Dear Reader:

I believe Grandmother was right when she said “Timing is everything in life.”

We finally got rain Monday afternoon and it lasted until the early morning hours of Tuesday…I could hardly wait to see how my daffodils loved the quenching of their thirst, along with cooler temps that they prefer. They were very happy!

*Daffodils grow wild in Ireland in profusion. The cool moist climate is perfect for them. The title photo is a picture of them growing wild along an Irish river bank. 

Spectacularly beautiful! I already know this fall I will plant even more bundles of daffodil bulbs…they make me so happy!

…And did you know daffodils bring good luck? I am so glad I checked on them yesterday before leaving to run some errands because I needed all the luck I could get…luck of the Irish and luck of daffodils.

…But I digress (getting ahead of myself)…First let me tell you some folklore I discovered about the beautiful daffodils.

We can all bring a little piece of an Irish garden into our own as long as we understand how to read the Irish compass.

The Irish have five traditional compass directions: North, South, West, East…and Here. Here is an old expression the Irish immigrants used, to mean wherever they live in the world, the mother country is with them in their hearts. Here is wherever the spirit lives, and its days can be brightened with a lush, green garden evocative of the Emerald Isle itself.

The more varying shades of green we bring to our garden, as well as, lots and lots of daffodils, the more Irish our gardens become. 

Here is some samples of the folklore about the magical daffodil.

• Plant lore tells us that daffodils bring good fortune to the person who avoids trampling on them, so watch where you step!
• The daffodil is a symbol of rebirth – a sign of the new beginnings that come with spring. Daffodils are often found connected with Easter and Easter religious services because of their new birth significance.
• Daffodils are the birthday flower of March, the same month as the spring equinox that heralds the beginning of a new season. 
• Never give a single daffodil, as bringing a single daffodil into the house will bring misfortune.  Always give a bunch to ensure happiness. 
• In Wales finding the first daffodil of spring is expected to bring more gold than silver to your life and home during the following 12 months.  
• The daffodil is associated with Lent, the 40 days of fasting and penitence before Easter Sunday in most Christian church’s and  is known as the “Lenten Lilly” in England. 
• There is a legend that the daffodil first appeared on the night of The Last Supper in the Garden of Gethsemane to comfort Jesus in his hour of sorrow.
• The daffodil is the American Cancer Society‘s symbol of new life and hope that a cure for cancer will be found. “You see a daffodil and know there’s hope,” says Debbie Jaramillo, volunteer chair, California Division Daffodil Days. “And with hope, there’s a cure. They’re a burst of sunshine, a ray of hope. Even if it is still cold outside, you know there’s warmth and light ahead.”
• Roman soldiers would carry several Daffodil bulbs with them and if mortally wounded, they’d chow down on the bulbs.  The bulb would work its narcotic wonder and the soldier would painlessly die. (Daffodils are part of the Narcissus family from where we get the word Narcotics.)

I can’t possibly end a blog post on daffodils without William Wordsworth famous poem on them. He and his sister Dorothy were walking around the Lake District area near their home when they suddenly came upon hundreds of daffodils growing along the water’s edge…sometimes in groups, sometimes alone. Based on his sister’s journal of observations from that day, he later wrote “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” or simply known today as “Daffodils.”

I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:-
A Poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.

…………………………

Now let me tell you the incident yesterday that called for a lot of luck…Irish, daffodils, etc. …anything else available…and I got it!

I was running errands finishing off with a trip to Target. True confession: I can never leave that store without a bag of popcorn…I am a popcorn junkie. I paid for the popcorn and put my clutch purse in the top of the cart and headed towards the parking lot. I threw my car keys in my coat pocket since they take up too much room in the purse.

I unloaded everything, remembered my keys were in my pocket, started the car and was on my way out…when I passed Zaxby’s and decided to get a chicken salad to eat for lunch. 

As I was waiting in line I glanced down to get my purse to see if I had enough cash to pay for it or needed to get my card…no purse!

I literally tore the front and back seat apart…going through every purchase-no purse! My mouth went dry, my heart was pounding…I knew exactly where I had left it. 

It was in the top section of the Target cart. For some reason it wouldn’t push back all the way…but big enough to squish my purse down in it.

I frantically began driving like a crazy woman around the Target parking lot haphazardly pulling over by each cart designated location and frantically going through all the carts. I had been doing this several times and had gotten back in my car…my shoulders, head, and spirits slumped over the steering wheel when I heard a tap on the window.

A nice gentleman was smiling and I quickly rolled down the window. “Did you leave a purse in your shopping cart by chance?” he asked amiably. “YES!” I screamed back in excitement. “Well, I found it and turned it into the front cashier’s desk for safekeeping. They have it right now.”

The poor man must have thought I was demented or something because the right words just kept getting tangled up…”OMG, thank you, thank you, thank you.” I wanted to give him something but remembered the purse was inside and he shook his head at the suggestion.

 I did manage to ask his name and he said it was “Rick.” I told “Rick” that he probably didn’t know it…but he had been chosen to be my guardian angel for the day…protector of absent-minded women with small purses.”

He just smiled, waved, and said he was glad he was at the right place at the right time. (And I knew Who put him right there.)

I went in and described the purse…nothing had been touched, disaster avoided.

So until tomorrow…Whether the Luck of the Irish kicked in early yesterday or I got rewarded with good luck for not trampling down any daffodils…I had the pleasure of meeting a guardian angel and pure goodness flows from these special messengers.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*When I got home I put on my lepreachaum hat and ears…because I felt like I had found my “gold” in meeting “Rick” …no rainbow needed or necessary.

*Part of the reason  I went in Target was to get a box of starter fire logs (30% off)! Getting to have a fire again each night during our cold snap is such lovely luxury!