“Consider the Half-Life of Roses,” Jerome Stueart, (11 x 15) watercolor, watercolor pencil, mixed media on paper.

A satyr in a painting stops his play to smell the roses again before they are gone. My mother keeps dried roses in the kitchen window, and I know they still hold a beautiful smell. So much of the rose lingers after the rose dies. Roses have a long, long half-life. They don’t have to stay beautiful to hold a room spellbound. They give joy long after they can hold their blooms up, or keep their petals on. Old Roses are the most underestimated, and therefore give the most joy when we stop for a moment and smell them. “Oh, it’s still there.” Proving that their influence lasts so much longer than their lives. For years and years and years to come.

Hope you take time this week to enjoy everything around you.