We have a rose-bush in our backyard and the first bud bloomed today. I imagine the same thing is happening in Bosnia, a place I cannot help but think of whenever and wherever I see roses. Though the official national flower is the golden lily, the country is awash in roses. If you travel there in the spring and summer months you will find roses in the garden of every home no matter the economic status of the owners. And if the wind catches just right…their scent will overwhelm you.
See?!
A beloved flower, they appear in the most unlikely places. These beauties?–
–they’re outside of a Target-type department store.
This little group graces the exterior of a car insurance company.
You’ll even find them outside of gas stations.
Excuse the long view.
Roses are used to make juice…
…and they have become a metaphor for the losses from the war in Bosnia as Sarajevans saw their familiar petals in the grenade blasts on the street and subsequently filled the crevices with red paint. (That is a topic for another day though).
*
To mark the season of blooming roses, here is a bud for you–similar to the ones my father-in-law Akif would cut and give to me every morning after I’d stumble down to breakfast bleary-eyed and jet-lagged.
Enjoy!
*Thanks to wikipedia for the image of the Sarajevo rose.
the big american 
Simply beautiful!