hope that Karma bites you so hard in your big ass that you can't sit for a month...