Lost and Found

A late-season impulse commitment
soon forgotten in the tumult of a family
misadventure if heart surgery can be
described in that gentle way. The discovery
months later of the tuber package set aside
and overlooked then inadvertently happened
upon, the package of 25 blue poppy anemones.
Though it is early December the garden beds
are not yet fully frozen and the temperature
has risen above freezing, so spade in hand
and determination to finish what I never
started propelling the adventure, the
tubers were planted, one by one; imagine 
the pleasant surprise of these delicate
flowers greeting us as spring banishes
winter; a gift from the Netherlands to
frozen northern-latitude Canada. My
garden-gloved hands are cold but not that
cold to prevent me from persevering, digging
that spade deep into the soil, sodden from
days of blowing snow and freezing rain.
The effort well worth the anticipated pleasure
of winter days eased by the thought of these
fragile beauties erupting from the freed
soil to gladden our winter-weary eyes.