“My heart found its home long ago in the beauty, mystery, order and disorder of the flowering earth.” -- Lady Bird Johnson
The world lost a real lady this week with the passing of Lady Bird Johnson. She was an effective voice in environmental causes, a beloved wife and mother, and by all accounts a perennially kind and gracious soul.
As first lady, she chose highway beautification as her pet project. At the time, with so many dire and desperate issues at hand, that seemed frivolous and silly.
Today we still have the same dire and desperate issues. Nothing she could have done would have changed that. But across the nation, vast Persian carpets of wildflowers bloom, and the heart lifts and sings at the sight. Turns out, Lady Bird was right:
“Some may wonder why I chose wildflowers when there are hunger and unemployment and the big bomb in the world. Well, I, for one, think we will survive, and I hope that along the way we can keep alive our experience with the flowering earth. For the bounty of nature is also one of the deep needs of man.”
* Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
* Lady Bird Johnson: Final Tribute
2 comments:
I love all the wildflowers that grow along the highways - I had no idea that Lady Bird had a hand in the creation of this beautiful spectacle! Now I want to learn more about her...
Thanks for the comment, Tammie Jean. Lady Bird was a Southern Belle, in the best and sense of the term. I admired her for her quiet dignity and true class.
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