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?

6 Comments:

Blogger Jennifer S. said...

Oh I love peonies. My favorite flower...

9:16 PM  
Blogger Dirty Fingernails said...

Oh I hope you can solve this mystery.. I would hate to see the Peonies go.. I only had ONE bloom this year, maybe the thief made their way down here..

1:15 PM  
Blogger ~~ Melissa said...

Wow, what a story. One year someone came and took all my sunflowers--dozens of them--cut off midway on the stalks. I was both angry and puzzled.

That peony pic is lovely.

3:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh, what lovely pictures you take. When I was a small child, we lived in Lincoln, Nebraska and our yard was bordered with lots of peonies and they bloomed like crazy. I loved them, but figured they grew everywhere like that. Wrong! You picture brought back such nice memories.

4:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I could hear the music, I really could. You tell a good story, I was on the edge of my seat. Wow, a Peony Thief (we have Hydrangea Thieves in New England)! Imagine that. I adore peonies & don't have enough of them. I wonder what the verdict would be if the Peony Thief is caught? Community service--weeding everybody's gardens this season might be handy?

9:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hope those thieves brought home some nasty bugs with them and ruined their wedding! (or whatever they did with it...) That's really sad.

8:19 PM  

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