Mother Tulip came back. I had my eye out for the first signs of her. This time of year I run the sheep down past the house and front road to put them in the side fields, and it is a challenge to keep them from eating the tender Muscari and my lone tulip.
But she is not just any tulip. She is Mother Tulip. Many years ago my mother gave me lots of tulip bulbs to plant here at the farm-she loved tulips. They are had to grow here due to the deer, let alone the always escaping Stella and Iris, and sheep passing by. The original Mother Tulip came out right after my mom died last April, so I took it as a clear message from her,
"Hello, I am still here." While it sounds silly, I really hung on to that tulip in my heart and it had great significance for me.
So this year I watched for her. I knew the bulb would have separated or died out, but then came a tiny shoot. In her first stages, she looked just like the original Mother Tulip, with yellow highlights, but when she began to open, she turned red. She was not as strong and tall as last year, but we all evolve, and so does Mother Tulip.
I think she came back to give me a smile. It did bring me one, although it brought back the memory of how sad it all was. But a year later, I can look at her as a beautiful creature taking on many forms.
