Growing up in Chicago, I never imagined seeing flowers in the middle of winter. In Florida, it's a different story. Flowers can be found year-round, including the winter. In the winter months, wildflowers bloom, flowers that you might typically find in the late summer or early autumn in other parts of the country. The milder weather allows for such flowers to grow.
With the 70-degree weather, I chose to take my studies outside to the local park. I sit under a pavilion along a lake. The cool breeze blows off the lake, rustles the palms, and blows through the pavilion. I sit with my back to the sun soaking in its warmth. Occasionally I lift my head and look around. I'm surrounded by beauty. Blue skies hold fluffy white clouds that float past.
The occasional osprey circles the lake calling with its high-pitched shout, sometimes another osprey calls in response. I watch the deep blue lake waters ripple and blow in mini waves towards the grassy shore.
Hidden in the grasses wildflowers blow in the wind. My favorite flower, I can spot it from 50 feet away, daisies. They line the shore, hundreds of them dancing in the breeze. I don't remember them being there a week before. It's January and new flowers are blooming.
I return my focus to my studies but cannot wait to see the daisies. I read some more. A young man walks past and picks up a few pieces of trash with a claw and places them in the can. He says hi, I say hi and continue reading. Moments past and I hear a laugh come from the other end of the pavilion. The young man must have found a bubble wand. He's holding the wand and watching the bubbles float away at 10, 15 miles an hour. They fly over the grass and past palms, and across the parking lot.
Bubbles float past me and I can't help but smile as I return my focus to my studies. Still, I'm intriguing I can't help but look up a few times and watch. I'm glad that man can still enjoy life like a kid. That he can find bubbles that make him smile and laugh. I overhear him texting a friend. He's here for community service. But still, he makes it fun. He continues around the pavilion blowing bubbles for another 10 minutes or more, laughing and smiling as everyone should.
Bubbles, parks, wildflowers they all remind us to be children again. I finish my studies, but before I leave I must see the daisies. I approach the lake and they are even more spectacular than I thought. I sit down, at their level. They shine white, vibrant in the sun and dance wildly in the breeze. There's a whole line of them along the lake, as far as the eye can see.
I can't help but smile with the sunshine, the daisies, the man playing with bubbles. It's hard to leave such beauty. But I'll remember the wild daisies that bloom in January and will enjoy them as long as they are here.
