the good doctor on: Being Pleasantly Surprised

Blog #35

On being pleasantly surprised.

Here we are, Christmas Eve; closed up the clinic for a much needed 3 day break. The cold of winter has descended on us, with the customary collection of rain, sleet, or snow. The last things you would expect to see growing in these environs, are flowers. In the front of our property under a large maple, grows a plant that we have come to love. It is a Hellebore, otherwise called the Christmas or Lenten Rose. I grabbed a picture of this plant yesterday, while the sun was still out.

What a surprise to have garden flowers in the winter, a reminder that all is not doom and gloom. Let us be open to being pleasantly surprised. What COVID has been teaching me is that we need to be in the moment, and that when we are, we are opened up to flowers like Hellebores, and so many other countless surprises that we normally miss when we go hurriedly about.

Hoping that this Holiday Season we can appreciate the little things, and who is to say maybe we can start new Holiday traditions during this “winter of our discontent”.

Til next year,


The Good Doctor, Dr. Mark Germain, Burlington Optometrist

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