Collateral

 I had been watching the tomato patch for a few days now - staring, trying to pick out the tomato vines from the rest of the plants in between. My neighbor to the right had given me the seedlings which I'd neglected to plant till at least 2 weeks too late. Then I'd neglected to stake and tie them till another couple of weeks beyond the optimum time, and now the weeding - similarly delayed. My neighbor to the right hates weeds, hates disorder and even disdains her vegetable plants that fail to perform. My neighbor to the left, whose yard also bounds mine is another prude who will snip anything hanging over her fence. I think she barely tolerates my tomatoes which lean on, and gain some support from the pristine chain-link fence which divides us. That leaves my neighbor directly behind my backyard, God bless him. His yard is a jungle. There's his pool bounded by roses, clematis, blackberries, honeysuckle, plus other assorted beautiful unidentifiable species of greenery. All of it tumbles over my back fence, made of unpainted, weathered picket and covered with an evergreen vine which grew over the top and through the spaces between the slats years ago, and stayed. In the Spring I get pink clematis, followed by the honeysuckle, sprays of cherry red roses, followed by the blackberries. The whole thing is covered by the white flowers of a vigorous and 'pesky' potato vine (a morning glory variety) that my neighbors to the left and right abhor - but which I cultivate for its flowers. I have stakes and shepherd's crooks for it to clamber on, and have fantasized about letting it run up the pole to the birdhouse, except my neighbor to the left might not look too kindly on that. But, back to the tomatoes. I had put off the weeding until today. But the thing about tomatoes is - once the flowers set, you have to be very careful with them. They fall off with rough handling as do the tomatoes themselves once they've grown in- which is what happened as I did my weeding and supplementary (extremely tardy) staking and tying today. And that is what brings me to my little bowl of green tomatoes.