Sunday, May 17, 2020

How There Came to be Flowers in the Spring

Every year as winter ended and the Sun grew in strength, the Earth would turn green in the spring and brown in the fall returning to grey for the winter. It was nice but a little monochromatic and boring. One year as the Moon gazed down on Mother Earth reawakening at the end of winter, she had an idea. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a party, a display, an extravaganza to celebrate the end of the dreary, cold, grey winter and the return of spring! The Moon made an appointment to speak to the Sun about her idea; the pompous one always wanted an appointment.
“It would be wonderful and festive to get everyone in a good mood for the coming year. What do you think Sun?”
The Sun was not very industrious, a  bit starcentric and lazy, happy to rest on his laurels just hanging there in the sky in all his nakedness radiating heat and light while all the sycophants told him that he was wonderful, worshiping him and all his utterances, enraptured in  his majesty, more  out of fear than admiration as if everything revolved around him.
“Well I don’t know, “said the Sun. “It sounds like a lot of work to me!”
“What work? All you have to do is hang there in the sky and provide plenty of light and heat for the plants and animals,” said the Moon. “You do that anyway. Now, Mother Earth, she is the one who would have a lot of work to do, coordinating the clouds and storms, dealing with all the questions and requests from the plants and animals. It’s  a lot of administrative work   for her!”
“I guess so,” said the Sun.
“What are your ideas for this celebration?” inquired the star.
 The Moon explained that she would like all the trees and plants to produce flowers, beautiful flowers from across the entire spectrum and not all at once, but in a constantly changing display as the different trees and plants put their best outfits on over the entire spring season.
Next the Sun and Moon went to Mother Earth with their idea.
“Wait a minute, Moon. It is a nice idea and you have convinced the Sun who merely produces light and heat, but I’ll get stuck with all the logistics, coordinating everything, in  the trenches, all the boots on the ground stuff while you two take all the credit and I do all the work,” exclaimed Mother Earth. “I’m not doing this by myself. I’ll need both of you to help me as well as the birds and insects to assist with decorations, coordination and communication!”
The Sun and Moon agreed to help her and they worked out all the details.
First came the crocuses, those impatient early spring pioneers with their lovely purple and yellow flowers, then the hyacinths and begonias, followed by roses and tiger lilies, daisies and peonies, each flower wearing a dazzling outfit and their best perfume.
The trees also participated, along with the bushes flowering in every beautiful color imaginable. The birds and insects did their part, spreading seeds and pollen while coordinating with the animals of the forest and meadows.

Each week of spring a different movement of the floral symphony played as the celebration continued into the summer. Dazzling deep purples, navy blues, fire engine     reds, blazing oranges and jubilant yellows burst on the scene and then melted into the myriad tapestry of colors.

The celebration was a monumental amount of work, but the Sun and Moon did their share helping Mother Earth along with the birds and insects. It had been a total success! It was the talk of the forest, and all of the wildlife enjoyed the display. The brooks babbled on about it and the streams roared about the show. The birds sang and tweeted, the mountains guffawed in deep resonating tones of mirth, while the trees swung their limbs around happily embracing the rays of the sun.
At the end of spring the Sun, Moon and Mother Earth met and decided that it would be an annual event.
And this is why there are flowers in the spring.

Jim
May 2020                                               

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