The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose. -- Khalil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, artist (1883-1931)
Recently I've been immersing my senses in the sight and scent of one of the most delightful flowers around -- the rose. Just being in the same room with roses brightens my spirit. If someone gives me a single rose or a bouquet of roses, I'm up on Cloud Nine. A true romantic, that's me.
Since it's Valentine's Day, which has long been associated with love and roses, I've been doing a little research about some interesting legends surrounding roses. For example, did you know that Cleopatra once waited, in a room knee-deep in rose petals, for her beloved Marc Antony to arrive? Talk about tip-toeing through the tulips -- how about roaming through all those roses!
And then there are the meanings of various colors of roses, and the messages of different types of roses.
By far my all-time favorite is the lilac rose, which is supposedly mystical in nature. It is symbolic of love at first sight, enchantment, and desire. Vive la rose!
The fiery orange rose is emblematic of enthusiasm, the yellow rose denotes friendship, the white rose represents innocence and young love, the pink rose stands for elegance and refinement, and of course, the red rose -- the lover's rose -- means "True love is stronger than thorns." The message of a tea rose is "I'll remember you always," and rosebuds signify,"You are forever young and beautiful."
Here's to a rose-filled future for us all!
Linda Jay Geldens, www.LindaJayGeldens.com
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