Flower Power

Summer is well upon us. It’s warm, green and just bloody beautiful. So much so that today Jane scarpered out of the office a little early so we could all go down to the Governor General’s park where, among other things, the dandelions are in full bloom. Dandelions are a weed that is nearly impossible to remove from lawns and which produce a sea of yellow flowers well known to all children and the mothers that receive them by the small grubby handful every spring.

I was sitting on the shaded edge of the lawn when Tom brought over a handful of the dry white fluffy seed heads that follow the yellow flower. I took them and blew upon them, sending a great cloud of fluff into the air. Tom’s eyes went wide as he danced through the fluffy cloud.

“Yayyy! That was AMAZING!”

...And then he ran off to gather another handful for the first of several repeat performances.

There will come a time when nothing I say will be right, and nothing I do will be cool, but today I stand shoulder to shoulder with Ancient Gods. Just as they breathed life into the world, I use my breath to bring the undiluted wonder of childhood - in the form of dandelion fluff - to my son’s life. I have certainly had worse afternoons.