I have decided to interrupt my posting on the

wonders of Saskatchewn for my first flower

of the year. I was away from home for work 

for three days, when  I got home my wife

mentioned  the crocus had bloomed

I was out to look right away. These

grow wild here but this one is in our

garden. As Candice Savage notes in her

marvelous book Prairie a Natural History,

they risk frost and snow pushing up

without growing leaves to take advantage

of snow melt. The coat of hairs holds in

heat and moisture. By the time the other

flowers appear they will already have

set seed.

The Crocus Teaches Wapee to Overcome Fear

"On the fifth morning, in that brief state between

sleeping and waking, Wapee heard the flower

whisper, "Who never knows fear is a fool.

Who knows fear and listens is wise. Who knows

fear and conquers is brave." Startled, Wapee

opened his eyes and stared, but the flower

only opened its petals and danced in the wind.

All that day Wapee thought about what the

flower had said, and wove its words

into his prayers. Again he sheltered the flower

with his body and robe. As he fell asleep,

he heard the flower close its petals and

sigh, "I am so pale and plain.""

from

Legend of the Prairie Crocus

A First Nations Tale About the

Origin of the Prairie Flower

Thomas Alan Gray ( from the web )