Surprised by Poppies

Beautiful & surprising things are happening all around us if we slow down enough to see it.

I drove past a massive industrial park yesterday. It was one of those classic hulking complexes of cold concrete and endless parking lots surrounding the impossibly long uniform structures complete with rows of long concrete buildings. Growing up, I had a business depot with the same look and feel and as I’ve traveled around the country, I’ve seen the same setup in most mid to large-sized towns.

Just before I was going to disregard the complex entirely like we tend to do when driving in familiar territories, something struck my eye. At first I assumed they must have been bits of plastic or soda cans tossed and disregarded by the maintenance folks running facilities for the manufacturers at the complex. I even imagined one of the maintenances workers joking with a coworker: “Come on! The stuff that goes on inside is what really matters. They don’t make money by making their yard look nice.” But then I realized what those bright colored things popping up above the grass that probably could use a mow.

They were fields of bright orange poppies filling the hillside. As I drove past, I could make out their rich purple centers and their irreverently psychedelically bright petals. They were absolutely stunning. I’d imagine they had grown spontaneously by birds or the wind picking up seeds from some garden nearby and dropped on the verdant ground that this time of the year with the amount of rain and mild temperatures can grow just about anything. It almost makes me believe that the story in Genesis about having fruits no longer grow spontaneously but rather from the sweat of Adam and Eve’s brow they would have to produce their own produce must have forgotten about Northwest Oregon.

It was only a moment really. I was past the field of poppies to soon, and I fought the urge to jump out of the car in the middle of traffic to get a better look. But it definitely taught me an important lesson too: that beautiful & surprising things are happening all around us if we slow down enough to see it.