Oranges and Golds:
One of Life’s Little Pleasures:
A double-barrelled response to the last two Prism & Pen Writing Prompts.
After happily spending the first half of my life in some of the world’s great cities (Montreal, Boston, New York, D.C, Mexico City, Dallas, Melbourne), I spent the second half in a small coastal village on Australia’s Southern Ocean.
May I share a secret?
The ‘good life’ is composed entirely of little pleasures that, as a confirmed atheist, I prefer to call small blessings. Like screen doors , daybreak, flowers in the garden, oranges, a field of sunflowers, a wheat field, a cartoon of our beloved president, or an orange sea. And don’t miss the surprise at the end for all our gay male readers.
Screen Doors
In my old age I have become something of a fresh air fanatic. My bedroom has a screen door (Thank the Good Lord!) that allows the sea breeze to sweep in overnight — come summer , come winter, come spring, come autumn.
Like the breeze, the color orange also sweeps into my bedroom. That’s because (as Sissinghurst is to white — look it up) flowers in our North-facing garden bed are confined to the three colors: red, orange and yellow. Whatever the season, orange and gold hues pervade my bedroom.
Incidentally, the screendoor has the sacred responsibility of excluding the flies and mozzies, a major achievement in Australia.
Daybreak
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.Robert FrostGarden Flower
‘A rose of any other [color] would smell as sweet.’ Yes, but an orange rose gladdens my day. Apologies to Shakespeare.
Oranges
What is the most delectable fruit in any basket? A sweet and juicy naval orange!
A Sunflower Field
For relaxing after a hard day, try gazing at this Kansas field of little orange suns moving in the wind for an hour or so.
Golden Wheat Field
Or for my money even better is the wind sweeping down the Oklahoma plains ‘and the waving wheat can sure smell sweet’.
Our Beloved President
My husband, Paul, recently created this inspired digital portrait of the US President with his pinocchio nose and orange face. We’re all praying for his rapid recovery from the Covid-19 virus. I don’t know how he could have gotten it. Oh well, if hydroxychloroquine doesn’t work perhaps he should try injecting bleach. As he told us a few months ago, that might help a bit.
An Orange Sea
One of the few pleasures of climate change during bushfire season is the lovely orange sea and sky that can hang around for most of the day or even for weeks. Our thanks go out to the Denialists, who have made this possible.
Orange Swim Suit
The ad says to “soak up some sun and strut your stuff in Gregg Homme’s Exotic swim collection. This swim short is made of soft and supple polyamide with adjustable drawstrings, “
He should let me know if he needs any help adjusting his drawstrings.
This story is a response to Prism & Pen’s writing prompt Orange Autumn.