Auspicious Blossoming

We are wandering in a vast meadow of wildflowers here in the Ochoco mountains. Wandering is our favorite kind of hike; it allows meandering at the whim of intuition. Tarn and I seem to have a second sense for finding a unique species of wildflower amidst hundreds of blossoms. But we have to stop and look without any preconceived idea of what we may find. I think it is best termed, “the art of noticing a spontaneous auspicious arising.” 

For example, today I stop to look at the sky, to fill my lungs with mountain air and gaze at clouds above. Then I look at my feet to see what might offer itself to my eyes. There, between scarlet paintbrush and the leaves of a big-headed clover, nestled at the base of a nine-leaf desert parsley, was a single deep blue to purple trumpet with shades of yellow on its tongue. The stem of the plant is maybe three inches tall, hosting a single tubular blossom about one inch long and a quarter of an inch in diameter.

I immediately gasp. I’ve not seen this species for quite some time and must cycle through my flower memories to find it. It “blooms” in my mind as an example of naked broomrape (Aphyllon purpureum), a parasitic species that does not have any chlorophyll to make food; therefore, it relies on a companion plant to which it attaches and draws sustenance. Auspicious arising.

This little plant calls me to be more present, to see what I do not see. I could easily have passed by without notice, but notice I do. And now I am overwhelmed by the light of discovery. It is impossible to describe the feeling. It is somewhere between giddy and awe. Nature springs out of the ground of my awareness and blesses me with a moment of ecstasy.

If ever I want to know what it is to be fully alive, it is in these moments. Of course, I only have to gaze into my beloved’s eyes to see the same flower blossoming and blessing me with joy. If we are attentive, free from our distractions, we may notice an auspicious arising now—wherever we happen to be.