Git yer tumbleweeds right here

If you've lived in the Southwest, you know tumbleweeds as those irritating, prickly, dead plants that get caught under your car, poke your legs and nearly cause you to crash on windy days because they keep dodging suddenly in front of you on the highway. Not that a tumbleweed will hurt your car if you hit it, but it scares you. I always think it's an animal, and I'd rather crash and die trapped in the burning wreckage than hit a rabbit.

Apparently, in some parts of the country, tumbleweeds are seen as a decoration -- a lovely centerpiece for your dining table that your guests will ooh and ahh over.

Luckily, New Englanders don't have to drive all the way to New Mexico to spruce up their homes. Just visit Curious Country Creations, where you can get your tumbleweed display for only $15.99! For the more dramatic look, you can get a size large for $42.99. If you prefer to grow your own, you can also buy tumbleweed seeds. Another handy site is Prairie Tumbleweed Farm, where they have a photo of a tumbleweed centerpiece that's actually pretty cool! They also assure you that your tumbleweed is organic, quality tested and 100% Y2K compliant, which probably isn't as essential today as it once was. Their tumbleweeds range in price from $15-$25.


This post got me to thinking: What IS a tumbleweed, exactly? They must be alive at some point. A tumbleweed is born as a Russian thistle.

BEFORE

AFTER

EATING A MAN!

Not trying to undermine hardworking and clever entrepreneurs, but we have tumbleweeds aplenty, and if you'll just pay for shipping, I'm happy to pull one from under my car and mail it to you.