Smiling flowers

Winter here is green and sunny.

On a walk round the farm with our two daughters, we stopped for every jewel-like yellow oxalis that sprinkle the sand, like stars in the night sky.

I admired the way the flower just popped straight out of the sand, without bothering about a stalk, just a few flat round leaves circling it.

My daughter, ever one for linguistic accuracy, pounced on the word pop. "How do they pop?"

I tried to think of a better image - " Well, they poke their faces out of the sand and smile at the sun"

This has caught their imagination, so now and forever, the yellow oxalis will remain the flower that is happy and smiling because the sun is shining. When it doesn't they stay asleep with petals furled. That's pretty much how I feel too!