It’s just past the middle of October, and by some major meteorological miracle, there is no snow on the ground in Alberta yet. This time last year, we were already well below zero every day, and there was at least foot of snow to wade through by Halloween. It’s thirteen above today, which is fifty-five to my (much appreciated) American readers. As a kid who remembers my mom building extra room into my Halloween costumes so I could wear my snowsuit underneath, I’m grateful for the delay of winter.

It’s been sunny and beautiful here almost every day this month, which is rare this late in the fall. What’s even rarer, though, is what I found sprouting up next to my garbage can hutch out back. To be fair, it’s on the neighbours’ side, in the exact spot where they dug up the rhubarb I was anxiously waiting to pilfer, right before it got beefy enough for pies.

There have been a number of hard frosts and the trees are pretty much naked, so finding something verdant and happy came as a bit of a shock. At first, I thought the new greenery was some sort of crazy zombie weed, far heartier than anything a person could pay to install in the garden. How does a person kill a zombie weed anyway? I imagine the process of destroying undead flora calls for a chainsaw, a can of WD-40, a barbeque lighter, and a bucket of kettle corn to enjoy by the fire.

The best part, though, is the fact that this late bloomer is a sunflower: my favourite! I can’t see the people next door digging up the rhubarb to plant a single sunflower seed, so it appears this miracle plant was picked out of a flower early in the summer, and dropped here by a wind or a bird.

The other possibility is that all my favourite things are popping up all around me. Let’s go with that option, shall we? As far as I’m concerned, the dark chocolate bush can spring up right in the living room.

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