{"id":2160,"date":"2014-10-30T23:10:39","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T03:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=2160"},"modified":"2014-10-31T07:33:02","modified_gmt":"2014-10-31T11:33:02","slug":"evil-twin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=2160","title":{"rendered":"Evil Twin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"milkweed\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There is more to every little thing than what we can see on the surface.\u00a0 You can go through life and pass a thousand people by in a day.\u00a0 And they look like you and me, and me and you.\u00a0 But underneath, everything is different.<\/p>\n

But quite simply.\u00a0 You are you.<\/p>\n

Then how can it be that some people totally like you, and others may comletely dislike you?\u00a0 I ask, how can it be?<\/p>\n

We all have different perceptions of every little thing in this this whole wide universe.\u00a0 That’s how, I suspect.<\/p>\n

Take this for example.<\/p>\n

This, my friends, is a Milkweed.\u00a0 Its formal name is Asclepias.\u00a0 But don’t be bothered by that.\u00a0 My formal name is Polly, Queen of the Curious and Klutzy, but most don’t bother with that either.<\/p>\n

Back to the Milkweed.\u00a0\u00a0 The stuff has quite a resume.\u00a0 This much I can tell you.<\/p>\n

Like. During World War II, over 5,500 short tons of milkweed floss were used to stuff mattresses.\u00a0 And today…..milkweed is grown commercially as a hypoallergenic filling for pillows.<\/p>\n

But it isn’t all about the fluff.\u00a0 Sometimes it is the heart of the matter, that matters.\u00a0 Those seeds.\u00a0 They have a very high dextrose content in their nectar.\u00a0 And, some time ago…. Native Americans used\u00a0 milkweed as a source of sweetener.<\/p>\n

It is a neighborly sort.\u00a0 You see…. Milkweed is beneficial to nearby plants, repelling some pests, especially wireworms.\u00a0 (Dag nabbin’ wireworms!)<\/p>\n

That old Milky Weed has its dark side too.\u00a0 It contains cardiac glycoside poisons.\u00a0\u00a0 As a result, South America and Africa natives used arrows poisoned with these glycosides to hunt more effectively.<\/p>\n

It goes on.\u00a0 Milkweed is toxic and may cause death when animals consume 10% of their body weight in any part of the plant.\u00a0 It also causes mild dermatitis in some who come in contact with it.\u00a0 So stuff your pillow with it… just don’t touch it directly…. or eat it.<\/p>\n

But, perhaps the coolest talent of Milkweed are the leaves.\u00a0\u00a0 They are the ONLY\u00a0 food source for Monarch butterfly larvae and other milkweed butterflies. You have to have Milkweed to have a Monarch.\u00a0\u00a0 Like a Queen needs a throne.<\/p>\n

This plant is lifeblood to some, and deathly poisonous to other.\u00a0 Another complicated quandary.\u00a0\u00a0 Good to some.\u00a0 Terrible to others.\u00a0 It is all in your perception.<\/p>\n

The small hunted animals fleeing from poisonous arrows dislike the Milkweed.\u00a0 And the Monarch Butterfly is “two-wings-up” on the stuff.<\/p>\n

I suppose in life, we are much like the Milkweed.\u00a0 Whether we mean to be or not, we are champions to some, and nemeses to others.<\/p>\n

So there you stand in front of two different people.\u00a0 They see the same exact person in front of them.\u00a0 But HOW they see that person… that YOU… is divergent.<\/p>\n

Poison arrow to one. Essential food source to the other.<\/p>\n

No matter.\u00a0 Celebrate who you are.\u00a0 You are unique.\u00a0 And you have an immeasurable amount of goodness to offer the world.<\/p>\n

Whew.\u00a0 If life were simple… I’d have nothing to write about.<\/p>\n

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.\u00a0 —\u00a0 Margaret Mead<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.\u00a0 —\u00a0 Steve Martin<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is more to every little thing than what we can see on the surface.\u00a0 You can go through life and pass a thousand people by in a day.\u00a0 And they look like you and me, and me and you.\u00a0 But underneath, everything is different. But quite simply.\u00a0 You are you. Then how can it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nowyouseeit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2160"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2168,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2160\/revisions\/2168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}