Colorful beacons
One of hundreds of beautiful orchids that brought me sunshine at the U. S. Botanic Garden, April 2014
“Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun from which we get sunshine when dark, somber skies blanket our thoughts.” — Dodinsky
On the Saturday after Matt had open heart surgery, he seemed to be doing well enough that I decided to take Jeff’s suggestion and go down to the Capitol area to visit the U. S. Botanic Garden, where a special orchid exhibit was in its final day. I hesitated but Jeff reminded me that he would be there with Matt, and I might not get the chance to get out again anytime soon. So I had a nice few hours out, losing my worries and exhaustion just briefly in the lovely colors and beautiful, mild spring day.
When I got back that night, Matt had taken a turn for the worse, and the next few days were more difficult. He did not leave the CICU until Tuesday, and it would be another full week before he was able to go home. I’m glad I did not know all that was ahead of us on the Saturday I enjoyed the orchids. It would have been overwhelming, and I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed myself even if I had managed to talk myself into leaving for a few hours. But as it turned out, I needed the emotional boost I got that day, to help me make it through the next ten days.
If anything is bothering you, I hope you will be able to steal away today, or as soon as the weather is nice, for a quick springtime walk. You can enjoy the fresh air and catch the glow of the flowers, beacons that soak up sunshine for for a showy display to lift our spirits when we need it most.
One year ago today:
This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
Defeat Despair 
WOW
Both the message and the photo, Julia: WOW!
Thank you, Susan. I’m glad you found it memorable.
Flowers with their magnificent colors, shapes and even textures give us a little glimpse of the beauty we’ll see in Heaven. And the quote you shared from Dodinsky adds another important purpose to the reason we love them so much.
One of the joys of old age is that I really, really look at flowers with a new depth of appreciation. I always enjoyed them but it was more in just a visual way. Now they speak to me from a deeper place.
Thanks Judy. Your observation is echoed in the quote found in this post, which will be reappearing here soon. I find that many things, and most especially those straight from the hand of God (in other words, things that are of nature and not made by human hands) hold deeper meaning for me now. It’s one of many consoling joys of growing older.