Seeing a morning glory growing in one of my tomato pots reminded me of a farmer friend named George.

George was a kind, friendly man who farmed the land behind the rural home that I lived in for the first 10 years or so after I moved to Eau Claire.

I’d often chat with George when he was coming out of the field and I was heading into it to walk the dogs.

One time I asked him why there were some random corn stalks growing in the soy bean field.

“That’s volunteer corn,” he replied, explaining that it wasn’t planted there intentionally but wound up growing there by an act of nature.

I’m not sure what act of nature got a morning glory to grow in my tomato pot. But my guess is that it may have had something to do with rabbits, which are especially plentiful in my neighborhood this summer.

They ate one of my morning glory plants down to nothing and have done similar damage to my next-door-neighbor’s garden. I’m thinking that maybe after they were done munching on my morning glories they somehow dropped some seeds into the tomato pot.

Fortunately my two tomato plants were spared from the voracious rabbits. And one of my two morning glories was spared.

The volunteer morning glory is a bonus. It’s a nice reminder of George and how nature often finds a way.