A Rose garden | Day 181 of my 2023 Journal

My mother-in-law has a garden with beautiful roses. We went one beautiful morning, the same day we left Sealand, to spend some time with my husband's parents and say goodbye. The roses are lush, rich, and wild, and we enjoyed them as we enjoyed the company of loved ones, the sunshine - and the roses.

Roses are one of the garden disciplines to enjoy. Why do we even do it? There are so many flowers out there, wonderful as they are, blooming rich and colorful and easy to grow with no effort. Roses are delicate, vulnerable, and unique. They take time; they take skill; they take effort, they take feel.

Humans have bred roses for a long time, and we enjoy them very much. We stop to smell roses, look at roses, take pictures of roses. To be invited into a rose garden is a beautiful thing, an honor. Walking around the roses, we walk around an incredible achievement; hours spend on beauty alone.

To the rational mind, it could seem entirely off to grow roses. Still, there is something deeper in the human mind than reason, and roses - all of them - are such a great reminder of what is truly important, of how complex life is, and of the importance of stopping to enjoy and appreciate love and beauty whenever possible.

So, we stopped to enjoy my mother-in-law’s roses and the company of my children's grandparents, and as a bonus: Their friend visiting from the States, a kind and inspiringly intelligent human being whom we appreciate very much too.

It is never really fun to say goodbye to loved ones, and the ripple effect did show its hard face the following days. But we did it. Said our goodbyes and went off to get the van ready for a 100-day road trip starting that same evening.

Love and light

Cecilie Conrad

Thank you for reading
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