Life is a Big Old Bed of Roses

I was thinking about Life, and Roses and a bed of roses and a rose garden and before you know it I had that old song from the 70’s stuck in my head: “I beg your pardon. I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s got to be a little rain sometime.”

But what if life really IS a bed a roses? There are beautiful moments that will take your breath away and there are sharp hidden things that will make you bleed unexpectedly.

There is new growth and black spot mold, beautiful blossoms and nasty aphids. It’s all there, jumbled together, the good and the bad, but if you take good care of your garden---and you’re lucky---you’ll have more blooms than bugs.

But sometimes, no matter how carefully you tend your garden all your efforts can be overrun by a herd of hungry, marauding elk, so there is that consideration to my clumsy metaphor. Maybe the “Life is a bed of roses” school of thought is pretty accurate after all—and that’s not even taking into to account all the “fertilizer” required to make your roses bloom. Sometimes life will give you a generous scoop of that as well.

Speaking of fertilizer, now is a good time to add some of the aged stuff---personally, I am a big fan of the chicken poop variety---to your flower beds. Cooler temps keep the odor down and a little sprinkling of fertilizer will discourage elk from nibbling on your new greens.

So far we’ve talked about roses and music from the 70’s, elk and chicken poop and I’ve even managed to work in both advice and a cliché or two. I think my work here is done. Go outside and play in the dirt, it’s good for your soul.