Musing on Roses

Patricia has been busy in her garden and so have our neighbours in beautiful James Bay. Everywhere flowers are in early bloom and the scent of honeysuckle and roses is divine. On my walk to and from work this week I have been taking time to stop and smell the roses, literally and metaphorically.

I read the Steve Job`s speech recommended by Patricia and also found it inspiring, although the section about living each day as if it`s the last, sent me into a small panic. As those close to me already know, I dread every day of my present job and the endeavour to find a more fulfilling vocation is proving challenging . However there was a silver lining this week when a colleague brought in roses from her garden and now a vase full of flouncy orange blooms is filling the office reception with an intoxicating scent.

Roses have been an abiding theme of late. A couple of weeks ago a friend from England, Sue, sent me a book in memory of my Mum, who was also a lover of gardens and roses. The book is titled For Love of a Rose and it tells the story of the French/Italian family who were responsible for the cultivation of a rose with shades of ivory, gold and pink. In the days before the 2nd world war they parcelled up their newly budded rose and sent it to growers in Italy, Germany and America. It wasn`t until the war was over that they discovered that not only had all of the rose bushes arrived and survived but also they had created a prizewinner. That rose was called the Peace rose. After 6 years of violence and destruction the people of the world were ready for a universal symbol of love and peace, and the Peace rose became the most popular rose of all time. Within nine years of the end of war, over thirty million Peace roses bushes were flowering all over the world.

I wonder if the Peace rose made it`s way to Victoria, Canada. Perhaps there is a Peace rose still flowering in James Bay? I decide there is no better way to spend a summer evening than in search of an elusive rose.


"The hours when the soul is absorbed by beauty are the only hours when we truly live." Richard Jefferies - An English Naturalist