On the 1st day of March, I walked into Trader Joe’s and saw an enormous end-cap display of yellow cereal boxes and buckets of golden ranunculus. I took it as a sign of good things to come. I begin every month thinking about my Color Stories. Worrying about them, really. I wonder why I create the impossible, like obligating myself to take pictures throughout the month, all of one color, all reflecting what has happened in our month as a family. Every month I think this is the month I won’t pull it together. This is the month where I will face a world full of every color but the one I need. This is the month I blow it. But somehow, it always works out. I never force a situation or an image. This project has taught me to look at my surroundings and believe in mundane miracles.
It’s not a miracle that meyer lemon season hit us in the middle of a month I decided would be yellow (Daffodil if you’re fancy).
But I was surprised to find wild yellow roses growing in the middle of the tree.
Also growing, but more like a weed, is Nicholas. Mikey wore that sweater just last month. That’s not a miracle; he eats like a horse. The miracle is that the sweater isn’t ripped, stained, or otherwise covered in boy.
It wasn’t a miracle that yellow lemons graced to top of my friend’s Arnold Palmers, but it was a miracle that a handful of friends from law school got together for lunch. Of course, I was the ring leader. And, let me tell you, organizing a lunch that accommodates the calendars of 4 attorneys is a mundane miracle.
Yellow planes, kind of a miracle.
Creation, definitely a miracle.
But somewhere along the way, things started to go awry this month. A devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11. As of March 29, the official death toll is 11,000 and 17,000 people are listed as missing. There are 190,000 people living in shelters. My heart breaks when I think of the mothers in Japan. If I lived 12 miles away from a nuclear explosion, I don’t know that I could do anything more than sob and worry incessantly about my boys.
Eight days later, Libya.
Above our dining room table we have hanging a beautiful crucifix from Italy. At least three times this month I looked at it and thought, Seriously?
Seriously, He says.
So I plow ahead and stay on track as best I can. I take care of my family, friends, and those in need. I go to church, pay my taxes, and follow the yellow brick road to wherever it takes me, making sure to notice the mundane miracles along the way.
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This was a color story. Please leave a link to yours in the comments, if you are so inclined. Otherwise, will you join me in April? The theme is grass–all perfectly legal, of course. A month of emerald green, dusty sage, and everything in between around your home, your town, or your inspiration folder. Stuff you make, stuff you buy, stuff you photograph. No pressure. (Do it.)
Juliette says
Good grief that child has the cutest little smile!! I hope he shows it to you often!
Erika says
Love this color story. It is a reminder to see the average, everyday items in fresh ways.
Monica says
Beautiful.
Have a wonderful weekend!
kathy says
Wow, again! And I agree. Seriously? But it is vital to keep going, not wallow and do the very best and be the very best we can be for this day.
Kate says
I’ve had a song running through my head for several weeks now, I even bought the music online so I could play and sing it. It’s played at the end of the animated “Charlotte’s Web” that came out a few years ago and fits today’s post pretty perfectly – “Ordinary Miracle” is the name of the song and it’s sung by Sarah McLaclan. The big stuff – world-wide and personal – can be so overwhelming that it’s good to remind ourselves of all the little, everyday miracles in the world. Thank you Jules. I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Amy says
Love it. Sigh.
And I feel a tad tacky leaving a link … but I want you to know that I have been joining in…
http://www.magpieandmuttonfly.com/2011/04/color-story-march-daffodil/
And I have to say, choosing yellow was a bit of a miracle–I desperately needed to look for the bright and sunny in such an otherwise gloomy month! Thank you so…
Jules says
That was CRAZY good, Amy! I loved it, truly.
Dina says
“Seriously, He says.” I got tears AND goosebumps when I read this.
Annie says
That last paragraph is perfection. I love how these stories wind up coming together so beautifully around the color you choose. Such a unique concept in blogland (and it’s rare to find one of those)!
Rachel (heart of light) says
Gorgeous, Jules! Yellow is one of my favorites (I don’t have a favorite color, and I think I love all of them in turn).
Oh, and the teacup arrangement I showed today is held in place by a metal flower frog. I pick them up at the Japanese market in all different sizes and they work beautifully.
April says
What a sweet boy, and I love the yellow airplanes!
Yes, much tragedy has occurred this month. But thankfully, the Lord is in control even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.
By the way, I am praying that you start feeling better! So glad that it’s only a vitamin deficiency!
Oh and here’s my color story this month. Not nearly as poetic as yours!
http://theyellowcasa.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/green-and-spring-all-ove/
Tiffany says
Would you hurry up and write a book already. You’re crazy good even if you don’t realize it so what are you waiting for!
Jules says
You’re one of my oldest and best friends, so you’re a bit biased, yes? ;)
Tiffany says
Don’t make me fly over there!
gwen says
this is such a beautiful post. i’ve been asking “seriously?” a lot lately myself. thank you for sharing.