Jatropha

I have a few plants that are struggling in the area of the front yard that might as well be called the dead zone. I've found a few plants that can survive there, but all of them hate me, and this particular plant, a Jatropha integerrima, is about as sad a specimen as you will ever see, spindly and with only a few leaves at the top.

Our front yard was green with grass when we bought the house, but we turned off the water and watched it all turn brown and die. The dead zone is right in front. Not even the Spanish needles (Bidens bipinnata) like it there, and they can suck water from stone.

The Jatropha won't give up, though. It throws out a few leaves and flowers when it can, and the new leaves are a glossy purple. Only a few feet away are some Jatropha that are very happy and perfectly indifferent to their struggling sister.

I just saw Obama give a speech about the mortgage portion of the bailout. Millions of people will be given the chance to avoid foreclosure by restructuring their loans to be a percentage of their income. This help will be going to people who really need it, that is, of course, if the bureaucracy is not corrupted along the way. Many people are just hanging on, hoping for a simple life that others, close by, take for granted.