April 24, 2010

All Good Things Come to an End









The Fraser Valley Tulip Festival is done for another year. Yesterday was our last day. Due to a couple of days of heavy rain this past week, the flowers took a beating; damaged flowers invite disease, so it's 'off with their heads!' to protect the growing bulbs. The field workers will now be left in peace to tend the fields (and turn their tractors around without waiting for someone to move their tripod), and the First Nation community that owns this land will return to normal life once more.


I love working at this festival. Thousands of people flock from the nearby cities to enjoy the endless colour and scenery. As they paid their entrance fee their shoulders would visibly relax and their faces open in a wide smile as they exclaimed at the sight. They would often be so distracted by the rainbow of flowers that they would ignore the many, many strategically placed signs around the forty acres instructing them to stay out of the rows, to refrain from picking the tulips, and to watch for machinery. Field staff in yellow hats were kept hopping as they tried to keep people from trampling the tulips in their quest for the perfect photo. I'm not sure how many times I repeated the 'Field Guidelines', told the story of the life cycle of a greenhouse tulip, gave directions to the washrooms or told visitors where to park their cars, but that is what a host does, she treats every visitor as if he is her first.

As to be expected I am beyond exhausted today. I am also wondering if the four women who spent an hour at the festival on Wednesday, a rainy, freezing cold day, wearing high heels and light jackets are suffering from pneumonia. While the crew and I struggled to stay warm in layers of wool, polar fleece, and gore-tex, these women posed for each other, smiling and laughing. I remember watching one woman in particular from the shelter of the tent. She stepped, in suede pumps, nylons and mini-skirt into a muddy opening at the front of a row of yellow tulips, removed her leather jacket to reveal a short sleeved red silk blouse, and posed, head cocked to one side for her photographer friend. The crew and I looked on in amazement and shook our heads. Crazy city people.

Last Sunday, our busiest day, I was dropping off my daughter's friends at their farm. Their father Henry, and his father before him, has been working that dairy farm for decades. It was my day off, but I had just come from the tulip fields where my son was entertaining the crowds with his violin (and making piles of money in tips, I might add). I exclaimed to Henry about the thousands of visitors that sunny day. "What are they all coming for - just to see a bunch of tulips?" he asked shaking his head in disbelief.
"Think about it," I said. "A lot of these people live in apartments in buildings made of concrete, steel and glass, and linked by asphalt roadways. To them, this is Nirvana out here. You should see how excited they are."
"I guess so," he said, still incredulous. "But I still don't see what all the fuss is about."
Crazy country people.
The photos above are mine:
1) Monte Carlo double tulips
2) a rogue red among the Leo Visser tulips
3) the view East
4) looking back on my way home from work

12 comments:

  1. Oh what great pictures. I can't believe the city folk. That's funny. And as for Henry...c'mon! Even if you live next door, the flowers are pretty.

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  2. In Japan there is an entire genre of poetry about the fall of the Cherry Blossom. A little death, the transience of life or the fragility of natures beauty.

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  3. Those photos are fabulous. I want to visit! Wouldn't that be great? Hmmmm.

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  4. Your photos and post were a treat! I love tulips and I had no idea there was a tulip industry in BC. Gorgeous! (and also, I love that your son played violin and made great tips. hurray!)

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  5. Beautiful! I would have loved it too, not in heels and a skirt though. :)

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  6. What stunning photos! I think I may have to make a pilgrimage to the tulip festival next year. Perhaps I'll be one of the city slickers posing in inappropriate but stylish clothing. Hahaha!

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  7. Hello all, and thanks for your comments!!

    Tracey: I'm still shaking my head!

    Vince: That's lovely about the Japanese poems. I'll have to seek them out.

    Kate: Hmmm indeed! :) Have you been to Canada before?

    DFG: The tulip industry is directly related to the large population of Dutch ex-pats in this valley. There is also a daffodil festival farther west.

    Anita: There is someone every year that arrives in that kind of outfit, and they are so determined! You have to admire them.

    DianeSS: Feel free to wear whatever you like, just try and come on a sunny day!

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  8. I think I've died and gone to Holland tulip heaven- no, British Columbia's tulip festival. Wonderful photos and what an amazing opportunity to get involved in this community project.

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  9. Those are beautiful photos. We take drives specifically to see the bluebonnets in bloom, so I am not surprised to hear about the crazy city folks' pilgrimage.

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  10. Paul: Well, it is sort of like little Holland out here in the Fraser Valley! And, yes I feel lucky to be involved. It's fun!

    Jen: What are bluebonnets? I'll look it up on the very handy internet thingy.

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  11. The tulips are beautiful! They look like a rainbow in the field. It's too bad they don't last longer. Sounds like a fun festival.

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  12. Lucky you to work there during the festival! I was at Limbert Mountain Farms last week and thinking about it, wondering if I still had a chance to catch it (I'm in Mission). Darn. I was there last year, one of the annoying ones trying to get the perfect picture. (signs? what signs?:) My kids had pretty much the same opinion as your son. "It's boring here mom, there's nothing to DO,it's just flowers".

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