The Glory of that Garden

 

As I leave work tired, drained and famished from another day of work with the grammar school population, I start the uphill walk to retrieve my car.  I think about how much I love my job and I feel positive. Then, thoughts of home and the responsibilities of taking care of everything by myself fill my head and my mood starts a downward spiral.  As both positive and negative thoughts carry out a balancing act in my brain, I try to keep focused on the long walk to my car.

The next moment…there it is! The most beautiful rose bush I have ever seen in my life, dancing with the wind in the front yard of a garden filled with flowers of every color! The red and white swirl of each individual rose is an artist’s palette where colors are mixed gently until just right. How beautiful is this colorful mix of red and white in a common garden of solid-colored roses.

As I stop to admire the beauty of this moment, some of the flowers have become delicious candy canes with patterns of interchanging red and white. The same candy canes that I loved to eat and hang on the Christmas tree when I was a little girl.

I’m so drawn to this rose bush that I get up the nerve to stop and take a picture of it, even though I’m fearful that the owner of the house will come out and not be happy at all.  The beautiful red and white petals start calling to me, “Come back during the moonless night tonight and bring a scissor with you. Then you can snip some of our flowers and enjoy them at home. Not many people seem to notice or appreciate us, including the homeowner, so it will be alright if you sneak a few.

I continued in the direction of my car and actually toyed with the idea of waiting to nightfall to do exactly what that beautiful rosebush told me to do. Then, I asked myself, “Where in the world did I park my car?” Only to practically bump into it because of my fascination with artists’ mixing shades of red and white paints and candy canes at Christmas time. My next thought as I sat down in my car and put my key in the ignition was” wow, I think I’m definitely more tired and famished that I thought I was. It’s time to drive straight home!

Ellen G.