Goldenrod as a Metaphor


Goldenrod in the Blue Ridge Mts.
Goldenrod. If any wildflower is an explosion of color, its goldenrod. Summer wanes, the sun drifts southward, evening falls earlier and the nights last longer, all reasons to roll over and suck my thumb. But then there's that damn goldenrod; bursts of sunshine in a flower, parting clouds and reeking of glee.

It's an ironic wildflower, casting such bright, warm light upon the approach of winter. It's also a head-scratcher. There are many varieties of goldenrod, and telling one from another requires a set of fingerprints and the FBI.

I'm no botanist. I'm a guy who likes to write, wields a dusty old camera, and adores the natural world. Lately that has meant wildflowers. It's a hobby. A passion. A source of joy. A co-mingling of interests. Something like goldenrod, well, it challenges the depth of my enthusiasm, or maybe suggests it's pretty shallow, that depth.

But maybe it isn't about that, my depth of enthusiasm, or being able to pigeonhole individual species with a moniker. Maybe what goldenrod is all about isn't a list of facts, but the sheer joy of its sunny glow in an ever-escalating swell of autumn. Maybe goldenrod is the calm before the storm. Maybe it's the silver lining behind the gathering clouds. Maybe it's the shiny needle in the scratchy haystack. Maybe golden is a metaphor (She was a warm field of goldenrod in the cold dark winter of my Monday mornings.)

People attach all sorts of ludicrous meanings to meaningless things. It makes life a little easier. It creates a sense of control. It's a distraction from the utility bills and the car payments. Well, if anything deserves to have a bright and sunny meaning attached to it, particularly to lift our spirits as summer fades, it's got to be goldenrod.

It was once believed that goldenrod grew where treasure was buried. It was also believed that if began to grow near a home where it had not been planted, the occupants of that home could expect good fortune. Any wildflower that suggests fortune says a lot about how folks regard it. And of course it had a lot of folk uses down through the years.

Next week I'll touch on some of those folk uses, as well as attempt to identify some individual species of goldenrod. It'll be an heroic affair, with dragon slaying, swordplay and general have-at-it-ness. So gird your loins.

In the meantime, consider goldenrod as a metaphor. It's really pretty simple to do.

The copyright of the article Goldenrod as a Metaphor in North American Wildflowers is owned by Gregg Pasterick. Permission to republish Goldenrod as a Metaphor in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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