Photo by Gayla Trail All Rights Reserved

A friend gave me a pack of these “I Double Heart Jesus” hair bobbles years back and I’ve been trying to find an excuse to keep them ever since.

I lived the bulk of my life with long hair until I cut it all off around age 30. Chances are good that I’m well over the long hair phase. Say in the future I did fancy long hair again, would I really tie it back with “I Double Heart Jesus” flower-shaped hair bobbles? While pushing 40? And not attending raves or under the influence of any drugs whatsoever?

Never say never, I suppose.

I’m on a Get Rid of it All bender lately, which is oddly corresponding with a Must Preserve Everything bender. So basically I’m casting things aside and hoarding simultaneously. There’s a paradox. When I’m not spending my free time canning, I’m digging through drawers and closets searching for items to purge.

And then I came upon the “I Double Heart Jesus” hair bobbles. Stay or go? They can stay, but only with the provision that they serve a purpose.

And that is when it occurred to me that a hair bobble would make a simple to add and remove tie (just pop it on and off) for my growing tomatoes.

Some would be horrified. Some would say I am cluttering my garden with junk (too many pieces of flare!) and should stick to tasteful ties such as carefully knotted lengths of jute or quietly camouflaged pieces of green wire. I like those too, but right now, I’m enjoying the giggle I get whenever I spot an “I Double Heart Jesus” flower-shaped hair bobble while watering or tending to my plants.

One can’t always practice good taste. It can get a bit dull.