Climbing roses

I had the occasion to drive down SE 39th recently (excuse me, Cesar Chavez Blvd) and saw a lovely sight.  A large tree, might have been a magnolia, has light pink climbing roses growing way up through it's branches.  There are roses blooming 20 or 30 feet up in this tree!  So beautiful!

In my neighborhood, there is a red climbing rose growing up into a tree as well.  Not as high, but just as lovely.

Years ago I planted a native rose at the foot of our Chinese maple but it never climbed.  Probably didn't get enough sun, but also might not have been a climber.

One of these days I'll get a new phone with a good camera in it, and then I can have a show and tell...

A Beautiful Morning

I rode my bike to work this morning and was rewarded with a spectacular sunrise. The sky was lit up with gold and orange and pink. As I rode along the waterfront, the river reflected the sky and the world was bathed in beauty. Mt Hood loomed dark against the coming morning, a sentinel overseeing eastern lands. I turned my head and saw the sunrise mirrored in the walls of glass downtown. Street lights flickered out, unable to compete with the dawn.

The sun followed the dramatic heralding, reaching under the low lying clouds. As it rose, the colors faded to white; day restoring vision to the ordinary. And, within minutes, it was a typical Northwest day, cloudy with a chance of showers. And tomorrow a chance at further glory.