Washington: Apples of Gold

 

Apples of gold in settings of silver
Wenatchee, Washington, 1999

Proverbs 25:11 reads, Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a ruling (or word) rightly given.” I can’t say that I completely understand its meaning but thinking about a mere moment that I spent just north of Wenatchee, Washington at the Rocky Reach Dam Park back in 1999 at the age of 17, I think that I get a little closer to its wisdom, a glimmer of its truth and then a smile emerges on my face which reflects exactly the smile that blooms within me.

Every time I read this verse, my mind’s eye goes to the evening I camped there as I traveled home from a North West Youth Corps work site; the night of comfort and peace before the storm. NWYC is a summer youth program working to build or rebuild hiking trails in various locations of the great NW. I and a NWYC counselor were driving from who knows where so I could catch a bus in Bellevue Washington. I was called home early and I was naïve enough to not be scared or even concerned in the least.

We arrived at sunset and my breath was taken away in such a moment of unimaginable peace and I found myself blanketed gently in a cocoon of light with an exhilarating since of fullness. I never knew that one could have such an experience looking at landscape, as beautiful as it was. I look back now and see that God was using that moment to infuse me with strength and light before arriving home and hearing about my sister’s death.

Could the following day’s news bias me to the memory of the brilliant glow of the sun setting beyond Wenatchee’s dam and mountains? Could my sister’s death drive me to be biased and seek for a moment before this to hold onto for strength? No, I don’t think so.

That night was so pure and my recollection of what I felt prior to the news is still so fresh after all these years. I remember the warm summer breeze that flowed through that night’s air and the perfume of the vibrant flowers and tall green grass that I can still smell. I remember the complete comfort I felt sleeping under the mantle of blackness speckled with the brilliance of perfect wish-making stars. I remember falling into a rest-filled sleep listening to the noise of the water that flowed through the dam and crickets that sung around our tent. I remember the cool morning sunrise and noticing for the first time that delectable smell of crisp and juicy apples from the heart of Washington’s apple country filling the early dew filled environment and how the sun’s rays glistened behind each apple tree telling me that one day, I’d go back again.

I am still waiting for that elusive day, but closing my eyes or reading Psalms 25:11, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a ruling (or a word) rightly given,” My senses can take me back any time where my mind hold the only pictures I have and I love it!

About the Author: Hi, my name is Emily Free. I love my name. I love writing. I love working as a Dental Hygienist in Brookings, Oregon, and I love my quiet, simple life and spending time with my friends and family.