Comforting Rose

While the Spring Equinox is only a few days away it is still winter. And boy is it wet and dreary where I am. I have so much to say about spring plants, activities, foods we should be eating! I’ll be sharing the March (and spring) collection on the Etsy shop tomorrow. However, today I have Rose on my mind. I’ve been writing about her everyday this week. I am immersing myself in her scent with lotions, oils, soap, the flavor in tea and elixir. But I as I write I have not been able to pinpoint why I have been so drawn to the flower of late spring and summer when I am eating and creating with spring herbs. Until this morning!

Rose is a cooling and astringent plant. Her qualities are perfect for the heat of summer. However, Rose is also calming and comforting. I feel enveloped in love and comfort when I adorn myself with her scent. I was in a minor (is there such a thing) car accident at the beginning of February. I’ve been dealing with back and neck pain. Pairing that with the dark rainy days that the end of an Oregon winter bring I need the calming, floral love of the Rose. I sit with a cup of Rose Oolong tea by a cozy fire and I can feel grateful for the rain that we so dearly need after the long, dry summer of last year. I go out in the morning with Spiced Rose lotion on my arms and can lift them in deep reverence to the mist covered mountains; knowing that spring is just around the corner and after that summer. The wheel turns and though I like to live in the moment of each season this week I look forward with a smile to the wild Rose petals I’ll pick, the garden Roses that will surround me for months. I am inspired this morning to look out the window at the unfurling of the leaves on our many Rose plants. Seeing how healthy and vibrant they look I know that this wonderful (see Rose is working on me) rainy day is nourishing all the plants and the earth. Even if we do have another very long, dry summer the land will have a deep reserve of nourishment from this moment right now.

I’ll be back tomorrow with green things. But right now I’m going to close my eyes and think of those wild Roses that I’ll be picking in May.