Where the Sun Spilled Gold

Where the Sun Spilled Gold From: Things I Wish I'd Known Sooner: By Jaroldeen Edwards

It was a bleak, rainy day, and I had no desire to drive up the winding mountain road to my daughter Carolyn house. But she had insisted that I come see something at the top of the mountain. So here I was, reluctantly making the two-hour journey through fog that hung like veils. By the time I saw how thick it was near the summit, I'd gone too far to turn back. Nothing could be worth this, I thought as I inched along the perilous highway. Ill stay for lunch, but I'm heading back down as soon as the fog lifts, I announced when I arrived. But I need you to drive me to the garage to pick up my car, Carolyn said. Could we at least do that? How far is it? I asked About three minutes, she said. I'll drive - I'm used to it. After ten minutes on the mountain road, I looked at her anxiously. thought you said three minutes. She grinned. This is a detour. Turning down a narrow track, we parked the car and got out. We walked along a path that was thick with old pine needles. Huge black-green evergreens towered over us. Gradually the peace and silence of the place began to fill my mind. Then we turned a corner and I stopped and gasped in amazement. From the top of the mountain, sloping for several acres across folds and valleys, were rivers of daffodils in radiant bloom. A profusion of color From the palest ivory to the deepest lemon to the most vivid salmon blazed like a carpet before us. It looked as though the sun had tipped over and spilled gold down the mountainside. At the center cascaded a water fall of purple hyacinths. Here and there were coral-colored tulips. And as if this bonanza were not enough, western bluebirds frolicked over the heads of the daffodils, their magenta breasts and sapphire wings like a flutter of jewels. A riot of questions filled my mind. Who created such beauty? Why? How? As we approached the home that stood in the center of the property, we saw a sign: ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS I KNOW YOU ARE ASKING. The first answer was: ONE WOMAN TWO HANDS, TWO FEET AND VERY LITTLE BRAIN. The second was: ONE AT A TIME. The third: STARTED IN 1958. As we drove home, I was so moved by what we had seen I could scarcely speak. She changed the world,&I finally said, one bulb at a time. She started almost 40 years ago, probably just the beginning of an idea, but she kept at it. The wonder of it would not let me go. Imagine, I said, if I'd had a vision and worked at it, just a little bit every day, what might I have accomplished? Carolyn looked at me sideways, smiling. Start tomorrow, she said. Better yet, start today.

Your English Teacher