Flowers Bloom June 19, 2019

For the first time in 20 years my ‘May Flowers’ did not bloom during the month of May. May Flowers is, of course, a nickname I gave to the irises we had transplanted from the old house to here when we built a new home at the winery in 1999. A few years ago, I came so close to having said the same thing. My May Flowers always bloom on Memorial Day weekend, but that year they didn’t at the beginning of the long holiday weekend. But in the end the blossoms arrived on Memorial Day Monday. Flowers always keep their word. They relieved me then.

But this year they finally broke their promise. When Memorial Day weekend ended without the blossoms of May Flowers, I looked up at the sky and thought about the cold rain and winds we kept getting throughout the month. The flower buds were; however, swelling quickly as the month headed toward June.

The clouds were hanging low, and the cool mist was flowing in from the Lake in the morning of June 6th. Another chilly damp start of a day was replaced by the sunshine by lunchtime. I was busy in and out of my farm barn, taking advantage of the dry afternoon by working on my tractor. When I was passing by the flower bed along the winery barn in late afternoon, I saw some light purple swaying in the breeze. Oh, my May Flowers! I stopped to look and smell the brand-new blossoms. “It’s not when, but the fact that they’ve returned.” It was a moment of confidence that was found in the arrival of this year’s May Flowers.