Daffodil Optimism

Its not spring yet, though we've had a few teaser days.  Right now I'm sitting out an ice storm next to Mr Bowlin's Vermont Castings woodstove, with 5 cats and one border collie clustered all around my feet.  I've got the fire roaring and the room cranked up to 80 degrees and it's feeling good.  I was chilled to the bone earlier in the day, working up at my farmhouse, trying to move the stuff inside my poor little hillside barn out of harm's way.  We got several inches of soaking rain the other day, and it was just too much for the retaining wall foundation to handle, and the whole east side buckled in. Can you imagine my disappointment and surprise when I walked in there to grab a tool and saw that horrifying mess.  I am not going to let it get me down though.  I am looking forward to a new music season, hopefully without a virus to worry about or work around, and we already have 3 music camps and a number of concerts on the calendar, with hopefully more to come as details are ironed out from events that have been in discussion.  

2020 was a tough year.  2021 was a tough year.  2022 is starting out to be a tough year, but I am determined to rise above adversity and try to make it the best year ever.   I am so looking forward to seeing the first daffodil blooms on my hillside in front of the farmhouse.  Every year I divide clumps, from my own collection and from my mom's collection, and each year they never fail to disappoint, as each variety takes the stage.  The earliest ones are just a week or so from flashing their bright yellow smiles.  There is something about the daffodils that give me energy and optimism for the season ahead. The daffodil is my role model. They first come during the "end of winter nasties", that time when the weather is so unpredictable and sometimes very unpleasant.  They bloom anyway.  And they keep blooming no matter what. They'll bloom under the snow. You can dump a bag of heavy mulch down, and they will push it up and get through it.  The last warm weather varieties still glow yellow among the tulips and irises, the warmer spring plants. I just love them.  I am going to try to be optimistic, despite all the uncertainties, and despite all the little disasters.  I'm going to try to bloom anyway. 

So as spring approaches, and some great shows and camps, I hope that we will see a few of the friends out on the road, that we haven't been able to see for a couple years.

 

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