A Rose is a Rose

Seafoam roses from Heritage Roses

The prospect of oodles of roses keeps me entranced.  At Heritage Roses, the photographs are so magnificent that I find myself pulling my laptop a little closer, hoping to catch a whiff of the beauties.  Across the front of our house is an area that begs to be planted with flowers.  

Front of my home, begs planting.

To my mind, it makes sense to use roses as the foundation, then all manner of perennials can be added. The selection of which roses to chose must be made carefully.  Though we have a short growing season in 2012,  Zone 5, roses bloom locally in glorious profusion. This is evidenced by the problematic multiflora rose plant. In western Massachusetts, there is a surfeit of these roses that grow alongside the roads. They are considered an invasive plant because of their noxious and aggressive behavior.  They choke out everything that lives in their path.  One time, I was even convinced that the rose branches had rolled a heavy, 35 pound stone several inches! Delicate white roses in the summer turn into hard-caned, overgrown bushes with red, rose hips in the fall. So decorated, the roses winter over. In spring, they become red-caned ramblers ready to put forth new leaves and new flowers.  The color of the branches turns blood red. The color changes when the maple syrup runs.  When summer returns, the branches grow at an alarming rate and this invasive plant continues its attempt to overtake all vegetation in its path.  

I feel considerably safer in the hands of Heritage Roses. For several years. I have had the habit of photographing roses that I like -- so that I can assess whether they might be appropriate for my little piece of paradise. Thumbing through the Heritage Rose catalogue, I can find some promising prospects. I have an order for Heritage Roses, ready to go, that includes Seafoam (white), Red Cascade, and Eyeopener (coral).  Tomorrow, the sale ends.  If I want June roses to be part of my future, I have to place the order promptly!

"Now May is past and here at last, we greet the time of roses,They bud and bloom in all their pride along the golden countryside."

                                           Source unknown: snippet of lyrics from a song I sang 38 years ago.

I will always stop to smell, and photograph, the roses.

dawnings, inc.

One of my dearest friends, Elizabeth, known for her far-reaching visions of change, has been urging me to “take stock” lately. She feels that the time is drawing near for me to step off and get to my task as she sees it.  In the world she envisions for me, I would have a company by the name of.... 

dawnings, inc. 

I could detect equal measures of pride and frustration when she pointed out that I already knew my mission.  I have articulated my dream many times over the years, in many ways. 

 I want to bring light to those in darkness, to offer hope to those who despair and to help others find their paths toward wholeness. 

Frankly, It sounds a little narcissistic to put such a fantastic thought out there. However, anything that was have ever accomplished commenced with a single thought.  I have, over the 48 years that I have known Elizabeth, consistently talked about such things. But I would never be so bold as to fully lay claim to these thoughts. I acknowledge that Elizabeth, as my oldest and closest friend, is biased; she is my advocate and fan.  I appreciate that she is ready to fill a warehouse with my books. I value that she would stock a gallery with my photos, cards and cds.  I marvel that she would like to showcase my photographs and salient remarks from my work.  Elizabeth built up steam as, brick by brick, idea by idea, she constructed my empire.  In her description, I had my hand on social media; I was a marketing mogul adeptly moving from Facebook to Twitter to Youtube to FourSquare in order to reach my target audience.  At last, the fine lines of skepticism must have been evident on my face.  This may have occured when she had 

me on an international tour (thoughtfully adding, if I felt up to it, if not, thanks to virtual reality, I could do it all from my bed.) It was hard to process jet-setting when, on that particular day, I hadn’t been able to do more than go from the sofa to the bathroom.  I was still in sweatpants at dinner time. 

As wild and far-fetched as her description of my future seems, something about what she is saying, the essence of it, resonates with me.  Truly, Elizabeth is singularly responsible for allowing me to look at my gifts and how I might consider sharing them in a different way.  By lifting all apparent obstacles, she allows me to see a future in which I am doing what I am meant to be doing in a meaningful way.  Avoiding such parlance as authenticity and integrity, I understand that Elizabeth is urging me to be true to who I am.  It was for this reason, after careful thought, that I emailed Danielle Glick,  http://dgdesign.biz/, the principal of a social media marketing company. After a twenty minute conversation with her, I can say I am cautiously ready to ask some more questions.