Those damn kids and the red beans.

The red beans are back!!!

Gran is obsessive about the yard. She is out there at least two or three times a day in good weather sweeping and cleaning. We literally have the cleanest yard in the neighborhood (well except for the crazy guy that lives across the street, Bert and Ernie's son who is almost as obsessive as gran and he's not 91 or senile) anyway I digress.

Gran sweeps the leaves, picks up the pine needles one at a time sometimes (and occasionally sweeps the grass). We have a large pine tree in the front of the house (HUGE is a better way to describe it) as well as a beautiful large jacaranda tree. On the side of the house (we live on a corner) we have two beautiful magnolia trees that bloom and smell fantastic in the spring and summer. In the fall they lose their leaves and the flowers go to seeds. (remember this! It's important later. There will be a test).

So a couple years ago my mom goes to grans house and gran has been in the yard and on a paper towel in the kitchen is a bunch of what look like red beans or pomegranate seeds.

Mom what are these?

Beans!

Huh? Where'd you get beans?

Those damn kids! They are throwing them in the grass. I picked them up.

They didn't look like food, so momma throws them away.

Fast forward a few years. I've heard this story and I know what she was talking about, but alas I forget all about it, and a few days ago I'm getting ready to leave and gran is outside sweeping. She has a handful of something and hands it to me.

Gran what is this?

BEANS!

I laugh. She tells me to put them in the house.

I throw them in the trash....see the "beans" are really the seeds from the magnolia tree (remember the test?) that have fallen....every fall the seed pods open and thousands of red "beans" litter the lawn.

Gran picks them up one by one from the lawn (picture my little old lady leaning heavily on a broom bending from the waist to harvest the "beans" from her lush and green lawn)

Awwww. Sometimes she's actually cute.