Sleep like flowers in the night…

Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Luke 12:27 NIV

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine to the mind. Luther Burbank

One of my favorite flowers is the California Poppy. Its bright orange blossom makes me smile and feel happier. When I was a young child, I remember my Dad and Mom taking me to the site where the San Luis Reservoir was being built.  We walked out into the broad open basin which would eventually be filled with water but at that time was filled with millions of bright orange California Poppies. Standing in the bottom of a bowl-shaped basin, surrounded by living flower sunshine, is a memory that I cherish to this day.  Even now, if a hillside has poppies blooming on it, I will often stop to look at and photograph them.

It’s one of my current joys that a rocky area of my front yard has become a poppy haven; the flowers just self-propagate without me doing anything other than regular watering and some spring weeding. In observing them more closely over the years, I’ve become more aware of some of their unique properties. I’ll bet that most of you reading this didn’t know that poppies are “nyctinasty” flowers; that means that they close up at night.  This behavior helps protect the pollen, keeping it warm, dry, and safe so the blossoms are ready when the daytime pollinators are active.

No matter how busy you are, remember that sleep is both a need and a gift, not a waste of time. If we want to blossom in life, we need to sleep like poppy flowers at night!