Thursday 24 May 2012

Daffodil




Daffodils.--  
Her daughter rang her again about seeing the daffodils, she wanted to go but the drive was two hours.
Anyway she hadn't seen her grandchildren  for three weeks,
so she promised for Tuesday.
 It was raining and cold, but she promised, so off she went to see her daughter and the children.
"Forget the daffodils it's cold and wet and I only came to see you and the children" she said when she arrived.
The daughter insisted and drove the twenty minutes more through the mist and driving on an unmade small road, arrived at a small church.
The children took grandmas hands and walked down a path next to the church.
As they turned a corner at the back of the church, the grandma gasped, before her lay the most glorious sight.
It was as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and the surrounding valley.
The flowers were planted in great majestic swirling patterns of orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron and butter yellow.
Each different variety was planted in large groups so they swirled like a river.
There were five acres of flowers.
"Who did this?" the mother asked.
"Just one woman, she lives here in that house there, by herself."
She pointed to a small A frame well kept modest house sitting on the edge of all the glory of the flowers.
On the patio they saw a poster,

Answers to the Questions 
I Know You Are Asking 
50,000 bulbs 
One at a time. 
 One woman.
Two hands, two feet.
One brain.
Began in 1938.

This was a life changing experience for the grandma,
she thought of this woman ,
who didn't talk to people, 
who for more than 70years,
 one bulb at a time, brought her vision of beauty and joy for the world to see.
Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived.
One step at a time she had created extraordinary beauty and inspiration.
The principle,  her daffodil garden taught,  is one of the greatest principles of celebration.
"It makes me sad in a way" grandma said,
"What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal 40 or 50 years ago"
The daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way
"Start tomorrow" she said
She was right, it's pointless to think of lost hours of yesterday.
The way to make learning a lesson of celebration, instead of a cause for regret, is to ask;
"How can I put this to use today?"
Use the Daffodil Principle.
Stop waiting and do it 
One Bulb At A Time.
Nathan

 


Sent from my iPhone and
With love