Last Roses

I was caught off-guard by the splash of pink in the garden. Roses, this late in November? Sure enough, a few hardy blooms were hanging on and there was even a few buds. Since temperatures will be in the low 20's tonight, I decided to cut them and bring them in to enjoy for as long as possible, adding a few springs of late-blooming lavender too.


But where to put them so we would see them most? I started in the bedroom, under the lamp we salvaged from the old log cabin we moved, next to the white china cats I got for my 11th birthday (still missing one leg, but I still have the piece--for over 30 years I've been meaning to glue it), and on the oak dresser that was mine when I was a girl.


But we don't spend a lot of time in the bedroom, so the roses moved to the kitchen table, on top of the silver chest that belonged to my grandparents and then to my parents,

but that didn't seem like the right place, either. So I picked up the roses and
wandered back to the bedroom, where I found the perfect place: on my other dresser, beside the picture of Mom and Dad. They loved roses, so they will get to enjoy these last roses of the year with me. Perfect.