A few miles from my house, there are palm trees. Palm trees are not native to Missouri. When I first saw them, I thought they were fake. Then I realized they were taller than the other, native-to-Missouri trees. That would have to be a pretty good fake. And they moved in the breeze the way real palm trees would.

And when winter came, they were wrapped. 

I drove past that house recently and saw they'd installed carved and painted wooden palm trees with their house number at the base of their driveway.

I also saw the fronds of the unwrapped palm trees. They were still green. It was a very mild winter in Kansas City, but still ... the palm trees made it through the winter.

As I continued on down the road, I saw some wild turkeys, which actually belong in Missouri, and I thought about the plants those same neighbors planted at the base of their driveway a few years ago -- they were palm-like, but they were planted straight into the ground, probably several hundred dollars worth of these palm plants, and in the blazing Missouri humidity, they lasted about three weeks before they dried up and died.

So these people went from a several-hundred dollar failed palm-like-plant experiment to five full-size palm trees and huge carved wood statues. I don't even know how much it would cost to transport a fully grown palm tree from wherever palm trees belong to Kansas City, let along FIVE OF THEM.

And you know what? I smile every single time I drive past that house due to the undying optimism of these transplanted beach lovers.

Optimism: Go hard or go home.