I love my neighborhood, really I do

I had just entered the gate to our courtyard (which now locks again, after four weeks!) when I heard someone behind me yelling, "'Scuse me ma'am, 'scuse me ma'am!" I turned around to see what I'd dropped, and found a very butch white girl in a baseball cap and an older black guy standing to one side. She had a purple coreopsis flower in her hand and they were both visibly drunk. I came up to shouting distance with her and waited. She slurred,

"'Scuse me ma'am, I just needed to tell you that you ahre a vrry beautiful woman and I had to give you this. Take this flahwr, plant it and get it t' grow. This's fer you, ma'am, take this flahwr, make it grow. Make it grow."

I took the flower, very solemnly, and she and her companion trudged away. There was no snickering and no irony. I took the flower upstairs and put it in water. What on earth was that about? I'll never know.

Of course, now if the darn thing roots, I'll be stuck with it. :)