Winter Rose

Each end of year holiday season it is my practice to hope for and find a rose that I might bring into the house and share as part of my celebration. There is always one and I treasure and cherish it and give it thanks for remaining at this most special time of the year. So you might imagine my surprise that this year it looked like there might be several contenders. What I had not anticipated, in my wildest imagination, was that in every direction there were roses attempting to blossom in the garden as the year ended. I took great delight in noticing that during the many and ongoing frozen mornings that greeted me in the garden, they appeared to have been magically dipped in sugar during the night. What a joy to behold! Still, I found the burst of activity slightly strange and almost alarming.

“Have you ever seen so many roses in the dead of winter?”I asked my elderly neighbor.

“Nope.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

Hmmm.

Regardless, they blossomed, in spite of daily dips into the 20’s. Quite remarkable. I began to document their beauty, which I share here. I think they serve as not only a reminder that each living thing responds to its own promptings, but also as a visual metaphor of where we might be in our own process. Do you see yourself among them?

Attempting to capture a small yellow one by the back door, my beloved Border Collie caught me–and my camera–off guard. Even he looks surprised. I found it endearing.

Heartened by the generosity of the season I gathered two of my favorite roses to be The Ones that would join us inside. I accompanied them with a bit of hybrid oregano, a sprig of pyracantha, and a persistent pink snapdragon. They lasted up until today, the last day of the year. Thank you.

Undoubtedly the most precious rose of the season was my beautiful daughter who came to join me for a lovely, laughter-filled holiday, for which I am incredibly grateful!

Happy New Year to you, dear readers! May you find yourselves comforted in the friendships and loves of your lives.

Love and holiday blessings,
Kathryn xoxo

Book News: I am humbled to know that many copies of Plant Whatever Brings You Joy found themselves beneath Christmas trees this year, and that new readers are now exploring their pages. Thank you to all of you who gave copies as gifts!

Please watch for an excerpt from my book in the January issue of Ode Magazine!

You can visit the trailer for Plant Whatever Brings You Joy now on YouTube! Enjoy!

8 Responses to “Winter Rose”

  1. How wonderful to have roses in winter!
    Cute dog, too!
    Happy new Year!
    Lea

  2. Happy New Year, Kathryn! Beautiful winter roses.

  3. Hi, Lea! Welcome and thank you! Happy New Year to you! Kathryn xoxo

  4. Happy New Year, Pam! Thanks for the end of year visit! Glad you enjoyed! Kathryn xoxo

  5. Lovely!! Happy New Year, mom!!

    Love you,
    Antonia
    xoxox

  6. Hi, there, Antonia in BALI!! How sweet of you to leave a comment midst your beautiful adventure! Whisper a New Year’s prayer for me in a lovely temple, will you? Happy New Year, dear. Love, Mom xoxo

  7. See, Global Warming can’t be all bad if we get roses in December & January. We have been having clear, sunny days in the 40’s, got to 57 degrees the other day. Not Ohio winters at all. If you don’t mind the summer heat and the fact that we had more rain this year in Columbus than ever before (Cincinnati was at 70 inches and still raining towards the end of December). Just kidding….we clearly are seeing shifts in our climate and it’s happening fast enough that we are even noticing it in our lifetimes. It’s wonderful to have some joy and beauty from what is clearly going to change gardening, agriculture, energy uses, water availability, etc., for all of us world wide. Happy New Year.
    Hugs from Ohio,
    Cousin Julie

  8. Hi, Julie, Love the tone of your comment–the silver lining midst dire changes (since we can’t seem to grok that human beings are changing the planet drastically!). Yes, roses in winter. There you have it. Hugs! Kathryn xoxo

© 2008 - 2024 Kathryn Hall. All rights reserved.
For optimal viewing Mac users using IE should access via Safari.
Pixel Surgery by Site Mechanix