Its the Small Things
It truly is the small things in life. I love roses. I used to have some beautiful ones on the side of our house. Unfortunately, rose bushes take almost as much care and attention as my kids—no joke! Once they came along, the roses were neglected and now I’ve got nothing but a tenacious climber left.
I would love to plant more, but we will (hopefully) be moving soon and I won’t be able to take them with me. Plus, the time and attention thing.
While cleaning out the garage on the 4th I found a couple of old pots. FLASH!
This morning my daughter and I picked out this lovely pink miniature rose. It has a place of prominence on the kitchen table, which is where I frequently work. I know it is small and silly, but just looking over at that rose while toiling over authentication algorithms just puts a smile on my face. I was like a kid with a new toy: I couldn’t wait to get it home from the nursery and get it into its new home.
I really do find that small things like this can be huge pick-me-ups. If you are feeling down, find something small that will cheer you up. Read a book you’ve been wanting to read, see a movie you’ve been wanting to see, color in a coloring book, make your favorite cookies. When things are at their darkest, a small favor for yourself will let the light shine in.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Hey D! Like this post. Seven old rose bushes of diff. variety came with our house purchase in Columbus. They were beautiful and we loved them, but as you say they took upkeep. Black spot, aphids, etc. sucked up way too much of my time and attention.
However, there is hope! In his book The “Gardening Book For Ohio”, author Denny McKeown writes that there are now many varieties of roses available that are resistant to all the old diseases. Just as beautiful and maintenance-free. I don’t have the book handy or I’d recommend some, but just wanted to mention it so you wouldn’t swear off of roses entirely.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Thanks, Eric! Trust me, I’m not swearing off roses at all. Hopefully I can have a rose garden at our new house. I have heard about some of the newer varieties being hardier. Thanks for the book pointer . . . I’ll check it out.