Spare the ditches

On the drive in to work today I noticed someone had mowed another ditch. Not too unusual around here; it's flat farmland prone to collect water in low areas. So every road has a ditch on either side. And lots of landowners mow their ditches. The funny thing about this instance was the fact that the mower chose to leave the patch of feral asparagus alone.
They NEVER leave anything alone once they start mowing. It's a rural male thing I think. *If a plant isn't something I intended to grow in my fields it's something to be chopped down or zapped with herbicide.* It all comes down under the chains or blades: milkweed, wildflowers, enclaves of native grasses.
I know where they're coming from. Farmers need to give the stuff the world pays them for the best opportunity to flourish. And every one I've known has a deep, abiding affection for the skin of mother earth- the kind that doesn't say "I love you." But the rest of the world needs cheap cornflakes and soy lattes and "grain fed" beef. What can a man providing for a family do? So the ditches are kept mowed low to keep down weed problems, or keep things tidy.
At least the little girls with jobs in the city like me can find the ignored sections and rejoice in a little bit of neglect.