SURVIVOR

I was out in our back yard filling the bird feeders with seed. I looked over at the pile of dirt the backhoe had created when my husband Steven’s garden was being installed last fall.

“Oh my gosh.” I whispered. “I can’t believe they made it!” I cried out when I saw the miniature daffodils I’d planted last spring were blooming right in the center of the dirt mound.

I put the bag of bird seed down and went over to take a closer look.

“What made it?” Steven asked as he opened his garden gate and walked over towards me.

I was pointing to the delicate blooms. “I planted them last spring! I thought I’d lost all the flowers I’d planted over here when the backhoe dumped the extra dirt from the garden over them.”

Steven looked surprised. “Why didn’t you tell me you planted flowers there?” He bent down and brushed a few clumps of dirt away from the stems. “I could have dug them up and replanted them somewhere else!”

“Last fall I had no idea where the bulbs were.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I figured I’d just plant some more when we cleaned this mess up.” I bent over and picked up a few rocks that were sticking up from the dirt hill. Walking over to the rock lined path we had in the woods that led to our shed, I called over my shoulder. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and the Lily-of-the-Valley will pop through the dirt hill, too.” I tossed the rocks with several other smaller rocks.

“Oh, man.” Steven sighed. “I forgot about the Lily-of-the-Valley.”

I walked back to where Steven was still brushing dirt clumps away from the daffodils.

“I’ll try again with them, too.” I look over at him and smiled. “This time I’ll plant them closer together. They looked silly six inches apart.”

“Well, aren’t they suppose to spread?”

“Yeah, but for some reason mine didn’t.” I shrugged my shoulders again. “I never said I had a green thumb.”

Steven laughed as he looked over at his garden, where he’d just planted some lettuce and spinach. “Is that a subtle hint that you’re not planning on helping me in the garden?”

“Do you really want my help?” I had to laugh. “I’m guessing you don’t remember my tomato plants, a few years back, where I taped the drooping stems to the spindles of the deck?”

Steven nodded his head. “That’s true maybe you should stay away from the growing season.” He looked over at me. “How about when it’s time to pick the vegetables?”

It was my turn to nod my head. “That sounds like something I can handle.”

Steven picked one of the daffodils and stood up. “Sorry about your flowers being buried.” He said as he handed the flower to me.

I smiled as I took it from him, held it up to my nose, and inhaled. “Not much of a scent but they’re so beautiful.” I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before walking back towards the bird feeders to finish filling them. “I haven’t given up hope for the Lily-of-the-Valley yet!” I called as I held up the daffodil. “These survived!”