A Carpet of Daisies

When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; ... "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (also commonly known as "Daffodils") by William Wordsworth.

After getting my first dose of the vaccine I went on an evening bike ride and, of course, I wandered too far. I followed the Willamette River into Springfield and beyond on the Middle Fork bike path ducking in out of groves of trees and dusty sunlight. Sunlight at a slant and then receding. At one point, not surprisingly, I got a bit lost. The bike path seemed to track through an apartment complex parking lot. Then I turned a corner—

There was the river, an enchanting park with couples and babies, dogs. And spritely patches of tiny daisies. A young couple lounged on a blanket of them. It was a bit Monet-ish. Splotches of white upon green next to a rushing river. It was poster happiness—made life-size.

I didn’t stop as I knew the sun was going to go down soon and I had miles to go, but the scene filled my heart, and I carried it with me.