This glowing, pink flower was a lonely bud on an azalea bush that decided to wait to bloom on a cool, 48-degree day in late October.
Flower enthusiasts may also have noticed this occurrence in nature. The photo was taken during the course of raking and removing leaves from the other azalea bushes.
What does this photo bring to mind? Maybe it is comparable in some respects with those of us who desire to be different, or with those who are lonely. What could have happened to cause this bud to bloom so late? Its cousins bloomed months earlier and have long since vanished.
We may wonder about the reason this occurred. Maybe it’s an omen of good fortune to those who discovered it, or to those who are in for a surprise of their life.
If it’s not a common occurrence in nature, then being sort of superstitious, there must be a message for us. A botanist can probably give us a sound answer.
Maybe it is an event that occurs once in a lifetime for those of us who are watching. But then, having noted all the above, I walked out onto the front lawn of my house in the early part of November to do a chore, and what do you think I discovered? There was another single bud on one of the bushes that also decided to wait late to bloom.
Still, I hold fast to my observations and opinions. Maybe Mother Nature is trying to tell us something, but we just don’t have that sixth sense.
Francis Bond lives in Richmond Hill.