This post was written in July 2026
Outside the back door of our house, there is a tall, flowering bush with many off-shooting branches. Pretty, rose-colored bulbs come to life at the beginning of Spring each year. The bush presents a pleasant scene when its flowers are in full bloom. The branches flow in all directions from the main stem.
Close to the bush is the fence between our house and the neighbor’s house. The bush is in front of the fence such that the bush can be seen from the street.
The fence begins at the brick wall of the neighbor’s house, comes about nine feet toward our house, turns (at an “L” shape), and then continues toward the back property line. At the “L” point, a fence plank is a bit short, permitting me, if I should so desire, to look at part of the neighbor’s property through the “hole” in the fence. Actually, I can only see the top, horizontal, wood support board of the fence and the bricks of the neighbor’s house. The back yard part is beyond my field of vision. That doesn’t matter because this story has nothing to do with the neighbor’s back yard. I’m just trying to localize on the gap between the two parts of the fence. That “L” spot is close to the mysterious happening of the bush.
One of the branches of the bush stretches over the short section of the fence. On several occasions, I noticed that the branch was lying between two planks of the fence. The branch was positioned in a “V” groove where two planks meet. No jolt to me; the branch had to land somewhere on the fence (either on top of a plank or between two planks).
The first time I saw that, I thought I need to move the branch to the top of one of the planks (move it out of the groove) so that it could move in the wind. (Call me weird, but I don’t like to see anything hampered or hindered in its natural movements, whether it is a person, animal, insect, or plant.) So, I lifted the small branch (I have to say, with a bit of difficulty) and placed it on top of an adjacent plank. I then went on with my normal, generally-not-mysterious day.
My cat, Kitty, came from under the car to greet me and get some petting (or hoping for some food). I petted Kitty and later went back inside the house.
The next day, I went out to see how the world had changed. No change. Oh, well, what else is new? I looked up at the bush and its branch over the fence. Surprise! The branch had moved back into the “V” groove. “What goes on here?”
[This is where my thinking became strange.]
I thought the bush “likes” to find places where its branches can cling to. This helps it secure itself from strong winds or other forced movements. I mean, what other reason can there be (except for some accidental movement) for the branch to reposition itself from the night before?
I was at a loss for an explanation except that this branch might be like Irish Ivy. If certain types of ivy can climb walls, perhaps certain types of bushes can find grooves. Maybe? I didn’t know because my knowledge of foliage and such is near zero.
The branch’s movement was a mystery to me.
I couldn’t figure it out, and so, I put the branch on top of the plank once again and left it at that.
The day after that, I went outside to see if the branch had chosen a different groove. “Maybe it would try to get away from my fiddling with it.” To my surprise, the branch was on top of the plank where I had left it; not in a groove. Had it given up in trying to go its own way? Had it let me defeat its inherent, protective guiding instinct in life?
Okay, so no movement. I really shouldn’t expect to be able to understand plant life.
On the fourth day (blow my mind), the branch was once more in the groove! What is happening? This was becoming unsettling for me.
Now, Kitty was watching all of this. Well, actually, Kitty was laying on the driveway, just being there with me. I looked up at the open hole where the two parts of the fence meet. A neighborhood cat that sometimes came around was lying on the horizontal board near the hole and peering down toward Kitty and me, his right side pressed against the back side of the fence.
Suddenly, I got it! This was something I should have gotten three or four days ago!
[My thinking was now clear.]
That cat, kind of bulky, would walk along the board toward the hole (to venture into our yard), and in its walking on the four-inch-wide board, it would automatically move the branch forward until the branch fell into the next groove.
The mystery of the moving branch was now solved.
PS
Despite my thinking that I am a rational, logical-thinking person, I guess I am somewhat still naïve in some situations.
But, I still can’t believe that I believed what I believed.