Stolen Joy

Since I can remember my Nana has always looked for flowers that are "double." 

"Are those double ____ (insert flower name here)?" she wonders every summer.  I think today that I finally figured it out her double delight, and perhaps found my first flowering double.  The lilacs pictured above.

From the web:

A double flower is a plant in which extra petals are present, giving blooms a full or doubled appearance. Prized since ancient times, double flowers are somewhat difficult to cultivate, as many are sterile and must be regrown from cuttings rather than simple propagation. Genetic studies have shown that a double flower is the result of a specific genetic mutation, one rarely found in the wild.

I've been known to say that the people who are fortunate in this world – or rather the people who "have" a fortune – either are incredibly lucky or they steal.  While I would love to be lucky enough to sell our house in a timely manner, and be ever-so-lucky enough to find a dream home in our budget, my luck is never something I would bet a quarter on.  I'm such a luck-loser that I can't even win at "loser bingo" at our favorite family summer resort.

Luck counted out, a life of thievery isn't necessarily for me either.  I'm a terrible liar, have a guilty conscience and a tattle-tale of a kid.  This puts me in a tough spot.  By my own definition I will either NEVER be fortunate or I have to create another way.

In the words of musical ensemble Bright Eyes: "I'd rather be working to earn a paycheck than waiting to win the lottery."  I find this to be true, and work we are.  Jahred – more than his share wiping and saving.  Me – much of the same wiping and saving – only at home.  We're both working overtime, on overdrive, squirreling away a few dollars so we can cut our rural ties and re-plant ourselves somewhere where we can double...in joy that is.

So we've got "work" in our fortune equation.  Work and what I discovered in college to be more important than brains – "resources."  We are employing the best resources we have to find our fortune.  We are now using what we believe to be our best St. Cloud real estate resource.  Jahred was lucky to find Carlene, the resource to score him a job that will bring us into the future and I called on an old childhood friend (re-discovered on a bus stop bench in St. Paul) to be our house scout in the metro area.  We're all in with our resources, calling on each for their expertise and guidance.

So is there any room for my original two variables?  Luck and/or sticky fingers?  Absolutely.  I stand by my word that luck can be an escalator to the top and stealth can be a shortcut behind a hidden bookshelf.  While I await lady luck to show up this week, bringing a buyer and helping us to come out on top of whatever we buy, I decided to steal just a bit of joy today in the form of these double lilacs.

How did I rationalize clipping just a few from the back of someone's hedge?  Like every good thief I told myself, "They would have given them to me anyway."  Perhaps it's true.  I'd like to think that if someday I'm planted just where I need to be, if my rare, genetically mutated double lilacs would give somebody just an ounce of joy, I would tell them to clip the whole lot of them – unless by stealing them they would feel just a bit better about themselves.  Either way I'll be willing to accommodate.

Terry?  Are you still out there?  Can you start blogging again please?