My Giant

My Dad always says that every year in a garden, you just can't know what's going to do well and what won't. Every year in a garden is different. That's why you should have plenty of variety so that you're sure to have something.

Ain't it the truth.

I'm having a lot of trouble with some things this year-- things that are usually the easiest things to grow. Like beets. I love beets. But they just aren't germinating well for me this year, which is... weird. But my broccoli? The stuff that's normally just crawling with bazillions of nasty worms? Has been fantastic. Aiee.

I'm also noticing that all the plants that came up volunteer this year --sunflowers, tomatillos, dill, even cucumbers!-- are doing great. But the same things that I planted on purpose? Are piddly. I don't get it. The plants do better planted by God.

Case in point-- this sunflower.

Here is the Thesaurus.com entry for "giant":

Herculean
big
blimp
brobdingnagian
colossal
cyclopean,
elephantine
enormous
gargantuan
gigantic
gross
huge
hulking
humongous
immense
jumbo
monstrous
mountainous
prodigious
super-duper
titanic

And it is all of those things.

("Brobdingnagian"?? Huh. That will have to be my new word of the day. I'm gonna try to use is three times in normal conversation. Maybe teach it to Jonah... Or just read him Gulliver's Travels.)




See the other (some planted by me, some planted by God-- all about average sunflower height, that is, taller than me) sunflowers ? The have to hang their heads in the presence of their superior.




"All hail His Enormous Elaphantiness, the Colossal King of Brobdingnag!"





"All hail! All hail!"



...Because it's just that big!



The thing just started growing, and we watched in amazement as it reached for the sky. We now call it a "tree." Jonah asked to climb it, and I thought that might be a great idea, as there might be a gold-egg laying goose up there. If he can outrun the giant that owns it, that is.



To take that picture, I stood at my full height (okay, granted-- that's not all that much, but I like it that way, okay?) and looked up. No camera tricks. No laying on the ground.

It's altitudinous.

It's statuesque.

It's just plain big.