A series of essays....
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| THE YELLOW TROUT LILLY |
....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E Hughes
Around the time your disillusioned heart was sending messages to the brain declaring total failure, and you recognized a breakdown of all that is good, wholesome, and kind in this world, you were certain that life was beyond hope with nowhere to turn...you happen across the Yellow Trout Lilly.
She was not only beautiful, but you had absolutely no clue as to how she happened to be there. How long had she been commingling with the lofty periwinkle that thickly blanketed the ground beneath two, large burning bushes? Like two loyal, green soldiers, these bushes have flanked the red brick chimney at the shady, west facing facade of the house for years! You had spent time trying to understand why anyone would plant burning bushes along the deep shadows of your little cottage when it’s understood that the green burning bush requires plenty of sunlight in order to ‘blush’ during the crisp and colorful days of autumn.
So, with the help of your husband, it was decided to rectify the situation and rearrange landscaping that you both had not a single clue as to when or by whom it was planted in the first place. Besides, wouldn’t the physical labor alone be invigorating and ease your mind, momentarily, of the spinning world we live in? Anything can become possible within an incredibly impossible situation. You just have to believe.
Pulling, pushing, digging, and struggling to loosen the main ‘earth root’ of the bush, he, eventually, extracts it from its well-established home only to relocate it to a brighter area along the fence line. Change. Will it survive the move? Only time will tell. And, even if it does, there is absolutely no guarantee that it will decide to ‘blush’ later in the year. But, what have any of you got to lose by trying?
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| BURNING BUSHES HOPING TO SOAK UP THE PRECIOUS SUNLIGHT |
That’s when you first saw her.
As you begin to fill the gaping hole left by the root structure of the burning bush, you see underlying, elongated leaves interspersed with the glossy, green periwinkle kind. Suddenly, you discover the ground is covered in what resembles the markings of military camouflage poking out of the landscape like a school of brown trout weaving their way through an imaginary pond of sparkling green waves that has suddenly appeared along the foundation of the house due to the absence of the bushes. Among the mixed greenery, she stands tall and proud at about six inches above the freshly turned soil.
Invasive. Invasive. Invasive. “Tending to spread widely in a habitat or ecosystem. Tending to intrude or encroach. Of or relating to a disease or condition that has a tendency to spread, especially into healthy tissue,” as explained in the American Heritage Dictionary often used for quick definitions and explanations. Is having an invasive plant such a bad thing? Unless, they are meant to be excluded from a healthy garden of perennial plants that would surely be choked by their existence.
For you, the Yellow Trout Lilly is meant to be wild and free where she can spread her spotted brown leaves along the ground with wild abandon and produce her shapely yellow flower in early spring; destined to mark the multitude of trails that generously cut pathways throughout the state of Michigan for all to walk along and enjoy. But, it was not expected that she be a part of this landscape. She had not been seen here before now, dwarfed as she was by the green-leafed branches of the burning bushes.
We humans were not meant to live safely among this highly contagious virus that has bounded its way into our unprepared world, invading our lives with its kiss of death as it spreads wildly throughout the land. Like the periwinkle vines or even the burning bushes themselves, the mind can’t help but wander into the invasive world of the Coronavirus that keeps us isolated within our own small, pocket of the universe. Statistics have proven that our isolation is curbing the spread of the virus and working well. Relaxing social distancing behaviors now would be a huge mistake.
Between your own isolation and the frothed messages created by a disillusioned heart, the mind is foggy, you might say, weakened by the truth. Looking death in the face will haunt your sleep and every waking hour for the rest of your life; even after it’s liquid threat becomes less apparent, your only hope is that enough people do the right thing in a timely manner.
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| ONE, TWO, THREE! SHOWING THREE STAGES OF GROWTH. |
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| YELLOW TROUT LILLY, HAPPY TO BE SET FREE! |
Funny how a deadly virus can invade and change lives so swiftly and yet a petite yellow flower, also categorized as invasive, albeit gradually intrusive, thrive among us without right or permission. How different you both are as you enter our lives for the first time; one to insight panic and fear while the other showers its beauty along the earth like a tiny, living jewel.
Her memorable name becomes your current mantra for all that is good, strong, hopeful, and possible during these long days of isolation and general confusion. Identifying the Yellow Trout Lilly has helped to make life bearable. How fortunate you are to have discovered the power she has to help you coexist with your fears. Nature is a beautiful thing.
Be strong and vigilant. We will get through this...together.
Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved
