Join me in celebrating the 30th anniversary of my cheerful, bee-attracting yellow columbine. In 1993 a friend who was working on building my place brought it over with some other wild plants and trees from the mountain land grants. Every year since then it has emerged and bloomed. After winter’s over, I’ve forgotten all about it and get a surprise every time it reappears. It has survived neglect, recent droughts, insult, and near-annihilation: during several stints of construction, it’s been plastered over, stomped on and flattened, covered with debris – yet it comes up anyway. I find it so beautiful, both in its tenacity and its design. I’m inspired by its tough determination to stick around and be useful. Gives me another reason to keep thinking about yellow.