Thief

My neighbors grow things on our side of their fence, which they set in about a foot from their property line for the express purpose of decoratively landscaping the side facing our house. Last year it was all flowers over there, save one rogue oregano plant, but this year there's tons of food.

I try not to steal their tomatoes, ripe and red and delicious as they burst forth in bounty, but they invited me to partake of their herbs. Many days, I wander over for parsley or lemon mint for my tea. This morning, I had a hankering for spearmint. I went outside in my pajamas and saw them eating breakfast on the deck. "Hey guys! I'm out here to take some mint!"

"Help yourself! Please!"

Ah, they are so cordial. I remembered earlier when I commented on their thyme, they scooped out a clipping for me to plant in my own herb box and boy did it propagate. I decided the spearmint would do the same thing. And they had, after all, told me to help myself.

I went into the garden box to get the digger tool, preparing to take just a small piece of the mint bush. One little root for my herb box. I dug. I pulled a little. And I uprooted the entire bush.

I stood there with the herb in my hand, wondering what to do. I know they grow chocolate mint on their side of the fence and I really wanted to have spearmint in my water from now on. Because it's just so far of a walk to the edge of my 15' wide yard...

My choices were clear: Put the bush back in the dirt where I found it and buy my own seeds or take the mint onto the deck with the rest of my herbs. I'm not sure what the hell is wrong with me.

I stole their mint bush.