Saturday, June 7, 2014

Roses, roses and Karen Rose


This weekend is a busy one as Portland celebrates the Rose Festival. Downtown Portland is crowded with tourists who have come to tour the Navy ships docked on the Columbia River! You can even "dial a Sailor" (Joe wouldn't  let me) and host a visiting sailor while he/she is in town for the festivities. 

So I did not want to brave the crowds today, but instead decided we'd take Joe to Washington Park, 40 acres of land deeded to Portland for the express purpose of cultivating European style parks for the 8000 residents of that day. They were a little miffed that this prime property in the hills of Portland with a gorgeous view of Mt. Hood and overlooking city center, would not be used to build homes but to provide culture and beauty. Today Washington Park is the home of the zoo, Arboretum, Rose Gardens, and Japanese Tea Garden. It is still a place for families to gather on a beautiful summer day to enjoy the beauty of nature.

Well, the reason I mentioned Washington Park...I really wanted to see the Rose Gardens. You do know that my name is Karen Rose, right? (Actually, it is Rose Karen because Karen was not a "catholic" name). Anyway, everyone calls me Karen, but my Joe calls me Karen Rose.  He loves the sound of it! I was named after my grandma Rose Bondi. Such a rare beauty, too! And today I spent the morning among other rare beauties at the Rose Gardens in Portland!  Roses everywhere!  I wish  I could include the fragrance of the gardens wafting thru the air as we walked among the rows and rows of roses. But these pictures will have to do. 


A girl has got to know she's truly loved when her big Irish redneck of a husband spends the day holding hands with her as he walks and admires more and more of these flowers...and every now and then we have to stop and smell the roses, a very valuable lesson he's taught me.
Afterwards we walked to where a shuttle took us up to the Japanese Tea Gardens. Sandra, Steve, Joe and I decided we enjoyed the serenity of this place and really got our "zen" on. 
Sandra and I remembered when we took Allison and Matt through and how they ran skipping and screaming down the paths...so NOT peacefull!

Loved today and that I could share this with Joe! At one time I'd thought about having my ashes scattered here among the roses, but we are pretty sure that would not go over well with park officials.

We were tired but not ready to give in so decided to leave the park to go have lunch at a Chinese buffet. Left there and went on to Hillsboro. Eventually Joe and I made our way back to downtown Hillsboro where we rested and chatted with the pharmacist of 35 years who knew a cousin of mine. Love the retro look! When Alli was little (2nd grade)she would come here after dance class to have a cherry coke and wait for me or her dad to pick her up.

1 comment:

  1. A root beer in a tiny cup and a York peppermint patty. ;)

    ReplyDelete