I’ve heard of people who grew up in Texas enjoying the Blue Bonnet flowers that grow there and announce spring. A friend of mine who has lived in Louisiana for a long time grew up in Texas. She had been very sick for a time, and was dealing with discouragement and a little depression. This friend didn’t get to go back home to visit family very often in years, so she decided to do so when the Blue Bonnets were in bloom the year when she got better enough to go. When she came back to Louisiana she was her old self again. I remember hearing her describe how it literally refreshed her just to get to see family and those beautiful Blue Bonnets again. It lifted her spirits, and she got well sooner.

Well I have my own “Blue Bonnets of the heart.” They are the Jonquils, Double Daffodils, and they start blooming in February here in north Louisiana. I can’t get enough of looking at them every year. Looking at them refreshes my soul after the bleakness of winter. When I see those blooms, I know that spring is very near, and I want to go to my Mamaw Holley’s old home place and just sit in those flowers for a long while. Sometimes I go after they have wilted and dig up a clump or two of the bulbs to plant in our yard. One of these days I would like to have flowers in the edge of the woods, surround our yard with a massive bed of yellow, with a few Narcissus to break it up some. I will still enjoy going back to Mamaw’s old home and sit in her flowers reminiscing of years gone by, while enjoying them here at my home, too. My Pappaw planted Jonquils outside the window for his mom to see and enjoy. What began as a line of yellow brightness became a mass of thousands of blooms and fragrance by the time Roy and I raised our children there. Pappaw Holley and Mama planted two rows of Double Daffodils across the front of their yard. By the time we live there two thick rows of “Butter and Egg” flowers, so dubbed by my brother as a little boy, gave the edge of the front yard an inviting appearance. My great grandfather built the yard up from a slope to a beautiful lawn perfect for croquet in decades to come. Going back to this yard is the shot in the arm I need; the rejuvenating energy to my senses, after unpredictable North Louisiana winter weather. I can began seriously planning what I want to put in my containers in the spring, while in the meantime adding to my own collection of Jonquils, Double Daffodils, and Daffodils. (I will add a link to actual double daffodils soon as I find one, and post a photo or two of mine soon as they bloom.)

I hope you have something in your life that brings you joy; some simple thing that you can look forward to. If you don’t, do some soul searching and be alert to when you feel your happiest. Is it while do some hobby that you enjoy, walking outside, visiting with a particular friend, reading a book, or something else? I hope you find that something that gives you that lift and makes you happy.

I hope you have a happy and very blessed weekend, friend.