I love those days when the rain breaks come. The clouds once spilling over the Trinity Mountains overstayed their welcome suddenly got a second wind, hiked Mt Lassen and dropped into Nevada. February is kind to us. It brings days, sometimes a week, of beautiful weather. The temperature shoots up and the sun we will despise midsummer is our dearest friend. People spill out of their houses to clean up what the rain has disordered, righting lawn furniture and gathering branches tossed in the merciless storms raging just days before.
After living here nearly thirty years, I am a true local. I complained that the nights were down to the low 40’s and brutally dipped into the 30’s. I, too, welcomed the winter warming sun and, hoping to speed up the coming spring beauty, donned fix it up attire. I called the dogs out with me and headed into the flower gardens. Later this spring, in about 4 weeks, a community vegetable and fruit garden will command most of my outdoor attention. Best to get to the flowers as much as possible this week, as those clouds that ran will surely be chased down by kin, who will bring their own trail of wet as they chase through the valley.
I stood on my house-length porch and surveyed the branches and leaves strewn across my half acre of land. I scratched D’s head and chuckled. He and his canine playmates had worsened the damage. What was once old branches to be hauled away was now nearly mulch. I briefly considered trying to fake the chewed up stuff as ground cover, but decided against it when Muz grabbed a new stick and set about helping me along, at the pace of a sloth. Waiting for them to finish would take too long.
I chucked and headed down the steps and toward the round flower area. I am not sure why it is round. When I moved here it was a simple ring of rocks rimmed with some dying roses, crepe myrtles, an apricot tree, a lemon tree and a huge lavender bush. I spent last summer nursing them all back to health and trying to get the open areas healthy enough for grass. Right now, it’s mostly weeds. After the next storm, weed killer and grass seed will begin to make it look like I am sure it once did. It’s obvious to me that, at one point, someone cared very much for this property. The house has four flowering areas, 8 fruit trees, a grape vine and a pecan tree. Over time and tenants, the yard was neglected, and its beauty had disappeared.
That happens to people too.
I was not paying attention as I walked, sort of like kids used to walk to school and miss visual blessings along the way because they had so often seen them. I tossed a ball for the beasts and then donned my gardening gloves. It was not until I was nearly inside the round area that I saw bright Yellow and Yellow orange frilly teacups tipped on matching saucers popping up out of the thin green stalks ringing the rocks.
I could not stop the squeal of delight that escaped my soul. I adore daffodils. I stood perfectly still for the longest time, staring at the unexpected. I had no idea there were bulbs under the weeds. It was not until the blooms burst that I was able to see the beauty. I cleaned around them and made sure I did all I could to nurture those short lived flowers. I also trimmed and weeded and fed the other areas, wondering what else might pop up in the coming days.
I surveyed my work and wondered who was responsible for these lovely flowers. I thought of the work, the time, the creativity it took to plant. I thought of the lack of attention that had led to the present state and the harsh judgements the weeds brought upon the yard. Some people are too busy complaining about the surface to see what they might find underneath, if they would simply dig in a little.
We do that to people too.
I called the dogs and headed in to make a cup of tea and finish some computer work. I could not shake the thought that judgements are often made on the surface when striking beauty lies just underneath. It is so easy to think something, or ugly. Sadly, when we do, we lose the precious daffodil surprises in our lives.
In the same way, we also lose precious surprises in people.
I sipped my tea and let my heart go to the all too stubborn weeds in my own life. You have them too, don’t you? We want those places to be beautiful, but the difficulties of our growth are stifling the glory underneath. If your life has been like mine, there are people more than happy to judge the weeds and never even look for the daffodils of your soul. That judgement can be devastating and keep us from ever living a life in full bloom.
Big D demanded to go out one more time before the sun sank and the cold night arose. I went out with him to see the flowers one more time. He dropped his fetch ball at my feet, and I tossed near the apricot tree. He ran to the ball and just as he snatched it up I caught sight of a pink flower. In my excitement over the daffodils, I had missed it completely.
Beautiful fragrant Hyacinth. A single stalk with oodles of flowers. I pulled the surrounding weeds to give them more room to grow. What a glorious find.
We at the Vinedresser’s House dig under that which covers the soul —to unearth the wonderful things beneath.
Come, we will help you find your blooms.
Comentários