Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Roses Eternally

ABC Wednesday
May 13th, 2015

The letter is R, for Roses


I have been lucky to have lived in Rose country all my life.......

In Alberta, - Wild Rose Country, where I grew up

I walked to school in June on a pathway through a great cluster of wild rose shrubs,
and the memory of the fragrances remains with me to this day.


today the road that leads to Ginty's pond is lined with the same wonderful scent.

On the farm red and white blaze roses came trailing through the open windows to the kitchen
and our bedroom.


When we moved to town roses and poppies and lilies grew in great abundance over the
fence Charles built to enclose the flower bed fron the street




and in October we brought the remnants into the house to see us through
cold November.......


In the hillside garden we grew roses against the house and throughout the garden -the Abraham Darby, the Prairie Princess, the Mister Lincoln
and just scads of other shrub roses.



and here in town, the roses climb over the gateway to the side garden
 and take prime place in the raised bed




Mary Oliver writes of Roses....

What happens/to the leaves after/they turn red and golden and fall/away?  What happens

to the singing birds/when they can't sing/any longer? What happens to their quick wings?

Do you think there is any/personal heaven/for any of us?/ Do you think anyone,

the other side of that darkness,/ will call to us, meaning us?/ Beyond the trees/
the foxes keep teaching their children

to live in the valley/so they never seem to vanish, they are always there/
in the blossom of light/that stands up every morning

to the dark sky/and over one more set of hills,/along the sea,/the last roses
have opened their factory of sweetness

and are giving it back to the world./If I had another life/I would want to spend it all on some
unstinting happiness.

I would be a fox, or as tree/full of waving branches./I wouldn't mind being a rose/
in a field full of roses.

Fear has not yet occurred to them, nor ambition/Reason they have not yet thought of.

Neither do they ask how long they must be roses, and then what/
Or any other foolish question.

Well there, so much for roses and philosophy

Lots more on the letter R here at ABC Wednesday, with thanks to
Roger, Denise and relentless helpers....


A little addendum for my personal diary....

Here are the red roses I carried to the altar seventy years ago
on the 12th of May, 1945.....







15 comments:

Reader Wil said...

Beautiful photo of yourself and your little daughter, Hildred!

You are right hunans are the only creatures in the world who care about their future. Roses are always beautiful. Have a great week.
Wil, ABCW Team

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Mary Oliver is my favorite philosopher )). And I love your roses and most of all your rose-memories. Thank you for sharing. (I miss roses.)

Penny said...

I love roses, such a great post.

Photo Cache said...

I love roses. I haven't met anyone who doesn't love roses.

My ABC WEDNESDAY

Beverley Baird said...

What gorgeous roses - and so many wonderful photos! Loved looking at all of them

Roger Owen Green said...

I love the family photo, the poem, and of course, the roses.

ROG, ABCW

Lea said...

Beautiful roses!
Congratulations on your anniversary

ellen b. said...

Wow...such beautiful rose garden photos and I love the wedding photo with your beautiful bouquet!

Joy said...

Beautiful roses and poem. Despite the wonder of cultivated roses a hedgerow of wild ones is a sight that always raise the spirits.

Barb said...

You were a rose yourself at the alter, Hildred. I know you've grown many beauties in your different gardens. My mother loved roses. People would stop and gaze at her beautiful beds of roses. At altitude, I have only wild roses, and sometimes they don't flower before the first hard frost. I love your beautiful Header.

Anne at Shintangle Studio said...

Thank you for the reminder to stop and consider the roses and for the poem. I don't know Mary Oliver's work and will have to become acquainted. A beautiful post.

Obsessivemom said...

70 years wow! You look lovely as do the roses.

Lmkazmierczak said...

Such lovely specimens! Thanks for sharing♪ http://lauriekazmierczak.com/rain-ragged-dandelion/

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

wonderful wedding photo.

Unknown said...

wonderful pictures....
flowers, one can never have enough of them ;-)

Have a nice weekend