Tulips

My beautiful yellow tulips have reached their peak of perfection in the vase of water I put them in on Valentine’s Day. The vase sits on the counter in the kitchen where every time I enter, the first things I see are their exquisite yellow cups amid pointed ends of slender, green leaves.

I have never grown them, but my sister Esther speaks of planting a tulip bed, and in my imagination I can see how lovely one would be. Several years ago, my neighbor across the street in Orange, Texas planted a large bed of King Alfred tulips which took one’s breath away when they bloomed every spring.

Many years ago in Iowa Falls, Iowa, when my sister, Adeline and I were very young, (I think I was in the third grade and Adeline in the second), we were so captivated by the beauty of tulips in a neighbor’s yard that we agreed to sneak one for Mom. There were so many different colors it was hard to choose one, so we decided to each pick a different color.

The loss of two blossoms would never be noticed, but those two picked tulips became our downfall. As we walked among the plants and admired a particular tulip here or there, we began to pick just one more and before we knew it, we each had an arm full of tulips in every color known in the tulip world.

It was a Sunday afternoon and the neighbors must have been away from home or they surely would have noticed us. When we walked back across the street to our house, Dad met us at the door to tell us to be quiet, everyone was napping. When he saw the tulips, he knew immediately what had happened and he took off his belt and gave each of us a good spanking. I was first. As he held one of my hands I twisted around him, getting a good whack on my fanny with each step. I refused to cry but took the punishment silently. I think my silence caused him to give me a few extra whacks.

When Adeline stepped up for her turn, she yelled and hollered as she twisted around Dad, and cried louder with each step she took. It seemed to me that her whacks were not as many, nor as hard as mine had been, but while I watched her getting punished, I realized at that moment, Adeline was much smarter than I.

Sometimes silence is not golden!