Question

I need nothing but God's mercy.
I go through life in a drunken stupor.
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O you strangely lightening reality--
--------is there an amphora
for my few drops of oil of rose?

~Edith Sodergran 1892-1923

(tr. by David McDuff)

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While working on today's post, it wasn't jelling at all, and then there were the meatballs to make, the curtain rod to buy, the blouse to iron . . . not to mention all those other digital projects I haven't even started. I gave up on my "cute" idea, with nothing else in mind. Then I remembered white roses in an old folder titled "Victor," and opened it. These beauties laid in wait. Out of twenty images, I picked the top one, prepped it, popped it in the blog, and then clicked the preview button for a look. What did I find? You tell me. Can you see it?

Believe it or not these are florist roses. Not bad huh? The first image inspired a composite of six more.

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 I must go seek some dew-drops here,

And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

~William Shakespeare

I had no idea I'd be hanging a pearl in the garden when I purchased this $10 Christmas ornament. The lattice squares called for a bauble, and I thought why not? The sphere, hanging there for about four years now, has definitely taken on a garden ornament persona. I was happy to catch it white with frost during December's cold weather.

The top photograph was taken from our living room window, condensation blurs the bottom third.

Traveled thirty-thee miles, drenched and bleached with rain and sleet, chilled with a piercing north wind; and then to finish the day experienced the cooling, comfortless consolation of lying down wet without supper or fire. On such occasions I am very liable to become fretful.

~David Douglas

Yet he managed to take down the above words in his journal!  Mister Douglas is the intrepid Scot, botanist, and explorer who, in the early 1800's, discovered this conifer in the Pacific Northwest. Recently, I read about him and other brave plant seekers in Flower Hunters by Mary and John Gribbin. I'm especially fascinated about how, once we had the means (ships), men and women went to the ends of the earth in search of new plant species, risking their lives on a daily basis. Of them all, Douglas' stamina and enthusiasm for the natural world captured my heart. The book is a great read.

The photo above was shot in the wondrous, yes, Pacific Northwest rose garden of Anne Belovich. Please click here for a tour.