I was going to attempt to contain myself...
You know, show some form of restraint.
Prove that my enough button is not in fact, dysfunctional.
But it is, so why lie?
Actually, I don't even think I have an enough button.
Do you?
Is less really more?
I suppose in many cases it is.
But, in the case of a rose...
Or many roses, and them springing up in our garden -
Then, I really don't think less is more.
Am I wrong?
Every single year, since the first year I found myself here, I have asked friends to come see the 30+ year old rose bushes. Rarely does anyone get to see them blooming. Yesterday my neighbor came over, and I sent her home with the bundles in the first photo. I am so delighted to share them.
She oohed and aaaahed with me.
You see...
They took my breath away, these roses-
on a weekend, ten years ago, a week from yesterday.
I followed a map given to me by a man.
A man I would come to know as Mister Lovee.
A map that took me to a place, that unbeknownst to me at the time, was where my heart would find its nest...
And, stay.
I made a path of coral color roses that last weekend in April 10 years ago.
Mister Lovee gave me a basket, and I filled it.
So many roses.
Enough to toss up in the air...
Coral roses made paths, and the frosting pink ones filled vases...
We hiked up to the petroglyphs.
We went swimming in water holes.
He invited me to stay for dinner.
We grilled salmon and made mango salsa...
I played with the roses.
I felt so free, I was 25.
Just bursting with happiness.
My heart felt like a cloud bobbing in air.
(come to think of it, I still feel that way)
As I tumbled...
Love.
I was enchanted with a manboy who was fun and interesting and artistic.
I loved him for his wisdom.
His music, his soul.
His entire self.
We had an incredibly charming "getting to know each other" time.
It was exciting and wondrous.
Soo many tales.
I loved his plot of earth, and how cozy and safe it felt.
And the roses, oh the roses...
He had (has) such charisma.
And oh, his wacky sense of humour!
His ability to have a childlike outlook.
He's even a little like Peter Pan...
Don't get me wrong.
He is rotten too.
But then again, so is the girl typing.
So, we are even.
When I set foot on this property, I felt like I had found a missing void in my being.
As though I was intended to find my way here.
(Mister Lovee says that I was always meant to be here)
With these roses, and this man.
Loving these two boys...
I ask, where did the time go?
It feels like yesterday, and at the same time, it doesn't.
How did the rose bushes become 30+ years old ?
I wonder if they wonder the same thing?
:)
How did a whirlwind romance turn into a decade?
How did we lose our beloved girl?
And then find our way out of sorrow, and into more pure love?
Do we have a path?
Is it all predestined?
Or do we make it up as we go along?
I don't know.
But I do know, that I am happy to be here.
On this little parcel of land, with two furry boys, a furry girl in my heart, one man and hundreds of birds and trees and growing things.
A place where I have planted more rose bushes, more seeds...
More love.
So curious, time is.
It twists, it turns, it teaches, it changes.
The folks who planted the huge 30+ year rose bushes before Mister Lovee found this place, are probably not with us anymore...
And yet, their roses live on.
I tend to them.
I make sure they are nourished...
And every spring, I take hundreds of photos, and I remember that girl that felt like a fairy, who followed a map into the hills...
And found love, and...
Home.
And just like that, memories come, and memories go, and memories swirl to and fro.
Hearts feel full. Hearts get broken, hearts mend, hearts laugh, hearts cry, hearts play, hearts trust, hearts stay.
I am so happy I came here, 10 Aprils ago next week.
And that, that little hand-drawn map Mister Lovee gave me to get here, is now the very map to my favorite place on earth. Our home.
I am looking forward to a continuing journey, and many many more memories to be made.
ps: Last year's roses still blooming in June, right here. That gives me June to look forward to ;)
pss: This is so beautiful, sent to me several weeks ago by an even more beautiful soul. So worth watching to the end. Thank you Nathalie!
