The Trilliums have Arrived!
Happy First Day of Spring. I spent most of the day outside. I had a feeling the other day when I trekked through the woods that maybe it could happen, and then I thought, no maybe not. Everything else is late this year. I decided to look around anyway today as I entered the woods just in case. Suddenly, I saw one. It hadn’t quite bloomed yet, but there it was. A trillium flower! Oh my gosh. I became very excited because I love Trilliums so much. I think they’re magical. And they always appear to me on the first day of Spring. This is the fourth year in a row that it’s happened. I kid you not!
I passed an older lady sitting on the wooden bench, and she said, “Did you see the trillium?” She wore hiking boots and an outfit that reminded me of the people who Volksmarched in West Germany back in the 1980s. She held on to a wooden cane. Her gray hair was wild and frizzy.
“Yes, I did!” I answered. Wow, how did she know I was even looking for them? I hadn’t seen this person before.
“It’s definitely springtime! That’s how I always know it’s spring!”
“Yes, well I’m going up into the woods to see if I can find some more.”
The woman nodded and smiled. “I’ll bet you’ll find some.”
At first, I did not see any trilliums. I saw some other plants growing in front of my favorite tree. I hung out by my tree for a while and looked up the hill at the ferns and the trees. I remembered how when people walk by, they always look up as if there’s something special to see.
As I continued to saunter up the trail looking around for signs of trilliums, I remembered this area where an entire grove of trilliums grew. I could see it from the trail, but to get a good look, I’d have to climb down a small, slippery hill onto a side trail. As soon as I reached that special area, I could see some trilliums from a distance. Of course, I had to get down there to see them, and I made it. As I admired the trilliums, some of which had bloomed already, many just starting, I could hear what sounded like a drill in the distance. I wondered who would be drilling around here in the woods. Then I found out from two women who walked by that it was actually a pileated woodpecker making all that racket. Wow!
I leaned against the Douglas Fir in that small grove that watched over all the trilliums there. I wanted to stay longer, but I needed to get to the store and sign in for work. But now I know that the trilliums have arrived, as usual, on the first day of Spring.
As I trekked back down the trail, I suddenly noticed a few more trilliums beginning to bloom on the hillside next to the road. I hadn’t noticed them before. Sometimes you just have to look.
Life is good.
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