Winter Rose

This rose bloom is a miracle in our browned garden landscape with below-freezing night temperatures and bitter winds.

When I picked this small blossom, I saw the vivid shades of pink, and inhaled its heady scent.  In its turquoise vase, this exquisite being of nature continued to unfold, and only then did I look at it with care, awed by the exquisite act of immense tenderness at the heart of the bloom.  One central petal shields the smaller one in a gesture that I have never seen in any flower, let alone rose.

May we be so tender toward ourselves…