Gather Ye Roses

It must have been lovely here over the weekend when I was away because the rose buds on my Gertrude Jekyll rose have bloomed out quite nicely. I love this rose since it smells like essence of damask rose, and it is a wonderful color too. (To quote one of my favorite divas, "Pink is my vice".) The bush puts on a spring flush that is quite spectacular and can be smelled from the street 20 feet away. (It will probably be early this year - usually it's May Day to Mother's Day, approximately.)

Oddly enough, I seem to be having some mental trouble processing that it is indeed late March, almost April, and spring has been full-tilt-boogie in coastal Northern California for several weeks now. The roses should help reset my mental calendar. Hooray, hooray, it's almost May.

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously) her first rose

e.e.cummings