A4
THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, ApRIl 3, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
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WRITER’S NOTEBOOK
A flower for someone
ob Swenson has lived on Dow
Lane in Youngs River for around
45 years. He’s been making peo-
ples’ day for nearly as long.
Swenson, 92, picked 4,150 bright
yellow daffodils this year, he estimates.
Who gets them? Neighbors, care facil-
ities, senior centers, doctor’s offices,
churches. He brought nearly 500 to
Bethany Lutheran Church in Astoria.
After a long, wet winter, the cheer
the vibrant flowers bring is hard not to
enjoy.
They also show the passage of time.
“I think it’s just a reality that life goes
on and the beautiful things of nature
aren’t quelled by this pandemic, and
that’s a nice thing to know,” Swenson
said. “That nature continues to do its
part in many wonderful ways to make us
realize how important those things are,
like birds and flowers and things like
that.”
The coast’s climate
is ideal for the flow-
ers. They require little
upkeep. “The only thing
is after they do bloom
... you have to allow
the leaves to die down
JONATHAN
for the photosynthe-
WILLIAMS
sis to allow the bulbs to
replenish, so you don’t
do anything there,” Swenson said. “And
that’s all you have to do with them, wait
till next year, their lovely heads come
out every year.”
Many are familiar with the daffodil
cross outside the Pioneer Presbyterian
Church during Easter. Swenson noted
the Clatsop Plains area near the Asto-
ria Golf & Country Club was once the
home to many fields of bulbs for daffo-
dils. Some still sprout there each spring.
Swenson is a fan of the poet William
Wordsworth’s poem about daffodils, “I
Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.”
He said he’s always wanted to mem-
orize the poem but has never gotten
around to it. Though he still remembers
the poem’s final lines: “And then my
heart with pleasure fills, / And dances
with the daffodils.”
Swenson has been retired for many
years, leaving open space for the flow-
ers. He worked in the automotive indus-
try until the mid-1970s before going to
work at the Astoria Plywood Mill. His
wife taught math at Clatsop Community
College.
He’s reluctant for publicity and sees
himself as more of a private person.
But he understands the joy and calm-
ing power the daffodils hold, especially
now.
B
Photos by Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
Bob Swenson picked 4,150 bright yellow
daffodils this year.
‘I WANDERED
LONELY AS A CLOUD’
”I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
Vibrant flowers can bring cheer.
“When you get older you have to
keep busy and of course sometimes you
get depressed so you have to keep mov-
ing and I walk a lot and I try to do things
that keep your mind off of getting old,”
Swenson said. “And this does help to
see it’s rewarding to make other people
feel good, which is very helpful.”
The waves beside them danced; but they
This spring, when so much feels in
flux and there are no clear finish lines
for the pandemic, take solace in the
beauty of the daffodils, and the fragile
strength they bring, signaling that time,
too, marches on.
Jonathan Williams is the associate
editor of The Astorian.
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
THIS SpRING, WHEN SO MuCH FEElS IN FluX ANd THERE
ARE NO ClEAR FINISH lINES FOR THE pANdEMIC, TAKE SOlACE
IN THE BEAuTy OF THE dAFFOdIlS, ANd THE FRAGIlE STRENGTH
THEy BRING, SIGNAlING THAT TIME, TOO, MARCHES ON.
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.”
— William Wordsworth
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
An explanation
I
must respond to the well-meaning letter
from Benjamin A. Greaves, “No doubt,”
on March 23, regarding mask-wear-
ing and the possibility of related brain
degeneration.
By his implication, surgeons and other
operating room personnel are all suffer-
ing cognitive decline, and should not be
trusted. I could cite numerous large-scale
studies refuting such ill effects. Simply
put, there is no injurious carbon dioxide
buildup in a properly worn mask.
I can’t leave this subject without an
explanation that medical personnel wear
masks, not for their own protection, but for
that of their patients. Likewise, in this pan-
demic, we are all required to wear masks,
not for our own safety, but for the protec-
tion of those around us.
MATT HIGGINS
Hammond
Stick with us
am a candidate for the Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation District Board,
Position 3. I’m asking for reelection with
this fine group of individuals: board pres-
ident, Katharine Parker, Celeste Bod-
ner, Erika Marshall-Hamer and Susan
Coddington.
The board is proud of our decision
as we move to the next phase of plan-
ning for the abandoned Broadway Middle
School, now the Sunset Recreation Cen-
ter. A request for proposals (RFP) has been
released to guide our vision, which began
I
in 2014 with community charrettes.
The RFP is to evaluate the highest and
best use, and has been issued as we enter a
new period of public engagement toward
three priorities: Increase desperately
needed preschool, child care and after-
school activities; expand indoor recreation
for all citizens; and contribute to the local
economy with sports tourism strategy.
The immediate need is clear. Entering
into the COVID-19 era, emergency child
care programs were established to expand
and consolidate stressed KinderCare and
preschool gatherings into smaller cohorts,
ensuring safety for the children and staff.
All of the challengers for the district
board falsely claim many things. Staff has
spent many weeks now cleaning and mit-
igating identifiable issues. Both gyms are
being rented and utilized by the COVID-
19-emerging Pacific Basketball League.
The school district is planning to use our
locker rooms.
Please stick with us. Reject the irre-
sponsible challengers who seek to throw
out the baby with the bathwater.
MICHAEL HINTON
Seaside
Disturbing perspective
T
here was a very interesting and dis-
turbing perspective on why we should
not wear masks from “No Doubt” of Sea-
side in the March 23 letters to the editor.
He says it will cause brain damage from
lack of oxygen.
Hospital workers, especially surgeons,
wear personal protection equipment, scrub
up, wear gloves and, yes, wear masks, but
I have not heard of any medical studies
that conclude that this practice is a major
cause of brain damage among medical
professionals.
If there are enough voices out there
spreading rumors about the damage caused
by wearing masks and getting vaccinated,
we will probably be spending many more
months than necessary trying to get control
of this pandemic.
I’m not worried about a mask caus-
ing brain damage, but, I am worried about
the continued spread of COVID-19 facili-
tated by the continued spread of conjecture
based on little or no scientific evidence.
LARRY ALLEN
Astoria