A week ago, I cleared off last year’s leaves and assorted debris from my garden beds and discovered, to my delighted surprise, tulips!:

Now, granted, these are not surprise plants. I made a bed and planted the bulbs (with the aid of enthusiastic children) last fall. But they still feel like a gift to me. The labor to plant them is long-forgotten, the winter has been long and the snow deep, and it’s hard to believe that after sleeping under that white coverlet for so many months, they would uncurl and stretch up towards the sun. Yet here they are.

Funny how so much gestation and growth happens in the dark, in the hidden places, in the dry times where nothing seems to be happening. Then, look, here is spring and all those small sleepy things have become green growing things.

Sorta like stories.

How are all your gardens doing?