Fields of Gold

"You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley.
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we walk in fields of gold."
Sting, Fields of Gold, link to video

You have seen these grasses before, but not in color. They line the walkway to the Arboretum whose picture I posted here in black and white on December 5.

On Wednesday afternoon, I needed to go onto campus. My office is located off campus, but I frequently have meetings on campus. When I go to campus, I either take a bus from my building or park near the Arboretum and walk to my meeting. On this cold, cold day, my meeting was at day's end, so I did the latter.

It was so cold that I wore my big Woolrich coat. The winds were whipping snow squalls, and I had my hood pulled up and snugged tight. When I wasn't taking pictures, I was wearing gloves. As per usual, I was listening to some tunes on my tiny pink iPod shuffle. (A new playlist created a few weeks ago = new tunes to listen to as I walk, yay!)

On the return trip from my meeting, it seemed to have gotten even colder, if that was possible! I walked through the Arboretum just as the light was finally starting to break. That happens a lot this time of year: gray skies all day, and then the clouds break sometime between 4 and 5 pm, creating a fair amount of sky drama. So there was dramatic bright light and maybe even a tiny patch or two of blue, alternating with gray snow flurry clouds borne across the sky by brisk winds.

When I saw the light on the tall golden grasses, I just had to stop for some pictures. You can see a bit of snow on the ground, and there are little trails through the grasses. Perhaps they are the paths of white-tailed deer or other creatures, though I have not actually seen them there.

The golden grasses immediately reminded me of two things. One, the Sting song whose lyrics (and link) I have posted above. And, two, the quote from Antoine de Saint Exupéry's famous book, The Little Prince, especially the line: "because of the color of the wheat fields."

The story of the Little Prince is a simple one, but it contains deep truths. The chapter that talks about the Little Prince and the fox (and the joys and responsibilities of taming, and of being tamed) is my very favorite part. It is a quick read but full of many wonderful turns of phrase. So in addition to the song link, here's also a link to the chapter of The Little Prince where that story occurs. I encourage you to read it. Enjoy, if only for this one reason . . . because of the color of the wheat fields. :-)