Carpe Diem

Carpe diem is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace,  that has become an aphorism. It is popularly translated as "seize the day". Carpe literally means "to pick, pluck, pluck off, cull, crop, gather", but Ovid used the word in the sense of, "to enjoy, seize, use, make use of". 

This is how I've tried to view these long, cold winter days of January.

Gathering Rosebuds in Winter

As a child I developed a deep love and appreciation for the beauties of nature, especially flowers.  I remember  gathering large bouquets of alfalfa blossoms for my mother, which she received just as graciously as she would have done an expensive bouquet from the florist.  If you knew  my mother, she was even  more pleased with the alfalfa blossoms.  She reciprocated by covering my birthday cake with green frosting and freshly picked dandelions in place of candles.  I recently came across this picture and the poem below.  I couldn't help but feel the presence of my mother, and others beyond the veil of this life as I continue to wander about plucking rosebuds.

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying. 

Robert Herrick, To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

English lyric poet (1591 - 1674)

And yet they live on.

A part of my latest bouquet.