Surprise

My front flower bed has become pretty overgrown. What started out as tiny ferns, irises, and witchhazel shrubs are now gargantuan monsters. I noticed this morning when I went out to get the paper a tiny bloom peeking out from behind a mammoth witchhazel and fern. So I grabbed the clippers, cut them back, and was reacquainted with my azalea. It was blooming even though it was totally shielded from the morning sun, which my plants usually like the most. So I'm really glad to see it again. It's a little puny and misshapen from being crushed by its neighbors, but it's still fighting for life. And I like to think of it as a nice omen for the coming winter -- life and brightness and beauty are always there even when it's too dark to see them. Sometimes you just have to dig them out, getting your hands dirty and your slippers wet in the morning grass, to remember they're there.