still standing

by this point in our northern winters, very few slender stems from last summer’s wildflowers are still standing. wind, or weight of snow, has usually laid them flat by now. these wild aster stems are an exception. in early winter they are hard to pick out from among all the other prairie stems. but in late february, they are among the few still upright. they must have an inner strength, a small but mighty ability to resist. i could have used that mightiness today when our return flight from NYC to MSP was cancelled due to mechanical problems and, with acid stomachs and crippling fatigue, we were asked to deplane after half an hour on the tarmac, in order to wait for a new aircraft to take us home. all i could think of was how much i wanted to be lying flat, under a thick blanket.

wild aster stems in winter