I read an article yesterday that stressed how important it is to exercise outside. There’s something about the fresh air that makes a person want to stretch-out and work a little harder. The sun light, even on a cloudy winter day, helps the body cope with the long days of chilly, blustery weather. Being outside helps the body and the mind stay healthier.
I’m a walker. I’ve talked about my canal walks a lot and even on the days when I can’t get to the beautiful C & O dirt, I pound a path around my neighborhood and today I noticed these little white flowers poking up out of the dirt. Talk about a breath of fresh air…..as I looked around the yards I was passing, there were hundreds of green shoots where daffodils will soon be too. It’s almost as if they broke through the ground over night.
How do they know when to do this? I’ve heard so many people talk about how tired they are of Winter. They talk about weather depression and all they really need is a sunny day or a daffodil or a tulip to change their outlook. And I think about all those with illness, who are going through treatment, or are waiting for a transplant and to think a bright yellow flower can make a difference in their life.
These buds say “HOPE.” They are the signs of life that say healing, a future, or a cure. Maybe even for a just a few minutes, they take away the fear of being sick. I can’t wait for all these buds to open and paint the day with Spring colors.
February 25, 2013 @ 10:27 pm
How good it is that Mother Nature has a way of showing beauty when it is needed most. I have seen a few paperwhites in strange places and thought that they really “bloomed where they were planted.” I remember hearing a story about weeds on NPR and that they can work their way
through the concrete in the most desolate places. You may have to look carefully, but they are there, pushing upward.
February 25, 2013 @ 7:50 pm
The appearance of daffodils can make me ridiculously happy. How lovely that they just know to push up out of the ground every year, with not one bit of anything from us.
February 25, 2013 @ 7:01 pm
My sister had the most beautiful flower gardens and her backyard/wooded area has hundreds of daffodils..she left a legacy of beauty behind. With it she left hope I like to think.
February 25, 2013 @ 6:57 pm
I am a cancer survivor. For years we had a bench in our yard decorated with flowers and the words, “With a garden there is hope.” When I moved last fall I planted daffodils outside my front door–on either side of that bench.