They’re Baaaaaack!

It happened again, just as it does every winter. Here is the post I wrote a year ago. Some things have changed. I’m retired, so I wasn’t driving to work. It was a sunny, cold day instead of a rainy day. But some things don’t change, like my delight every year when I see them....

Winter Surprise

I was driving to work this morning and there they were, like they are every year. The January daffodils. Not just a green sprout tentatively peeking through the dirt. A whole corner covered with bright yellow blossoms. A small field of sunshine.

If you live in my part of the world you know that the last month has brought record rainfall. The only sunny days have been the below freezing days around New Year’s. Water is rising in basements. Creeks and rivers are spilling over their banks. Everybody is feeling mossy and mildewed.

But these daffodils don’t care. They bloom in January every year. Ice and snow do not deter them. Gray soggy days do not dampen their spirits. They do not bow to pouring rain. They stand straight up on the corner singing and dancing, heralding the life gestating in the winter dark.

Every year I forget about those daffodils. By January, winter is in full force, and I’m hunkered down with my mug of hot tea, wrapped in my comfy robe, waiting.... Every winter I forget until the day I am walking or driving by and there they are, laughing at my surprise.

And I laugh with them.