Singles Or Doubles

Day 180: Suddenly, I have daffodils. I didn't see them coming. I just got up one morning a few days ago, pulled back the drapes and...what the heck? What are those yellow things under the contorted filbert? Daffodils?

Usually, I get fair warning. The doubles in the front flowerbed (north side of the house) come into bloom first. I checked them next. Nope, just buds. Now where did these daffodils come from, the ones at Harry Lauder's feet?

They're what my mother always called "volunteers." I recall throwing some bulbs over that direction when I thinned the main bed out a couple of years ago with the thought that they'd either make it or not, as daffodils are wont to do. I didn't bother to scuff dirt over them, didn't water them in. I just threw them...whoosh!...and forgot about them almost immediately. And here they are, making me feel guilty for having been so callous, arising with undaunted enthusiasm and not a hint of reproach.