When I returned home last night, I went to the kitchen to wash a wine glass I had left on the dining-room table before going out. But before I turned on the water, I noticed something sticking out of the perforated steel plate protecting the sink drain. When I looked a bit more carefully, I discovered two spindly shoots, each of which had two round leaves on top. The leaves were bright green and the shoots were whitish, almost translucent. When I pulled them out of their holes in the plate, each shoot revealed a single spindly root growing sideways. Two seeds must have lodged themselves between the steel plate and the drain a few days ago. And the shoots must have grown to a respectable height in only a few hours, for I was in the kitchen not long before going out last night. Although I was quite impressed by this feat of swift growth, it also left me feeling a bit disconcerted. As I explained to my friends over coffee this morning, it was like discovering plants growing under your armpit. A dash too close for comfort.