Blogg # THE LOWLY CALIFORNIA POPPY

 As a little child I spent every Sunday morning, wearing my Sunday best, going to Sunday school for lessons. My favourite one was from St. Mathew's - "Consider the lilies of the field how they

grow:they toil not neither do they spin. Yet I say unto you,that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one"
This lesson appealed to me because of my inclination to idleness-my favourite pastime was hiding on top of a haystack counting clouds and of course it also appealed to me because of my passion for fashion-I designed and made gowns for my paper dolls-Lucille Ball and Loretta Young. However I did not really like lilies. They seemed aloof,cold, smug and they smelled too sweet.They were also waxy to touch-children are sensitive to such things. I did not consider them Solomon's rival.
This past weekend I fled from Victoria to my daughter in the countryside to escape and recuperate from my whirlwind social life in inner Victoria and trendy Oak Bay Village-Ha! -note massive irony-and there  I at last saw Solomon's rival.
My daughter had  solved ground coverage not by putting in  green lawn but  by scattering packets of wild flower seeds. The pleasing result is waving tall grasses that the cat can stalk through hunting critters; masses of tiny timid flowers of all colours and of course the lowly California poppy.
I spent the weekend reclining on a chaise lounge reading detective novels and contemplating nature. Hours were spent gazing at the ocean; admiring Mt. Baker; watching vultures and eagles circling the vast blue sky; listening to the rustle of leaves ;the sighing of wind through the pines and fir and of course listening to the song of birds and the  call of our local raven. But most of all I gazed at the lowly poppies which dominated the whole area in all their glory.
As I sipped  my first  cup of morning coffee I watched  these amazing flowers slowly open their petals to the sun and as the morning progressed watched as they voluptuously widened, embracing the sun- their vibrant colours challenging it's blaze.  I too embraced the sun and marveled at the intense gold of this generous humble flower. Truly Solomon never had such a golden garment -nor for that neither did the Queen of Sheba-my other favourite biblical character. Even the Emperor of China whose yellow robes  -that  intense yellow symbolizing absolute  power- did not match the vibrancy of this lowly flower.
Hours spent idling can expand to eternity if you are smart enough to let it -and I am.  The  minutes became hours and hours felt like days-and indeed that was how my day went while watching this amazing flower. As the day progressed and the sun moved through it's path, the poppy moved with it-turning it's face with worship to the sun.  As the wind rose in the afternoon,  the poppy shimmered in golden  ecstasy-as though touched by king Midas.
When finally the sun started to sink in the horizon, the poppy also started to change. Slowly it's petals curled inwards, fluting tightly until she became virginally closed, holding her beauty in secret. The day was over and the night was needed to replenish her strength for tomorrow when again she would generously give up her beauty to the sun and of course to us.
I too prepared for sleep and contemplated the lessons of the day. Yes -I had learned much from the lowly California poppy.  Its true- one does not need to spend lots of money to have a beautiful flower.  I spent seven dollars on a rose plant and she is lovely but I could have spent only pennies on a poppy seed to have a riot of golden colour.  Also one  does not have to spend thousands of dollars on clothes to be beautiful-one needs only to let one's own inner beauty shine through-it costs nothing-here my faith in myself stumbled a bit-but never mind -if the poppy can do it so can I. The other lesson of course-my favourite is -stop toiling and spinning ! -it is not necessary to do that for the beauty to shine through [fingers crossed]. However the best lesson is- there is always tomorrow. Then I  can practice the lessons learned from the California poppy.
 So dear readers -stop toiling and spinning,become idle and let your beauty shine through and remember there is always another day tomorrow. Have a wonderful summer.