Marigolds

 For years I have grown marigolds.  First in the inner city of New Haven, Ct.  They were the only thing that would last.  Neighborhood children would pick them and take them home.  However, unlike tulips, the more you pick marigold flowers, the more flowers the plants produce--all summer.

I grew them in Dubuque, Iowa, and in East Dubuque, Illinois.  Now we live in an apartment at Prairie Place on 1st in Mason City.  No more yard!  But I still grew marigolds from seed this year and here they are on our 2nd floor deck.

Persistent marigolds grow everywhere.  We plant, pick, and then they grow more.  So, too, our need to hold on to hope and be persistent, everywhere in this troubled world.