On a seemingly unrelated note...

I am not a gardener, I do not have a green thumb, in fact it may be a black thumb. I have very bad luck with plants and flowers, I try, but sometimes I worry that I try to hard. I have these two planters on our deck that 2 years ago held Gerber Daisies. They were pretty while they lasted, but that was not long. Since I have had such poor luck, I just left these planters out on our deck full of dirt. I didn't give them much thought at all.

Last summer, amazingly flowers started growing in one of them (along with a bunch of weeds). I wasn't sure what kind they were, so I looked them up. Petunias were growing in these abandoned planters of dirt. I had not planted them, I'm not sure I've ever had petunias anywhere. Then a few days later, petunias started growing in the other abandoned planter. They grew and grew, they were absolutely beautiful and I had really nothing to do with them at all. I watered them occasionally, but I just sort of left them alone. And they flourished!!!

OK, so I like to think that my Uncle had something to do with it. Now I know logically that sounds pretty crazy. They started blooming as I was starting to run last summer. I like to think that it was him giving me a little sign. I know what you are thinking, why would he send petunias as a sign. Well, I can hear him so clearly calling me "his little petunia" and it wasn't always said as an endearment, sometimes he said it pretty sarcastically, like if we told him that we were tired from walking all over NYC and wanted to take a cab he would say "Maybe you wore the wrong socks, my little petunia" (Something he actually said to me at 11:00 at night after getting into the city at 8:30am and literally walking all over NYC).

Anyway, seeing these flowers reminded me of him and I thought it was just him telling me, he thought it was great that I was running. They bloomed all summer and I thought of him every time I looked at them. I was sad to see them go when fall arrived.

I didn't really think much of them this summer, but the planters are still sitting on my deck. The day I registered for the marathon, I looked out on my deck and the first petunia bloom was there again in these abandoned planters. I'm so glad that you are with me on this marathon adventure Uncle!!!

There are now several blooms on these flowers that I had nothing to do with. I wish all my plants did so well!