So, now that I've stated my purpose let me explain the title...Early in January we had two nights with temperatures in the teens. I lost many of my plants because they just couldn't take the hard freeze. About a week later we had a fairly mild day and when I got home that day I just had to go outside for a while. I have chrysanthemums in the two planters as you walk up to the front door and I noticed some green underneath them so I decided to trim them back. Imagine my surprise as I found that they were coming out very nicely from the bottom. As I trimmed back the second one, I was really surprised because there was a tiny chrysanthemum bloom! I was just awestruck that something so tiny and fragile had managed to survive and to bloom in spite of the cold weather. This little blossom just lifted my spirits and I felt so renewed. I felt I had to preserve the moment and ran inside to get the camera. As I snapped pictures in the late evening light Lacey came up to see what I was doing and I caught her in the picture above. I realized that it is the small, simple things of life that bring joy and peace.
