Lupinus Minimus

When Wendy, Julian and I moved to Cambridge-Narrows in 1992, we quickly became aware of the abundance of flowering June lupines. The arrival of the lupines was a seasonal milestone: like ducks finding the first open water, like leaf buds bursting with green, like the Presleys returning to disGraceland with a tacky new collection of MIC Americana lawn ornaments.

But just as the plastic palm tree fronds fade over time, so have the lupines lessened. Gone are the fields of glorious lupines, overgrown with lush grasses. We still have lupines in our fields and ditches, but they are no longer the aurora borealis of spring. I'm hoping that this is merely a cyclical phenomenon.

Perhaps it's part of god's agronomic action plan. I'm sorry....I meant to say Stephen Harper's Economic Action Plan. Perhaps it's part of King Stephen's plan to rid Canada of anything not economically viable. Let's rid the countryside of these showy lupines and replace them with cow-loving grasses that will feed our countries cattle, then provide valuable protein for Ottawa's obese felines.

Wow. Where did that come from?

Bottom line: flowers good, Harper bad.