I had to grab my camera and preserve the beauty of that extraordinary rose growing right smack in the midst of massive river rocks circling in every direction. There it was seemingly oblivious to its bouldery surroundings and—from my point of view—kinda taking it all for granite. In fact the rose was all the more beautiful because of the counterpoint of its brown/grey backdrop. One gorgeous bloom bobbing its head in the soft breeze, with evidence of a few more buds about to make their debut.
The rocky-rose reminded me of a story a woman told me about the hearty tomato plant that was growing right in the middle of her driveway—she had no idea how it got there or how in the world it was doing so well without any care. It just “planted” itself there and grew amazingly unexpected tomatoes. So it seemed this rose was doing its thing—albeit nurtured by attentive gardeners—but the affect was similar. It made you stop and smell the roses amidst the rocks and it made you just that much happier because of the experience. Nature Teachers do that. They remind you that even in the rockiest situations we’re all capable of finding our place in the sun. If we don’t let our surroundings or others’ prickly perspectives stop us from declaring our right to be who we are, we can rock `n roll just about anywhere!
