I have been contemplating the
green spaces where I frequently walk with my four-legged companions. There are
fields of dandelions and the bright yellow looks quite beautiful. As I walk by
and through these fields, I have been considering what I see, other than the
obvious sea of yellow gold flowers. As children, and still now, I appreciate
when the flower goes to seed, and it looks like a fluffy ball. Picked and then
a good deep breath before blowing it to scatter the seeds -- making a wish.
Then there is a person that I
encountered several years ago who would harvest dandelions. she explained that
you needed to pick them while they were still "young and tender",
adding leaves to salads, making tea from another part, wine from something else.
Every part was good to consume but pick them early before they become
"strong and bitter." I admit I was a poor recipient of her
wisdom!
This all took my mind to
another place. A philosophy professor assigned me the task of writing a paper
on "What is Truth?" I have no idea what I wrote all those years ago. But
when I think about it now, I realize that each of us have our own truth. We can
talk about the same experience, but we will all have our own take on it, our
own truth.
And that brings me full circle
to the humble dandelion. Is it a weed or is it a wish? Each of us will have our
own opinion. And even if we see it as a weed, we can not deny the strength and
the resiliency of the dandelion, nor can we deny the beauty when we see a field
of yellow gold. And when it goes to seed tell me that you are not tempted to
pick it, blow on the seeds, and make a wish.
