Will the peonynapper strike again?

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

I sometimes wish I could add background music to my posts. I would use something mysterious and dark for this one. Or maybe just something simple and sneaky sounding that everyone recognizes, like "The Pink Panther" theme. OK, so imagine the song and dim the lights a bit. We've got a mystery on our hands.

I was at the garden yesterday when I decided to take a few photos of the peonies by the tool shed. Nearby, there was a middle-aged man sitting at the picnic table reading a newspaper. Seems perfectly normal, right? But as I was snapping shots, I could feel his steely glare burning into my back. He must have been peering over the paper with a raised eyebrow, thinking to himself, 'Is she the peony thief?'

Meanwhile, I was thinking to myself, 'The guy with the newspaper doesn't look like he's here to do any gardening. Is he scoping the place out? Is HE the peony thief?'

You see, there's an anxiousness in the community garden these days because last year, someone stole everyone's peonies. All of them. Not just the ones in the common areas, but the ones enclosed in people's plots too. They started to bloom and then... gone!

I didn't have any peonies in my own plot but I felt angry just the same. Peonies always remind me of my grandmother, so I was sad to see them stripped away so heartlessly.

People had all sorts of theories about 'who dun it.' Was it a florist who ran out of peonies and needed replacements? A bride and groom who wanted flowers on the cheap? Someone who just felt like helping themselves to a nice big bouquet for their dining room table?

We'll never know. It's a cold case. Unsolved.

So as the peony buds begin to swell this week, we're all keeping a watchful eye over our shoulders. Will the peonynapper strike again?