Posted in Holiday, June 2013

Upsy-Daisy

“Upsy-Daisy” mamma used to say,
When I tripped and fell along the way.
Picking me up, kissing my tears,
She’d urge me on to face my fears.
“Upsy-Daisy” encouraged me to go,
In spite of the path of fear or woe.

Now years later I mimic that phrase,
As I help others along their ways.
“Upsy-Daisy” I say to you today,
Wherever you are, whatever the way.
Should you stumble and fall,
“Upsy-Daisy” and give it your all.
Never give up. Seek your dreams,
No matter how hard your life seems.
Hang onto hope and you’ll go far.
Remember “Upsy-Daisy” wherever you are!

Leona J. Atkinson  06-08-13
June 8th is National Upsy Daisy Day.
This day is a day set aside to encourage you to face the day positively, and to get up ‘gloriously, gratefully and gleefully’ each morning.
“Upsy Daisy” Day was created by Stephanie West Allen in 2003.  

Her desire in creating a National Upsy Daisy Day was to make humor, laughter and a positive attitude part of the Upsy Daisy Day

Posted in May Flowers 2013

A Tribute to Blaze

Blaze Rose Bush
Blaze

 

Blaze, you seemed to be the perfect rose for late springtime.
They told me you would bloom repeatedly from early summer to fall.
How excited I was to bring you home and introduce you to my garden!
Your  profile showed no negatives.
You were:
Shade tolerant,
Resistant to rust,
Had moderate  thorns,
And could be trained to climb.
What a keeper!
You certainly seemed to be the prize rose bush!
I planted you and waited eagerly for those profuse semi-double red blooms–but they  never came…
Day after day you sat there drinking my water and eating my food
without  so much as a bud appearing.
I reread your profile to see if  I had missed something,
but  all I saw were more amazing attributes :
Grows quickly,
Blooms profusely,
Brings forth thousands of flowers,
Brilliant scarlet red clusters,
So easy to grow it is recommended as a gardeners first rose .
Such amazing attributes do not fit you, the Blaze in my backyard .
You certainly are not a vigorous grower. What is wrong?
Each day you seem to get weaker.
I don’t want to give up on you,
but  you seem to have given up on yourself.
The more I try to make you grow, the  less you do.
“Talk to him more” mom said.
” Tell him you really care about him.
Encourage him to grow because you know he can.
Start listing all the attributes he has.
Tell him you believe he will become a beautiful blooming bush someday.
Try it and see what happens” she said.

I did. I tried. I talked. I cared.
You grew. You flourished. You became what you were created to be,

a Blaze of scarlet in my backyard and the first rose to bloom this spring !

(Written about Laura Jae’s  little late bloomer, Blaze, rose bush.
He is a living testimony that we should never give up on anyone.

For as long as there is life there is hope and with love, care and encouragement,
people, as well as rose bushes, will usually grow and bloom profusely to reach their God ordained destiny. )

Leona J. Atkinson
05-13-13