Alice in Space, Lettuce in Wonderland

Yesterday evening my mom and I sat out on the wall at the edge of the marina to watch the sunset, when we spotted a long, mysterious, white object washed up on the rocks. "It looks like a giant cigarette," she said. I personally thought it resembled one of those vacuum cleaner attachments for cleaning in tight spaces. I braved the rising tide to go investigate. It turned out to be a rolled up poster. The poster was actually a painting that somebody had made, depicting some nebulas and other cosmic matter on a black background, with a cut-out of Alice in Wonderland glued smack in the middle. I laughed and set it out on the grass to dry. Something distracted us and we went home without bringing the painting. Later that night as I was already snuggled up in my bed, I remembered the painting and crept out to retrieve it- if it was still there.

Alice in Space

I grabbed a hoodie and snuck across the dark lawns, marveling at the incredible sky above. Not a soul was awake, the wind had died down, so had the waves, and all the stars were out. It was gorgeous. I found the painting and on my way back home, the most spectacular shooting star I've ever seen streaked across the sky. I wouldn't even call it a shooting star. It was a straight-up meteor. That thing was HUGE. It looked as though a giant basketball was flying over the houses. It burned bright, icy blue for such a long time, probably more than five seconds (count that out and you'll realize that's a long time for a shooting star.) Its tail glowed orange, and created a fiery message-trail as it died out. I was stunned. There I stood, mesmerized, clutching with the alice-in-wonderland-lost-in-the-cosmos painting in my hand. I could have been Alice myself. I must have gaped for a minute. What the heck just happened? Of course I made a wish on it, but about 3 minutes later. Not that I believe it makes a difference, we make our own wishes come true. I think that wishing on things only works because we make ourselves realize what we want in life and that strengthens our resolve to go and get it, make it happen, live our dreams. 

...but that 11:54pm meteor must have carried some magic plant-stimulating energy, because this morning a little lettuce sprout was peering out through the dark soil. All alone, like Alice in Wonderland. 

Lettuce in Wonderland