I placed the bunches carefully onto the kitchen worktop with the rest of the shopping and began to put everything away. I snipped off the elastic bands holding the stems together and trimmed the ends. Over the next couple of days, I casually glanced at the buds as I walked past the vase. I looked at them whilst making coffee, momentarily eyed them up before going to bed, and glanced at them as I sang. I was looking forward to the beautiful burst of bright yellow that was to come. I waited…and waited…and waited. Finally, by the 4th day, the first bud was beginning to bloom. It seemed a little slow in coming, but at least the flowering was imminent. Making my breakfast the following morning, my heart sank. The flower that had showed so much promise the day before was now already withering away. Then, one by one, the daffodil buds came and went without so much as a fizzle.
I couldn’t understand it. 1 week of hope, 7 days of willing, 168 hours of expectation led to this moment: the moment I finally realised that they were never going to bloom.
As I popped the brown stems into the compost bin, I began to think about hope and how, sometimes in life, things don’t quite turn out the way we want them to. With all the want and will in the world, some things are just not meant to be at that precise moment. But what if nothing is for nothing? What if the things that don’t work out eventually lead somewhere else entirely? That other place in which we laugh that little bit louder, dance that little bit lighter and shine just that little bit brighter.
Well, I hope my comment passes through as a learning tip.
ReplyDelete"Want and will" can never be enough. Yes, motivation and hope is important, but in order to succeed, one has to take the right actions. Doing "the right thing" by instinct doesn't usually work when it comes to different species, but it has a higher success rate if it is based on studying, and "understanding".
Take this daffodils example: they're early spring flowers, that means their optimum environmental temperature (in case they are not genetically modified) is somewhere between 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. And temperatures above 20deg.C (expected temperature in an apartment) would constantly send them the message "girls, your time is over for this year, go to sleep".
You wanted them to grow, you hoped for them to grow, but you didn't ensure the basic conditions to complete their vegetative cycle.
Nurturing something requires understanding of its nature.
Ah, thanks so much for the comment. You're right, an understanding of the nature of things is very important. I was surprised really as I've been buying these little ones every Easter for years now and they always come out in such a beautiful burst of colour. They really brighten up the home and bring the sunshine in.
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