Blooming on a short stem?

This morning on my early morning walk, I noticed a few resilient tulip buds. Just a few weeks before delivering my fourth baby, I was intensely nesting and decided to plant over 50 bulbs on an unsightly patch of dirt near the road. I had springtime fantasies of a beautiful field of tulips to greet the cars that often pass too quickly by. Maybe a pop of color would supplement my rainbow boxes and spark joy (and a little letting up on the gas)…

So I went to town with an adapted drill and hand trowel to dig 4-6 inches below a rocky surface panting heavily due to my bulging belly and intolerance to crouching over. The result would be EPIC…but then the construction equipment came. Maybe it was making a K-turn, or perhaps just trying to park off the road…the result was deep tire tracks that I also worried caused many of the bulbs to burst underground from the pressure…

But this morning, I was greeted with two perfectly cupped buds. A striking yellow greeted me with unexpected splendor with its red veins coursing strongly–demanding to be noticed. They were beautiful.

Yet, I noticed that the buds were only a few inches off the ground. This seemed curious and not optimal. I posted my discovery online with a comment ‘I don’t know why they bloomed on such a short stem”. One of my friends mused that this would be a great writing prompt, and here we are.

After nearly two years of launching my consulting business structure, complete with a website of my own, a lot has changed. We are one year into a global pandemic, having survived all manner of political and social unrest. Personally, I have continued to make shifts to allow for increased margin for connection, creativity, and surprises. This has required nothing short of a miracle. We have lost so many, and so much. If we bloom at all, it occurs under stress and shortened stems. Keep pushing through. The whole world awaits our emergence.