“She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
"Winter is dead.”
― A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young
If days could be represented by colors, then yesterday was yellow.
At least it was for me. I spent a morning filled with the beauty of the daffodils at Gibbs Gardens.
And it wasn’t just a few patches of yellow here and there but whole swaths of it: along the paths, under the trees, up a hillside, and overlooking a distant mountain.
Over 20 million daffodils light up Gibbs Gardens every March. With more than 200 different varieties, the daffodils bloom consistently for six weeks on over 50 acres. Depending on when you visit, you can see early, mid, or late bloomers.
Days before we visited, rain poured down and pelted the petals, and wind whisked them away. Still, though, thousands of blooms held on, and thousands more prepared to pop open.
Sunlight filtering through the petals of this beauty. Photo credit: MM
We moved among them, stopping to admire, take note and take photos, and talk and laugh. Many fellow admirers did the same.
My morning in the Gardens reminded me of the temporal nature of beauty. Some of it is literally here today and gone tomorrow. Some of it, like mountains and oceans, lasts so long as to seem timeless.
The gift of beauty reminds us that we can count on the coming of the seasons, the steadfastness of the mountains, the constancy of the tides. When so much change marks our lives and our culture, we can find comfort, delight, and rest in the beauty around us.
It can awaken in us a desire for more, not just more beauty but more of the Beautiful—to seek its source. Not just the daffodils but the One who created them for us to enjoy.
Thank you for reading Glimsen, where I write about the beauty around us in nature, the arts, and the unexpected. If you like this post, sign up below to get a free gift of beauty and you’ll also receive my blog posts in your inbox. Add more beauty to your life by signing up today.
