86 – Roses *

Special thanks to Tim for providing the photos. Tim is in the USA and I encourage readers to visit his photography blog Off Center & Not Even. Please tell him I sent you and feel free to comment on his images here. All images are copyrighted by Timothy Price.

Recently, my life has been “time poor” for blogging. Besides not keeping up with comments here, my visits have been very limited. Because both are unacceptable situations to me, I will be starting my blog break after this post. Reconnecting with regular visitors will be a focus because that aspect of blogging is important to me

Click the video above for 2 minutes of background waves while reading.

I like walking on the beach. It’s is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

The rose is a flower – but not just any flower. It’s not only a beautiful flower, but one reserved for specialness – to a friend – to a lover – to a life partner – to someone out of the ordinary.

Its initial bud is so innocent as it masterfully hides the beauty that time will deliver. Rosebuds are like relationships as both require time to develop – and when they do, they blossom into glory.

When a rose burst open, we dutifully note its meaningful role as the message cannot hide because the rose is many things. It is artfully and lovingly beautiful. The rose is charming, dreamy, emotional, striking, divine, and most of all, cherished.

The rose’s many layers cover its supple bosom – a place to rest a cheek. Peeling back the layers as the soft kiss melts the heart – and the kiss leading to another.

Each petal is soft. Each petal is delicate. As a collective, the rose is gracious in its special intent.

The rose is emotional as its mere presence delivers a message without words. As a result of nature’s self-induced marvel of genetic engineering, the rose is intellectual.

A rose is timeless. As a ballroom dancer, I see the rose as the elegance of waltz – the classy smoothness of foxtrot – the attention grab of rumba – the romance of a bolero – the passion of tango – all these metaphors are insatiable and irresistible.

A rose is the melody of a beautiful song – the smell of spring or the air after a rain. A rose is the leading lady ever-present in a film of romance and passion.

A rose is a feeling of love and peace – but also fragile as it will wilt. However, its staying power is so strong it remains with the heart forever. Because we do not want to waste roses, sometimes we press and dry them for posterity.

A rose delivers a sweet fragrance – a natural pheromone inspiring passion. While we appreciate smelling a rose, who doesn’t wish they smelled like a rose.

One links a rose to a wanted love, a current love, and a past love. However, we also associate a rose to an aching heart – a broken heart – a heart ripped apart by loss.

A rose is a flower with a thorny stem. Like people, the rose must be grasped with care while also noticing the thorns before cuddling. The thorns represent the hardships of life while its petals are the beauties, the successes, and the fun – but there are no roses without thorns.

A rose is timeless, timely, and linked to moments. We associate the rose to memories – the thens and nows, and a split second when we catch the sight of water droplets gently resting on the petals or the single drop of dew clinging to its stem.

Along with love, a rose can stand for admiration, appreciation, desire, enthusiasm, enchantment, friendship, gratitude, harmony, humility, innocence, and joy – but its color delivers the message – red, white, pink, orange, yellow, or purple. But to others, a rose is a rose is, a rose – and that’s all that matters.

Life isn’t all roses and certainly not a bed of roses. Each of us can be a rose among thorns, a thorn between two roses, or even a thorn among the roses. Meanwhile, others look at life through rose-colored glasses.

Some say don’t stop to smell the roses because there is too much to do. Life is not a rose, but others say we should stop to smell the roses to relax – to appreciate the good things in life.

A rose or a derivative can be named such as Rosa, Rosetta, or Rosanna – yet also a middle name combined with many other names.

Rose finds a way into songs, movies, books, poems, and stories. A single yellow rose, but not the one from Texas. Kiss from a rose, like a rose, love is a rose and even red roses for a blue lady. Roses can be ramblin’, a heart, and even the last rose of summer – but I never promised a rose garden and none of these are guns n’ roses.

There are many varieties of roses. Some of them produce large flowers, others small. Bushes miniature, compact, and climbing are a few broad groups – simply too many to name. Besides, many are hybrids. The thought of a desert rose may not make sense to some, and its appearance is not like the rose we know.

As Impressionist artists focus on roses, there is a saying that roses are red, violets are blue – but we also know that Rose of Sharon is not a rose,

Rosewater, rose oil, rose lotions, balms, bath salts, creamers, toners, cleansers, soaps, and more are some of the products from roses. Dried rose petals even add flavor to certain teas.

Some cities embrace roses. Pasadena has New Year’s Day traditions such as the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl. Horses run for the roses in Louisville, but Portland celebrates as the City of Roses.

As I walk, it’s obvious a rose for more than a perennial plant with a woody stem. The rose represents many symbols for humanity – and good thoughts for this day as I walk the beach. After all, I like walking on the beach because it is good for the mind, body, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

A bonus video to mark the return of my ballroom dance community and for the beginning of my blog break.

See what other bloggers have posted about roses

• Hot Roses (a photo essay from today’s collaborator)
• Roses Gardens (a photo essay and poem from a visitor here)
• She Stopped to Smell the Roses (a photo essay about a mural by a regular visitor here)
• Summer Roses (photos and an essay by a past collaborator here)
• Rose Coloured Glasses (a poem)
• Salami Rose Appetizer (a how-to recipe)
• Enjoy the Roses (photos)
• Red Rose on the Riverbed (poem)
• Life in Colour – Pink Roses (photos)

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