ladybird

There's a wonderful children's book called "Miss Rumphius." It is about a woman who as a child tells her grandfather that when she grows up she will travel to faraway places, and then live by the sea. Her grandfather says that is fine, but she must also, "do something to make the world more beauiful." She spends her life travelling, and when she finally settles down in her hometown by the sea she tries to think of how to make the world more beautiful. So she plants wildflowers....everywhere. Whenever she goes for walks she takes wildflower seeds (specifically lupine seeds) in her pockets, and tosses them into the dirt along the paths she takes. A lot of the people in her town think she is crazy, but she continues to do it. Soon, the fields and walkways of her town are covered in beautiful flowers and when she dies she is remembered as the "lupine lady."

If there is one thing that Lady Bird Johnson did with her power as First Lady it was to beautify the highways of the United States with a simple idea...plant native wildflowers in the medians and right of ways. It is an incredibly simple idea, yet there are places where the results breathtaking. One example, the KY-TN line on interstate 24 is a sea of reds and yellows at certain times of the year when flowers planted there are in bloom. When driving for miles and miles on highways that are monotonous at best it is so refreshing to see that spot of color.

What if we all took her idea a step further....what if we found just one place in our hometowns that could benefit from a patch of flowers...wild or otherwise? I'm going to buy wildflower seeds in the next few days and see if I can't get my own Ladybird spot started.

Find a way to do something to make the world more beautiful.