The Future Foretold

Roughly 15-20 years ago, before I had a real garden and my yard was mostly turf grass and locust trees, I was given a sign. A portent, omen. A glimpse of the future. Or perhaps it was meant to be an inspiration.

What it was exactly was a table knife (or "dinner knife") with a bamboo-themed design.
It was found buried in my yard!

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As you probably know, I now grow dozens of types of bamboo in my garden. Back then though, I didn't even know that bamboo could be grown in my climate.

I can't remember if I found the knife myself or if my stepson did, but that anybody found it at all is amazing: it was buried point-down, right next to the front walkway. Only the end of the handle was visible and was flush with the ground, further hidden by lawn. This is all that would have been visible:

How long had this been buried here? Surely it was shoved into the soil by a child, which meant probably 10 years before I had moved in at least.

That's a good test for stainless steel!

After it was found we washed it off and added it to the cutlery drawer, where it was free to enter daily use. We don't use this knife very often though, as it's the oddball of the drawer, not only for its design, but for its pointed end:

It typically only gets used when all the others are gone. Poor little oddball!

I love the design elements, as they're quite detailed. You see the little nubs of the anchor roots...

...as well as a double sulcus (groove):

The sulcus alternates sides on each internode (culm section between the "nodes" or ridges) and that does look like two branch nubs that remain (which formed the sulcus as the culm grew), so this could be based on something in the Phyllostachys genus.

I'm not sure what species this represents, but it's a nice design for a bamboo grower!

So, unexpected glimpse into my future?
The inspiration that got me to fill my garden with bamboo 15 years later?
Or pure coincidence, nothing at all meaningful or cosmic?

What do you think?


(I'm saying 90% coincidence, 10% future glimpse. I'm a pretty logical person, but what fun is the world without some mystery?)

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