COLUMN: Ramblings: Signs of spring

Yellow is the color of spring this week. The daffodils and the forsythia are blooming. The bright yellow blooms brighten gardens. Those two domesticated flowers say spring has finally arrived. Daffodils always bring a smile to my face. The bright yellow blooms exude joy.

Daffodils are stubborn. They survive without attention or care. Several times, when I have been hiking in the woods, I have walked into a sunny spot of ground covered with the golden blooms of the narcissus. The daffodils are a reminder that someone once called that place home. The homesteader planted them and waited for the blooms to come in the spring. Planting bulbs is an exercise in faith. Planting bulbs is a statement. “My feet are through wandering; I am staying here for a while.”

In several places along the roads of Owen County daffodils mark old home sites. The bulbs have multiplied over the years, and the bright yellow blooms have spread across the clearings that surround the old home sites. They are the only clue that a family once called that spot home. A few have escaped and now grow in the ditches between the roads and fields.

Daffodils are poisonous, deer won’t eat them, neither will squirrels nor moles. On the side of a hill above Sciscoe Creek where it flows into Lake Monroe, the daffodils a woman of my clan planted two centuries ago still cover the hill with bright yellow blooms to herald spring's arrival. A few years ago, part of my family trekked back to the old home site. The bright yellow blooms of those daffodils were a beacon to help us find the site my ancestors called home. All that remains of the cabin is a few rotting timbers and the stone foundation. The daffodils and some spearmint plants have survived. I like knowing that the women in my family planted those plants. I dug a few bulbs out of the ground with a pocketknife and brought them home to the Ridge. Their golden blooms brighten my garden this week. I know my many times great-grandmother Sciscoe would approve of sharing her daffodils with me.

Daffodils or narcissus come from around the Mediterranean Sea. Planting native plants is something I support, but I want my daffodils too. A beautiful yellow native is also blooming. The south facing slope is carpeted with small yellow trout lilies. The leaves are more plentiful than the blooms. The mottled leaves are beautiful beside the green moss. They have a single yellow bloom about an inch wide. The blooms have three petals and three sepals which curve backward. The blooms look like caps for elves. I can imagine dainty elfin ladies dancing through the dew wearing one of the blooms atop her curls.

Many morel hunters are checking their ‘early’ spots for mushrooms because they usually appear when the trout lilies bloom. I saw plenty of blooms on my hike today, but no morels. I urge you to take a walk in the woods to enjoy the awakening land. Nature is a great stress reliever.

'til next time,
Annie