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| Sweet rose |
Today is the official first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere (winter Down Under), which started early in the morning (2:13 am PDT), with our area still not yet experiencing any of the high heat affecting much of the rest of the country. I'm glad, since I am not a fan of anything above 80°F. We are still waiting for that to impact us, although I guess by Sunday we will be dealing with 84°. Time to take my comforter off the bed, eh? Just in case, I'll wait until then.
Every morning during the week, I take the bus to town and enjoy a nice cup of coffee with my friend John, and he drops me off by the Cornwall Rose Garden for my walk home. The garden now has plenty of roses, some of which have great scents that even my compromised sniffer can smell. One that is labeled "Honey" has the strongest odor, so I always stop by that one when I'm out to smell the roses. The pink one above doesn't smell strong enough for me, but I'll try a few more times as the sun comes out and releases more odor.
Last weekend marked the newly minted federal holiday of Juneteenth, with me having to find out some information about it, so I could celebrate it, too. Juneteenth marks the anniversary of the announcement by Union Army general Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for the enslaved people in Texas. Although they had technically been free for years, nobody actually got around to telling them about it until then.
And last week, we lost our apartment's front steps to the second level, meaning several tenants, including us, now need to walk out the back door, down the back steps, and navigate an alley to get to the front of the place where we park our cars. It is a pretty ambitious project, and men with jackhammers are busy removing concrete and boarding up passages from front to back, supplying us with lots of noise, but until we have to open our windows, it's not too bad. No telling how long it will go on.
It seems like there is another converging event, but after sitting here trying to figure out what it might be, I'm giving it a rest. Perhaps it was that I needed to write this post. Whatever, it seems like I must be done.
:-)
Juneteenth is a WONDERFUL thing to celebrate.
ReplyDeleteLove your roses, and am v grateful for the winter we are currently having. Bright sunny days (mostly) and a frost suit me just fine. I hope you can avoid the heat that is hitting much of your country.
That rose is a gorgeous welcome to spring. Happy Solstice, Jan. Happy Juneteenth!
ReplyDeleteRoses are hard to grow with the aphids destroying them. What a blessing to have this garden! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI don't get whole Juneteenth thing...someone freed the slaves in Texas because they were ignorant of their freedom. Seems to me that Dec 6th is a much better date to celebrate when slavery was abolished for all slaves not just a few latecomers.
ReplyDeleteThey're honoring the fact that the last vestiges of slavery had ended and the slaveholders were forced to accept the Emancipation Proclamation.
DeleteI am happy that Juneteenth is now a federal holiday. About time. when the final nail was driven in the coffin of slavery is celebrated. Congrats to Opal Lee for helping to make it happen.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful rose, the color is perfect. Hope they are able to get your apartment steps back in shape soon, I'm not good with change...lol
ReplyDeleteHugs,
~Jo
Beautiful rose... although my favorite is even paler... almost white with a touch of pink. Sorry to hear about your front steps. Hope it doesn't take long to fix them.
ReplyDeleteIt was a convergence weekend for sure for us. Soccer at the stadium, a HS grad party, Father's Day, Solstice celebrations, Juneteenth, and then the first day of summer. Looks like we'll worm up gradually, which is good.
ReplyDeleteYour rose looks so beautiful. Roses used to be my favorite scent. I miss it.
ReplyDelete