Weeds

“Mommy, why are you taking a picture of those weeds?” he hollered at me as he zoomed by on his bike, doing laps in the driveway, round and round. The sky was overcast but the temperature was perfect outside. Spring was definitely in the air.

I turned around, noticing he was due for a haircut and admiring his piercing blue eyes looking back at me. “Because the flowers are cute and Mommy is trying to learn how to use her camera better.”

“But Mommy, I thought you didn’t like weeds.”

“I normally don’t but I like these little flowers on this one so I’m taking a picture of them.”

“Oh.” I could see out of the corner of my eye that his mind was spinning with more questions and that he was looking at me kind of funny.

Just then his brother came running up to me from behind, trying to tackle me as I knelt on one knee. I toppled over on my side and thankfully my camera and I were fine but the “weeds” didn’t fare as well. I crushed them as I fell.  Afterward, I sat down on my bottom and began to review the pictures on my camera. I was glad to have gotten a shot I was happy with before “Mr. Destructo” came at me with his full force.

He giggled as I looked at the photos and said, “Oh Mommy, I tackle you! Here I come again!”

“No Gavin! Mommy is trying to take pictures right now. Go play with your brother. Don’t’ you want to ride the four-wheeler?”

He ran off and hopped on his “truck” in the garage and pushed the button to make it go. A huge smile came across his face as he followed behind his brother. I liked it while they played outside during their baby sister’s nap so I could take a few pictures here and there.

I sat there amongst the grass and weeds and thought about how my son was right, I was not a fan of these unsightly weeds but today I had chosen to see the good side of them and capture it with my lens.

Later on that evening, after dinner and baths I was looking at the photos I’d taken that day on my laptop. Ben sat down next to me on the sofa. “What cha doin’ Mama?”

“Oh, I’m just looking at the photos I took today while we were outside this afternoon.” He leaned his little boy head against my shoulder as I went through each picture but sat straight up when I got to the picture of the weed flowers.

“I like that one Mama, those flowers are pretty. Where were they?”

“Those are the ones that were on the weeds, remember?”

“Oh yeah, that turned out really good! No wonder you wanted to take a picture. I like it a lot Mama. Great job!”

And in the same moment he was off, taking his newly-washed hair scent with him. I sat before my computer just staring at the photo and loving it more as I realized that tomorrow, when the lawn guy came to mow, that “ugly” weed and all of it’s “friends” would be completely gone. And then I was a little sad.  But so very glad I had my photo.

This post was written for The Red Dress Club prompt: This week’s assignment is to write a short piece, either fiction or non-fiction, about something ugly – and find the beauty in it.