June is in full bloom. Pole beans are up, five year old Swiss chard seeds germinated again this year. Even the milkweed seeds that we planted have germinated. And the roses are blooming, too.
This is the variety called White Rose of York--an old rose. And I love knowing that generations of people on both sides of the Atlantic have watched this rose bloom each summer. It blooms just once, then you have to wait another year, but the blooms are generous--full-petaled and beautiful.
Though I love this rose and how it survives without much in the way of sprays or tending, and connects us to centuries of gardeners, what I really want to share is this quote that came in our mail today.
"There may be unhappy endings to stories but all stories are happy, because as long as there are stories, there is hope. If even one person--or indeed, one creature--is able to emerge from the rubble of our own making to say, "I remember what happened. Listen and I'll tell you," that's a happy ending. Bearing witness can be just that: the carrying of a heavy load that eventually must be shared. As long as there is one ancient, flea-bitten, parched and starving mariner able to stagger up to a wedding party and tell his or her tale, there is compassion..."
Ann-Marie MacDonald
Playwright
So story-tellers out there, keep writing, keep listening, keep answering the knock from another with your own knock.
