5 minute freewrite 2772 prompt winging it

This is my post for #freewriters 2772 prompt winging it hosted by @mariannewest

When it comes to finding the right plant to use as a natural painkiller, I want to be sure I have the right one. There will be no winging it even though there are no poisonous wild lettuce look alikes, I want to have the right stuff. The above photo is of Sow thistle. I have plenty of it in my yard. It looks like wild lettuce, but it does not have any painkilling properties, but I did find out that rabbits eat it, so I found another food source for Rudy.

After my walk on the preserve yesterday and not seeing anything that could be the wild lettuce I want, I googled if Lactuca Virosa even grows wild in Florida. I was disappointed when I found, it does not. But we do have Lactuca canadensis (Canada wild lettuce) that does grow here, and by what I am reading, it is the second best to make a painkiller from. We also have Lactuca serriola (prickly lettuce), and I saw that one before, it was growing along our driveway, but none is there now. We also have Lactuca graminifolia, which is called grassleaf lettuce. So why can't I find any of these? Maybe it is not the time of year for them.

I did not like walking on the preserve because how overgrown it is. The next time I go out there, I might take my bike so I can cover more ground and not be stepping in the tall grass. I have seen the size of rattlesnakes it has on it, because they come into our yard. The dog in this photo is good at finding them and staying away from them while she alerts us. She has found the last 3, but she is now back with my granddaughter.
photos are mine