Suneson Scenes: Stop & Smell the Roses - A Respite in the Northwest

Sunday, June 12, 2022

Stop & Smell the Roses - A Respite in the Northwest

It's been too long.

My life has been occupied with building a house in Washington.

While my wife has been occupied with building a church youth program in Texas. I feel the separation in more than just the 2,174 miles.

I plead; "Sweetheart, stop and smell the roses. If you come out to the Northwest, I promise you we'll find some fragrant wild roses to smell together."

She tells me she will come out to see me and the house building progress later in the summer...

I wait for the definite dates. I hear, "It's been a hectic week..."

But, we have a common plan to get together; our daughter Inga will be graduating with her Masters in Public Health from Portland State University. The hooding ceremony will be on Sunday, June 5th. A definite date on the calendar.

Flight reservations are now secured and she will fly into Seattle right after Memorial Day. We'll spend a few days together and then we drive to Portland to be with Inga and Sean for the occasion. We are delighted to hear that Grant and Kaileen will fly from New York to join us. It will be a rare and grand family gathering, the first since the memorial service for mom's death in February, 2020.

Rose Time

Wild rose at the Skagit Tidal Nature Preserve

With a peck on the cheek and a hug, I grab her from behind as I sneak up behind her at Sea-Tac's baggage carousel 15. She smells like an airline cabin, but she looks first class. I whisk her off to our reserved Airbnb for the night.

In the morning, I take her out for something we both enjoy; a stroll in a quiet, natural setting. And I scouted this place ahead of time - it has wild roses there.

It is time for her to inhale the cool, coastal air and unwind with her husband. She has no trouble in finding a big, wild rose bush and she is now taking time to stop and smell the proverbial roses.

And then it is time to stop and smell the iris.

We walk along marshy paths, hopping over the muddy spots and tramping through the grasses until we come to a fine sittin' log. We listen to hidden wetland birds chirp and sing as we quietly hold hands and enjoy the silent company of one another.

The rain holds off and we wade through cattails, cow's parsnip and tall rushes reaching over the earthen path before we cross the timber footbridge, white with tidal salts.