A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Friday, March 12, 2010

The Daffodil Lady

Everytime I get this story in an email...I read it. It is so inspirational. Many of us follow the same principle when we garden. I have been adding small flowering trees to my woods at the back of our property. Some say, "Why bother...you won't be alive to enjoy them when they are mature." I just smile and think to myself...I want to leave this part of my world a little more beautiful. I imagine how pretty a tree will be, when I plant it, and down through the years how many people might enjoy it too. I realize that this is on a much smaller scale, but if we all do our part...just imagine!
Balisha

The Daffodil Garden
Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I will come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!"
My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."
"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.
"I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car."
"How far will we have to drive?"
"Just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."
After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!"
"We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils."
"Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around."
"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience. "
After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign that read, "Daffodil Garden."
We got out of the car and each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped.
Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.
"But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn.
"It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home."
Carolyn pointed to a well kept A frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster.
" Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline.
The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read.
The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain."
The third answer was, "Began in 1958."
There it was, The Daffodil Principle.
For me, that moment was a life changing experience.
I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun one bulb at a time-to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world. This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable (indescribable) magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.
The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time often just one baby step at a time-and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.
"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way.
"Start tomorrow," she said.
It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"


Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards


Author Note:
This is a real garden by Mrs. Gene Bauer of Running Spring, CA


The garden is closed to the public now, but if you care to read more about this wonderful gardener you can click on this and read how it all began. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700013948/Forever-blooming-Amazing-daffodil-garden-is-closed-but-her-serigraphs-are-alive-in-a-new-book.html

4 comments:

Noelle Johnson said...

I do love this story....it also shows that although "Mother Knows Best", this time it was "Daugther Knows Best".

Liza said...

What a great story! Thank you for sharing. I love Daffodils!

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

Yes...I know about this and I live just below in the valley. I would love to drive up and see this but so far have only seen the fantastic photo's of this glorious garden this woman has planted.
I hope this year or next, someone will come with me to visit this fantastic sight. I would like to see it in person before I die..and it's so close. The window of opportunity is closing for me..
I can look up to those mountains..I can see them from our home. I really do need to go.

Thank you for printing this post, Balisha. One bulb at a time.
Sort of like my beautiful children. One at a time..and in this case..I DID look to the future goal. And it works! It worked for her and it worked for me. Both are rewarding! :)
For planting bulbs... even if we don't plant a mountainside..we can begin something beautiful..

Especially you, Balisha. I can't wait for pictures of your Springtime garden this year.

This is going to be a better year for both of us health wise. :)

Love,
Mona

Karen said...

I have read this story for some time and have just ordered my second thousand daffodils to plant in late October and November. We have 1,000 planted on a hillside now and 1600 planted surrounding our house. I plan to add 1,000 a year on the hillside so folks can see them when they drive down our dirt road. What a wonderful scene to give fellow travellers.

Karen