HYACINTHS

also known as

THE FABLE OF FREDDY

I planted hyacinth bulbs today.

partly empty  -  color dictates the bulb color but I do not know the difference ...
I think the lighter bulbs are white or pale yellow ... 

I have already started to deocrate for Christmas.
Notice the gold on the right of the top picture?
Christmas boxes and bags are everywhere.
The tree is standing but I want clear lights this year -
now where did I put them ... they are AWOL!

David and I went to Lowe's on an errand last night and while poking around there I found a dream come true! The most expensive spring bulbs that I adore, and can never make myself spend money to own, were on sale.  Instead of 10$ they were just $1.87 for 12!!! I had to get some ... and then pray the ground didn't freeze solid during the night. A bit of light rain fostered that hope.

The day had been warm enough to finish some late season garden chores - do those ever end? Not before the ground freezes!  It is very late to plant bulbs but as long as you can bury them enough they are fine to put in. I bought some!

This morning everything was frosty white and hard as a rock ... but the sun rose, the ground thawed and my shovel got busy.  The package does say it is OK to plant them in this area until November ... and it IS still November - right?

a hyacinth bulb just below my shovel  blade (about 8" deep)
tucked in along the edges of the flower beds between this and that

Gale force winds blew right threw my jacket so I came in and added another wool layer and then another windbreaker layer. A wandering giant tumbleweed (really - it was almost 5 feet in diameter) - attacked me, literally came rolling around the corner of the house and almost knocked me down, but that did not deter me. I escorted it to the curb and waved good bye as it started looking for a new victim.

Here is another tumbleweed, the same size, going to visit the neighbor ...
These things are almost like pets - they have personalities ...

WHERE DO THESE COME FROM?
I live in town!
No one grows these in their yard!

Many years ago as I planted tulips in October a neighborhood boy, Freddy, asked me what I was doing.  I told him I was planting flowers. He was incredulous - "Mrs. don't you know winter is coming?" he asked. "It is going to snow!"

I explained that sometimes you have to wait for good things.  Sometimes you have to plan and prepare long before it is time to enjoy the things you like best. I told him to come see me in the spring and I would give him some flowers for his mother.  He walked away shaking his head about a crazy old woman. He never did come get any tulips.

Moral: when old people talk think carefully about what they are trying to say.

I know winter is coming.
I know it is going to snow.
I know it is awfully cold out there in the wind.
I also know how to work.

I can see tiny green life trying to grow out of the bulbs.

I know they will make flowers.

When we really want something, we pray for it and hope for it BUT we have to do more than have faith and hope - we have to act.  I have to get the bulbs when Heavenly Father blesses me to find them on sale and then I have to put them in the ground when he blesses me with sunshine enough to thaw the ground for a day.

President Thomas S. Monson teaches, "Work will win when wishy washy wishing won't." He calls that 'Formula W'. It is true. Next spring I will have hyacinths.  I have hoped and prayed I might have an abundance of them someday.

I wish I had bought more than 2 packages.
If the sun is shining tomorrow I may get more
- even if the month has changed to December.

I really, really do want more.
I thought 24 would be lots.
I wasn't sure I wanted to work THAT hard.
Now they are planted they seem - not enough ...
And the effort will be so worth it!

What do you really desire?
Do you believe it is possible?
Do you have faith?
Have you asked God to bless you to have it?
How hard are you willing to work for it?
What do you need to do to prepare for it?
Do you have hope?

I am so excited for spring to come.
I will have to content myself by waiting with Christmas.