A Final Look-See

Well, its been good.

The zucchini, that is. And our time together on the blog. But really, the zucchini is delicious.

I can't promise this is the last post, but it is surely somewhere near the end ("Phew, thank you. Finally!" would be the appropriate response).

Just as any good story, though, it wouldn't be finished until we took a look-see at the characters in their post-acting lives (and by acting I mean acting out their lives in peace).

Let us begin with "beloved" Jordan. No one really knows why he obtained a title preceding his name, but it stuck, and he is "beloved" Jordan, not to be confused with Jordan the Beloved, who is another kid in the neighborhood that no one likes.

After we discovered that Jordan had a special interest in one of the winners from the Paint the Garden Extravaganza, he took a back seat in the limelight. In fact, he even avoided some of the lights and cameras, while preferring the action. His interests may have dissolved since then, but his memory lives on in, as does the "Don't Tread on Me" sign and some minerals from the last carrot that he ate from the garden. Last we heard he was learning to ski behind some orange hatchback. Ridiculous! Who would drive an orange hatchback?!

Dave, bless his heart, initially took to extreme sports and is rumored to have a movie in the making involving nitrous and explosives, or one or the other. At some point, though, his adrenaline ran low and he decided to take life slow. He was last spotted blowing milk bubbles and driving a mini-van. Whether this is true or not, we're not absolutely sure, but this picture was purchased from an un-named paparazzi. It is also rumored that Dave recently won a thumb-war with his current landlord, and now holds the rights to make a parkinglotgarden in his new place of residence. Keep your eyes peeled (both for the garden and some old man driving a mini-van under the speed limit).

As for Tyler, he grew a beard, hopped a train, and met some friendly hobos. If this were true, no one would doubt it. Instead, he lives more distant (50 minutes by freight train), though happily, preparing the soil carefully for next spring where he can plant his own Non-Parking-Lot Garden. Word also has it that he may have joined Dave in the big-screen venture or joined the circus. Either is possible. Watch out for the clowns. But really, our inside sources tell us that he has hunkered down somewhere, grown a gnarly beard, and for some reason, continues to lose and then find trinkets and knick-knacks on a daily basis.

And though never mentioned, what about Kory, our 4th roommate? He was always the mysterious one, both to us and the general population. This photo was recently shown on the evening news, as authorities finally cracked down on the culprits for the famed "Christmas Tree Smuggling". I don't know what type of time is associated with a crime like this, but we may likely never see the boy again.

You may remember that a number of plants were transplanted from their original cages. Typically, the wild ones don't do well in captivity, but how about when they are released back into the wild? Tyler adopted all species willing to put down roots in a new home, and a number came off grounded. Strawberries, for example, were a mixed bag. Some picked right up where

they left off and others spent their time lolly-gagging and eventually shriveled and died. It's been rumored, however, that a few of the plants even blossomed this fall, and who knows but that some tiny red berries were consumed by one happy gardener.

What about the zucchini? Lest we forget, he suffered terribly under the gnawing molars of a disreputable doe. He was eaten down and left for dead, but we nursed him carefully through the following months. He was transplanted to Tyler's house, where he took root and took off like a barrel of sea monkeys in the ocean. Some weeks later, just before the frost, he produced this orchestral vegetable and some tasty accompaniments.

Additionally, in spite of being a vegetable, he somehow managed to make it to the polls, early. His only sadness comes from knowing that he won't be around for the presidential elections of 2012. He made us promise, however, that we would support change. We said our vows and cleared our plates of him. No one ever said anything about changing for the better.

How about the potato dogs? You may not remember these, and it is likely, seeing that we never mentioned them. Originally, they were placed as guardians of the apartment complex. We were not allowed to have real dogs, and potato dogs were rumored to work just as well... that is, until they were discovered by real dogs, who ate them in two fell gulps.

Finally, as we shed our final tear, let us remember the onion. For some time, we felt that he failed to grow simply out of spite. "So easy," "the easiest," and "anyone can do it," were all comments made in regards to growing the onion. We considered ourselves failures, but no longer. Just last week, as if he knew the frost was coming, the onion sprouted one more stalk and proclaimed "I am done, already. Just pick me, dang it." So we did.