WordPress Daily Prompt: Breaking the Law

Think about the last time you broke a rule (a big one, not just ripping the tags off your pillows). Were you burned, or did things turn out for the best?

Who me break the law? About 70% of me has become Swiss over the years and the Swiss invented the law - at least that is the impression I sometimes have.

You want to build a house or perhaps just a garden shed? No problem, but first of all you have to get permission from various places, which will take some time. It all has to be measured out and planned. When that step is made the new construction has to be shown in the neighbourhood. A drawing, or a plan: forget it. No, not in Switzerland. You have to put up a constructions of the bare bones in wood to show everyone what is planned to be built. How big it will be, where it will be placed and whether it will infringe on any one else's site, or will hurt their feelings. Something in that way. This construction has to exist a few months before to give everone time to digest the change in the scenery. It might be that Mrs. Smith does not want a garden shed next to her wonderfully planned rose garden. It might destroy the atmosphere. This is just to show how careful you must be when wanting to do something different in my chosen home country.To complicate matters you might be allowed to do something in the Kanton/county/State of Zürich but it might be  forbidden in the Kanton/county/state of Bern. What you lot can do over the pond, we have perfectioned it in little Switzerland with a population of only seven million, Just imagine.

So with this to bear in mind, there is not much scope for Mrs. Gerber to break any laws, but I did and sort of got away with it.

Now look at this harmless lovely bushy plant.

It is amazing the wonderful bushy plant a small seed can produce. And if you have more seeds, then you soon have a small plantation. I just love the symmetry of the leaves with their pointed segments. Do you recognise the plant? If you do then perhaps it is better you do not guess, but I will tell you. It is commonly known as Cannabis, or perhaps the name Marijuana might explain more. It arrives in two varieties, masculine and feminine, but the feminine plants are better, more bushy and produce more seeds and have more flavour. For this reason I pulled out the male plants as they were not much use.  I found it a very pretty plant for a garden border. They have only small flowers, but produce many seeds that might, by chance, get swept to the neghbour's gardens which is perhaps not so good.

Of course it is against the law to grow them in Switzerland, as in many countries. Now did I know what was growing in my garden? Well, sort of, but it was more an experiment than anything else. It was a very successful experiment as they were sprouting up all over the place. They did have a peculiar smell but not so bad. Someone gave me some seeds, so not having any knowledge of the plant as such (they are forbidden) I thought I would try it out. I do not smoke, but others do. Ok, we did try putting some leaves into a cigarette, but it seems this was not correct, and we did not get high. I told my younger son and he advised that it would not work like that. You have to hang the leaves to dry. After half an hour I had complete instructions on how to produce hemp for consumption. I did ask my son how he knew all those details and he said everyone knows how to do it. I assumed he meant everyone as old as he was. He was then in his teenage years and it was many years ago.

I did have a few strange looks from neighbours passing bye, but I was reassured by my neighbour living above that it depends on the THC contents. She was a police officer, but I decided if she did not mind, then I must be innocent. I also did not know how to discover the THC content. I did have these wonderful bushy plants growing in my garden for another year and they then suddenly disappeared. I would not say that things turned out for the best as I did not deal with the plants or make any profit. I also remained a free person and was not arrested.

Perhaps I might grow them again, they are so nice and green and fresh looking and really make a nice little corner in the garden.