Dirt....a blogster's challenge

As a member of the blogster's list at Yahoo we are spending more time with our blogs as you would imagine. This week's challenge from blog leader, Tina, is to find something that may look insignificant to most people, but actually plays a very important role in our every day lives and where does it lead us.

I chose dirt as the subject of this challenge. Dirt covers a multitude of sins as they say here in the south. Dirt is found everywhere no matter how obsessive one cleans. Dirt clings. Dirt blows in the wind. Dirt can turn dirty. Dirt can be black gold if it is organic, rich and fragrant. Dirt is everyone's and no one's problem. Dirt is here to stay or so we can hope.

The picture shown here is a pot full of dirt with the last vestiges of a basil plant giving up and calling it quits for winter. Though the days are still warm, the plant has fought the long fight of the effects of a long hot, dry summer. The dirt is dark and rich but tired from water being poured into it to nourish the plant every day. When the dirt dries out it becomes hard, harsh and crumbly. The plant becomes sad and starts its journey to compost.

Dirt.....it is in the air, on the ground, in a pot, against the house and under my fingernails. An herb farmer likes it that way. If it wasn't for dirt the herb plants, as one small part of this planet, would not have anything to spread their roots in. The herb plants would not survive (nor anything else for that matter). Most dirt is made from leftover construction materials, foundation sand and other inorganic materials. Luckily there are sources for rich organic material that can feed and nurture the herb plants. The plants cannot survive without this black gold.