Stop and Smell the (Tiny) Flowers

Yesterday Quynh and I went for a bike ride around the neighborhood.  (Well, she was on her trike and I walked beside her.)  It was her idea.  When we arrived home from work/camp/school she immediately asked if we could, "go for a bike ride around the circle and then pick flowers."  It sounded lovely to me, so we did.  The boys stayed home.

She had a very clear idea of where she wanted to go and we set off in that direction.  As we were biking around the edge of the grassy circle that looks like it belongs on a cul-de-sac but is actually just a rotary of sorts, I asked her what flowers she wanted to pick.  I began eyeing everyone's beautiful yards full of Tiger Lilys and Black-Eyed Susans and wondering how I was going to explain to her that we could not pick flowers out of people's gardens.   But to my surprise she announced, "the flowers in the circle."

I was surprised because there weren't any flowers in the circle.  The circle is a large patch of grass with three big trees.  Not a flower in sight.  And it looked freshly mown so any dandelions or other flowering weeds would surely have been recently beheaded.  Nevertheless, we parked the trike, removed her helmet, and began walking across the grass.  In my typical fashion of rushing through life, always thinking about what's next, and not enjoying the details of the moment, I said, "There are no flowers here."  


But I was wrong.  


She whispered, "Mama if you look real gentle [sic] you will find tiny flowers."  So I got down to her level and let her show me.  We found several little white clover flowers and an abundance of tiny purple blooms.  We picked them together for a while and then played hide-n-seek / peekaboo around one of the big trees.

Later we discovered a sidewalk littered with acorns and learned that they are tricky to walk on.  She chose two to keep as treasures for herself and brought two back to her brother.  It was a magical outing.