Ode to a Flower
It is not often that a simple wildflower brings tears to your eyes, but this one did, and I’d like to share her story…
A week ago, I went for a walk on a particularly cold and dreary day. The air was damp, and the breeze was cool on my face. the breeze carried the scent of pine trees and wet leaves as I walked along. The sun was playing a “cat and mouse” game with the clouds in the sky, trying to emerge from behind them. I just wanted a glimpse of sunshine on such a gloomy day, so I prayed for spirit to guide me to a flower that was able to reach the sun, that I might listen to the story she wanted to tell me. At the end of my road, in an empty field I spotted a dew-covered flower, she too wanted to turn her face and warm it in the sun. How beautiful the change of season is, I could see that she was letting go of her flowers to create fuzzy white seed pods which she would deposit in the earth to sprout come spring. She seemed so bright and cheerful against the cloud covered sky, and she reminded me to look for the light, even if things seem dark. Little did I know that she would live by those very words…
A week later I went on another walk and thought I’d go visit this lovely flower again. My heart dropped as I approached her field as large tractors, “earth movers,” were parked all around, and large piles of dirt filled the landscape which was once a pretty field. A subdivision is going in there, and the day I dreaded had arrived, they had begun clearing the land. Slowly I approached the field wondering if she would still be there. My heart sang as I saw here, still blooming, in her special place that faced the lake. A large tractor sat just 15 feet from her, it’s hard metal teeth full of the rich dirt that it planned to conquer.
This is when the tears came to my eyes, for I knew this beautiful field and the woods adjacent to it would soon be gone. In their place would be a manicured green lawns, sprayed regularly to keep “weeds” like my flower friend from growing there. And the new owners of the home would be happy to embrace an artificial house, in a once so natural place. I know it seems silly to cry for a flower, but I was crying for much more than that. I cried for the people who chose to create these subdivisions without regard or respect for the land they built on. I prayed that this would change, that we as people would choose to become conscious creators when we built our homes. That they would demand that the developers save as many trees as possible and create garden spots incorporating natural plants form the region. I prayed they would bless the land before they moved the first shovel of its rich soil.
I said goodbye to my flower friend that day. But first, I asked her for some seeds, that I might take them and plant them in a safe place; knowing that when spring would come, she would return. And I reminded her that although things looked dark for her right now, I could see the day that she would face the light again.
For those of you who who love this beautiful earth, and for those of you who have a stirring in your heart, please join me in holding a vision for the people of this earth to become conscious creators, and pray that they may be given wisdom to heal and restore this earth.
Blessings, Valerie
Copyright Restoring Light, 2019, all rights reserved. Photos by Valerie Greguire, all rights reserved
