Out For A Stroll - by Betsy Seeton
There’s so much beauty in the world and sometimes it's in smallest of ways. We just need to slow down and take the time to notice. I’ve been under the weather with the flu for several days and today was the first time I felt well enough to take a short stroll. I think because I’ve been laid up I was even more appreciative of being able to get out and take in the warmth, the sun and soak up the natural beauty that surrounds this area...
And then the most extraordinary thing happened. I asked a man who was tending his flower garden if I could photograph one of his roses. It was at the entrance behind a small black gate. He nodded and said, “Certainly!”
After I photographed it, he walked over to me and used his hands to break the rose off its vine and handed it to me. It was a huge red rose. I stammered a bit with several thank yous and then he asked me to wait a moment. When he came back he had clippers in his hand and he clipped off four more red roses and handed them to me. Just like that. I told him he made my day and I walked off with an entire bouquet of roses in my hands. He simply wanted to share the beauty that he saw me appreciating. (My dad was that way with things.)
The photos I took of the roses weren’t successful. The red was too red and the shading and contrast didn’t come out well, but I loved the photo above from the cactus plant, which I took just before approaching the rose man’s house. So to me, that photo will always be a reminder of roses and kindness…..
Below is Ellie (one of the cats I'm sitting for) and one of the roses when I got home just as I was putting it into the vase with the other four.
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