This week while I was contemplating what to write about, I could see the camellia’s newest pink blossoms dancing in the wind outside the study room window. Last week the blossoms were damaged by the rain, snow, hail, and cold. Many blossoms turned brown prematurely but this week the blossoms are full of vitality and innocence.

They reminded me of Og Mandino’s Scroll VI.

Winter goes and summer comes…Flowers bloom; flowers fade. Seeds are sown; harvests are reaped. All nature is a circle of moods and I am a part of nature and so, like the tides, my moods will rise; my moods will fall. Like the flowers, today’s full bloom of joy will fade and wither into despondency, yet I will remember that as today’s dead flower carries the seed of tomorrow’s bloom, so, too, does today’s sadness carry the seed of tomorrow’s joy.

Og Mandino, The Greatest Salesman in the World, pp. 78-79

Ralph Waldo Emerson writes about roses in his essay, “Self-Reliance.”

These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. Before a leaf-bud has burst, its whole life acts; in the full-blown flower there is no more; in the leafless root there is no less. Its nature is satisfied, and it satisfies nature, in all moments alike.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance, p.7

In the “Law of Giving” the second promise states “I promise to be a grateful receiver of the gifts that surround me, pausing often and noticing nature, kindnesses, smiles and compliments; which I gladly receive with a “thank you”.”

On the farm where I work, there is a wild rose with dark pink blossoms and an intoxicating fragrance. I’m the only person on the farm who knows of its existence. A few years ago I was working in Field 6 when a breeze brought the rose’s fragrance towards me. Since it was my break, I followed the scent.

There, on a rocky slope with loose gravel, the rose was perched, oblivious to the precarious slope where it resided. I was determined to get some of its blossoms.

The next day I was armed with gloves and pruners. I scrambled up the unstable rocky slope and carefully chose several blossoms, being careful not to be stabbed by its numerous thorns.

Some of the rose stems I put in a paper cup with water and placed them in the shipping office for the office administrator. The other rose stems I put in another paper cup with water and placed it in a cool area of the warehouse so I could bring the roses home later. The office administrator was so pleased with my gift.

These past few years I have harvested many rose blossoms and buds from that hidden rose and shared them with several coworkers. I also found a safer way to access the rose. The rose is still hidden, especially now that the blackberries have been encroaching around the rose’s branches for years. The rose still has it’s vitality and it’s still my little secret.

Why am I writing about flowers? Because it’s almost spring and it’s easy to get caught up with being too busy to notice the beauty around us, especially in nature. Some flowers, like peonies, don’t last long, especially when it rains.

Other flowers don’t last long because deer or rabbits ate them or crows plucked them. Roses could bloom in December if the weather conditions are mild but they can also freeze and die when it’s too cold.

I have a tendency of being too busy, yet I can locate a wild rose by following its scent or smell honeysuckle growing on a highway retaining wall even though the exhaust from numerous vehicles could easily overpower the honeysuckle’s sweet scent.

Sometimes, taking a break from being busy could lead to treasures that only you know about but you can share with others.