A rose by any other name...

For me, a rose lover, one of the real joys of being in Pollone is the sight of the roses in the gardens and along the streets. In the rose gardens here at the villa, there are roses of nearly every color. A vase full of them was in my room when I arrived. And, as long as they are still in the garden, they are always placed in Pier Giorgio’s rooms. It is such a simple pleasure to go down to the gardens and cut fresh roses in an assortment of colors to put in his room. In fact, we did it this morning; so those you see in today’s photo are very fresh. Too bad you can’t scratch and sniff them!

Pier Giorgio loved roses. He mentioned them in many of his letters as a child. When he was a bit older, he naturally used roses as an example when he wrote about the spiritual life. The ways of God, he said, are “strewn with many thorns, but also many roses.” The streets of Pollone are also strewn with many roses. Many years ago, upon the death of a certain woman, her son planted roses all around in her memory.

Beauty in all its simplicity is one of those things that can so easily be taken for granted when you are surrounded by it as I am here. By making a conscious effort to admire it, whether it be in the form of roses or cows or mountains, I discover even more how wondrous are the works of God. It has always been a curious thing to me how we fill our homes with so many things we cannot possibly need or use. It is a lesson worth learning again and again – and one that I am always reminded of here at the villa -- that the best things in life truly are and always will be free. ///cmw