As I leave work tired, drained and famished from another
day of working with the grammar school population, I start the long, 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! Not my car but the most beautiful rose bush I
have ever seen, dancing with the wind in the front yard of a garden filled with
flowers of every color! The red and white swirl of each rose is an artist’s
palette where colors are mixed gently until just right. How beautiful this
colorful mix of red and white is in a garden of common, 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 with me 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 started walking again 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, as if coming out of a trance, I asked
myself, “Where in the world did I park my car?” only to practically bump into
it because of my preoccupation with artists’ shades of red and white paints and
candy canes at Christmas time.
My next thought as I sat down in my car and put the key in
the ignition was, wow, I’m definitely more tired and famished that I thought I
was. It’s time to drive straight home! I
made a mental note to remember to put a pair of scissors in the car for a late
night adventure.
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