I went out in the garden for a post-breakfast amble, checking the growth of my trees and other plants, looking at the fruit that is developing. Several pawpaws are on the way, from a hermaphroditic tree; they come as either male, female, or hermaphrodite - the last being most useful, because you can plenty a lot of them before they start producing flowers, and not have to worry whether you're only planting relatively unproductive males. So, the seeds from the hermaphrodites will be saved and sprouted... If nothing else, for gift and trade value. I should get a couple more to ensure some better genetic variety - but finding nurseries that have other lines is difficult in these days of mass production and mass marketing. I'm not a huge fan of pawpaw, but it is nutritious, easy to grow, productive - and papain, from the leaves or raw fruit, is also good for tenderising meat, useful if you start having to feed weakened people using game with tough muscles.
Gardening ramble out of the way, though...
I was inspecting one pawpaw tree when seven drops of blood hit the ground, only a few feet away from me. No birds nearby, no other people within visible range.
Seven drops in the shape of the seven hills of Rome...
Do I believe in signs and portents? I don't think so...
Do I believe in prophecy? I believe that people can make prophecies self-fulfilling...
But when a cold wind blows on you on a warm morning when you are looking closely at seven drops of blood on the ground...
