May Tulips
May you gently bend toward the light.
During my morning walk, I noticed a dewyness that felt so pleasant and fresh. I could sense the luminance of the sun from behind the clouds. I still needed sunglasses even though there is little trace of the bright ball in the sky. An Altostratus Translucidus cloud cover type of sky.
Quiet and dreamy.
Walking through High Park, I felt very alive with gratitude. My shoes, cold, wet, because I wanted to touch the grass.
An elderly woman stopped to talk about the yellow flowering tree I was looking at. She told me that the flowers were not there a few days ago. She stood beside me, smiling, before continuing her walk.
Another older woman walked through a gated garden with her binoculars, prepared to set her eyes on soaring winged creatures. Or perhaps resting ones, like the two hawks I saw, chilling side by side, high up in a tree, last Sunday.
Someone caught their foot in a branch while they walked their dog. Their friend yelled, “Ooop! You’re going down! You’re going down!” With laughter and lightness, the falling being said, “I’m not meant for the outdoors!”
I shared a photo of a flower with my sister by text. “Is that a tulip?”, she asked. According to the plant identifier on my phone, it was a tulip. In that moment, I realized that I have often mistaken tulips for other flowers.
Have I seen these flowers before? These velvety petals and soft leaves, are sprung from a hard bulb planted in the dirt in the fall?
They go through many stages, all beautiful. I witnessed all of the stages while walking through the park. Tight and compact. Opening and reaching for the elements, their final stretch before shrivelling, and falling to the ground.
Pleasant, imperfect, resilient, fragile, holding drops of water, bugs, webs, and dirt.
Showing their colours under the muted May sky.
May the tulips remind me, you, us, to grow, shift, and gently bend toward the light.
🌷 Written May 2025, published May 2026 🌷 :-)
Inspiration
Listening: A Fountain of Regret - Vibe Check podcast with Saeed Jones and Stafford. Always a great listen. This episode about regrets moves through loss and lightness. I appreciated the balance in approaching what can feel like a difficult topic.
Listening: The Sun Song (Precious Energy) by Tyerrk McDole