On a very chilly day last November, I planted tulips for the spring. I planted 250 bulbs in fact, with the help of an electric gardeb auger. The day was chosen in the hopes that the major gorge of squirrels on acorns was past and that these bushy-tailed rats with good PR would be thinking of long winter naps. Still I sprinkled crystalized and very smelly coyote urine wherever I planted.

And now I am rewarded! Planting flowers is like planting trees, an assertion of faith that things will get better, that the sun will rise, and warmer days come again!

This season has been a great one for tulips! I was in the garden early yesterday morning, and the sun was shining brilliantly through them, irradiating the world with color. Hence the simple image of Figure 1. I wanted to share it with everyone, in the belief that better days will dawn – but not without our commitment to making them better, to planting flowers, both real and metaphorical.