What's A Metaphor?

Yesterday I went for a late afternoon stroll to the beach with a nameless four legged friend. We had a nice enough time I suppose, explored another section of river, sheltered from some rain, threw things in the water, that sort of thing.

On the way back we emerged from dense bush onto a cleared section which is presumeably a firebreak to protect the downtown area from the ravages of an unlikely fire. I've studied this area previously as it's soil is very similar to our garden (sandy) so I contemplated taking small bushes and the like and transplanting them at home in the hope that something may live for more than a day or two. Imagine my surprise as my eye was caught by a small but perfectly formed plant at my feet, only an inch or two in height with four or five white trumpet like flowers amongst strong looking green leaves.

It looked very much like the minature death lilies which appear to grow in wet soil on the island but which are more usually several feet high. I grabbed a piece of wood and started to gently probe the ground around the base of the plant in order to remove it, roots and all, from the soil.

It appeared to come away quite easily and I reached for the base to avoid any brekages and clasped a single piece of wire. Yes, it was plastic.

Great.