The Clarity Post

At long last, my very first tulip ascended from the earth today. In my adult life, I have never been in one place long enough to complete the four seasons, to experience the earth as it changes from one vantage point, or to nurture something to life over its natural and necessary course of time. The first growth from my tulip patch marks a departure from that unfortunate circumstance.

A post about tulips might evoke a snicker; perhaps the natural occurrence of new life and new growth is considered banal among the lightening speed of new technology. At times it feels like the world has accelerated to such a pace that we forget the beauty and profundity of what is natural.

Or at least I almost did.

For the past few years, I have spent much of my time in large metropolises: primarily Los Angeles, Rome, and Washington, DC. In the paved, pruned, tidy, gridded box that is Los Angeles, it is easy to live an entire year without realizing the diversity of earth’s seasons or understand the importance of its changes. With little weather variation, limited rainfall, and far more freeways than trees, the natural world in cities is often choked by smog or development and relegated to a two-square mile corner of the grid.

Back in the wine country, nature abounds. I can see the stars–bright and now forming meaningful constellations; I can hear animal life–crickets, owls, and coyotes. There is evidence all around that we are now in the deep of the winter season.

Reflecting on this, perhaps the significance of a post about tulips makes more sense. It is profound to realize and appreciate feeling like one life-form in a web of many creatures. It is invigorating to feel the world as it undergoes change and to be a part of it, even if it is planting 19 bulbs in a rusty wheelbarrow.

Filed under: The Tulip Chronicles Tagged: | gardening, growing tulips, web of life, wine country, winter season