Meanwhile in the Lowlands

William Wordsworth. 1770–1850

I Wander'd lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced;
but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

"Dad, they're up!" my daughter insisted. "No way." came the reply. I've seen a few around town, but our's have still been dormant. So, she took me to the back yard last night and sure enough three hearty daffodils were bucking the trend and blooming in the crisp dusk air.

This morning the children's daffodils were covered in a fresh blanket of snow. Things are slow to warm this year, though the winter was mild. I took another ride past the Lodge to the 67 mile marker on Sunday and got caught in a snow storm on the pass on the return. Something new happened to me on this ride. It was about seven pm and raining hard as I came to the OZ and in the road stood ten elk. I had to wipe my glasses from the fog and rain to make sure I was not seeing things, but then the smell confirmed what I was seeing. On the ranch there were maybe fifty or more elk grazing with the cattle. It was quite a site. At this area I met my wife and called it a ride.

Perhaps the thing to be doing at the moment is pursuing Toms. I think that is what LR and I will do until this weather settles.