A Rose

" The rose is known as “the queen of flowers,” and much of the rose's symbolism reflects its regal title. Roses symbolize love, royalty, beauty, sensuality, secrecy, and mysticism. They are also associated with achievement and perfection."

Peninsula Park is about a 5 minute drive from my house. Right now the rose garden is in full bloom; so one morning this past week I had to take a walk among the roses. I wasn't the only one enjoying the morning in the roses. There were many volunteers working to deadhead the roses, but there were also many people just out enjoying the morning air and fragrance.

It was a beautiful morning.

Hoping you are having opportunity to smell the roses in your part of the world.

I will be away for a few days and will be back in one week. My computer is going to the hospital for a check up and cleaning while I am away. Hoping they don't find anything serious, but it just needs to be cleaned and upgraded a bit. It serves me well and I would miss it.

In the meantime, dance in the moonlight and savor the sultry days of summer. 

Happy Summer Solstice!

Sending love, Marilyn

Words of Kindness and Joy

 

“Kindness doesn’t cost anything.” Unknown 

This past weekend I was having a burger with my grandson and found this large poster on the wall behind him in the restaurant. Different visitors to the burger shop had added their notes to the poster. It was all on kindness. It again reminded me the importance of focusing on the positive thoughts of kindness.

Choose kindness

Just be kind

Be Kind to every kind

Scatter kindness 

Human kindness

Sending love and kindness your way,

Marilyn

A Lily speaks to Me

"Lilies have various symbolic meanings. They are often associated with purity, renewal, and transience. In Christianity, the Madonna Lily represents the Virgin Mary's purity. The lily is the national flower of Italy and is featured on the country's emblem. It symbolizes unity and peace."

"On the one hand, calla lily meaning expresses the idea of life and fertility, while on the other it's a well-known symbol of death. One early calla lily meaning originates in ancient Greek culture, where the flower was thought to represent magnificent beauty. This origin stems from a tale regarding Hercules as a baby."

I find the meaning of flowers to be quite fascinating and fun to notice, but sometimes they create different meanings for us personally.

The calla lily reminds me of my mother and growing up in California. As a young girl, my mother often grew them in our garden. They are easy to grow and don't take a lot of attention. I don't ever remember her bringing flowers into the house, but maybe I just didn't notice. But in the garden there were always calla lilies. My sister has them in her garden too. On a visit to my sister's garden some years ago, she gave me a box of them that she had dug up. I brought them back home, ants and all, and planted them in my garden. They have grown in my garden ever since then. They get a bit confused every winter and start to come up in February, then we have a freeze and down to the ground they go. Spring comes along and here they come again. They are blooming in my garden now.

Soon I will dig some of them up and plant them in my daughter's garden.

 

The last time I visited my home town in California I visited Luther Burbank's garden. There were pink lilies that he had developed. He did a lot of experimenting and hybridizing of lilies. It was fun to actually see the descendants of the lilies he developed.
 

 Lilies speak to me of peace.

May you have days of peace and joy!

Sending love,

Marilyn

Words of Kindness and Joy

 When I began thinking of my post for today the line "Joy in the morning" came to mind. It is from the Bible and most references were spiritual. There are even songs about it.

 

May we bloom with the morning light.

Morning Joy by Claude McKay

At night the wide and level stretch of wold,
Which at high noon had basked in quiet gold,
Far as the eye could see was ghostly white;
Dark was the night save for the snow’s weird light.

I drew the shades far down, crept into bed;
Hearing the cold wind moaning overhead
Through the sad pines, my soul, catching its pain,
Went sorrowing with it across the plain.

At dawn, behold! the pall of night was gone,
Save where a few shrubs melancholy, lone,
Detained a fragile shadow. Golden-lipped
The laughing grasses heaven’s sweet wine sipped.

The sun rose smiling o’er the river’s breast,
And my soul, by his happy spirit blest,
Soared like a bird to greet him in the sky,
And drew out of his heart Eternity.

 

Sometimes life is a bit messy and doesn't taste very good.

All references seemed to talk about going through a rough time, like the dark night of the soul, and coming out with the morning light into JOY.

Most mornings you will find me padding around my garden in my robe and slippers. Finding something new in the garden, snapping a picture, and smelling a rose which brings me JOY in the first light of morning. It is what I look forward to when rising. 

We can bloom in the morning full in the light, a beautiful, velvety, glowing rose.
 

There are dark days in the world, some days that are almost overwhelming to me. I remind myself of this line "Joy in the morning", it is a life line that I hope happens in my life time. It is what I dream for my grandson. May that JOY come and we can soar like a bird into the morning light.

 

My morning light.

Sending love and light, Marilyn

Walking

 Do you like walking?  I love going for walks, but lately because of health concerns I became afraid to go walking by myself. Really, it was my own paranoia, but to me it was real. So I am trying to walk again. Recently I walked with a friend at a labyrinth tucked in the woods.

 

Our conversation before beginning our walk was about ancestors.  With that conversation on my mind, as I walked I envisioned my ancestors surrounding me. The smaller tree in the curve of the walk as we approached represented my grandson, so strong, yet still growing. One day he will be as tall as his surroundings and stretch his arms out wide to embrace life.

The large tree behind the wall represented my grandfather. He stood silently nearby, always watching and I believe he is still watching and smiling with a tear in his eye, saying "well done"! 

There was a butterfly that passed by, which to me represented my mother and the women in the family of ancestors. They were always flitting here and there, full of color and delight, always present and beautiful. 

Now I must go walking. I must notice what I notice.

Have a great weekend, dear friends!

Sending love, Marilyn

Words of Kindness and Joy

 “Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless." Mother Teresa

 

Black petunias

Hydrangeas starting to show their colors.

 

A ladder I rescued from a neighbors trash.

I took my "big girl" camera out for a walk in the garden this week. Why I don't do that more often, I don't know. I guess the phone camera is just too handy and easy to grab and snap.

The quote at the beginning is so true. It seems just a nod of the head as you pass someone in the store, a smile,a hug when needed or even a heart sent in a text are all small things, so easy to do. We may never know what those small gestures do for the receiver.It may turn a bad day into a good day. 

Sending love,

Marilyn