Purslane Is a Weed

Today’s subject wouldn’t leave me alone.
something people hate, but need so badly. Write about something people overlook that is really beautiful or significant.
Bring that object, thing, person (even) to the light.

This subject nipped at my heels all day long. “How about toilets?” it asked. “Y'all hate toilets and y'all really, really need em.” 

I didn’t want to write about toilets. When I took the trash cans out to the street, again the subject nipped. 
“How about trash cans or trash trucks? Oh, I got it. How about those old time garbage men who drove down y’all’s street when y'all were young. Remember how they drove those stinky open air garbage trucks that made y'all gag when they drove by? (That was in the time before garbage disposals). Remember how they all smoked big cigars as they drove and how the flies were buzzin all over the truck. That was really gross, huh?”
“No! I don’t want to write about garbage trucks,” I said. “ They don’t exist anymore.”
“You’re acting like a piss ant, ya know,” the subject said. “I keep giving y’all great ideas and ya just poo poo them. Ok uno mas, Señor Too Picky for Y'alls own good.  Y'all are gonna like this one.”
“How do you know I’m going to like it. I didn’t like the others.”
Y’all are gonna like it because I saw the way ya mowed around it when y’all were cutting the front lawn this morning.”
“You aren’t talking about that weed in the grass, are you?”
“Of course I am! Purslane is the perfect thing for ya to write about. It may be a weed and it is a very good weed. Y'all can eat it. And ya have to admit, that when it’s not hidden in the tall grass, it’s kinda pretty.”
Purslane is pretty for a tiny succulent. I admire its zest for life and its resilience. It is so adaptable to whatever environment is finds itself in. In that regard, Purslane is a teacher. It doesn’t complain about where it grew up or about where it is living now. It not only makes do, it thrives with whatever its environment gives it. I find Purslane growing in my lawn, in cracks in the side walk, on the sides of dirt paths and in flower pots. We can eat it raw. We can put it in salads.  It has higher omega-3s than any other plant (and is way cheaper than salmon), and high levels of melatonin, a hormone that’s great for regulating sleep.

Try this recipe for Purslane and Avocado Tacos:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/purslane-and-avocado-tacos-with-pico-de-gallo-51240610