This is a sort of red lettuce gone to seed. Though my neighbor assures me it's not red lettuce, it's chard. The bloom is far more interesting, though less edible, than the plant. Here a late ray of sunshine has caught the bloom, but left the plant in shadow. My knowledge of leafy vegetables has more to do with salad dressing than with growth cycles. So, perhaps I find this more interesting than I should. But tell me it’s not fascinating to realize that future salads are contained in these yellow seed filled lumps at the end of long stems. We don’t see things growing at the grocery store, just like we don’t see cows grazing at the butcher shop. Our view of the world has been streamlined or reduced. I asked my younger son when he was three or four how you get milk. He said, “First you get a plastic bottle…”