I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

One of my favorite places in all of Aberdeen is Hazlehead Park on the western side of town. It a big honkin' park full of gardens, a golf course, soccer fields and an entire forest with a trail system leading to other forests throughout the immediate suburbs and countryside of Aberdeen. 

My house is located just off of a trail that is connected to this system, so it’s easy peasy for Bailey and I to grab our trail shoes and head to the park. I honestly am there more mornings than I’m not. That’s why it was surprising to me at my maternity photo shoot when Nary suggested we stop by the Hazlehead Rose Gardens for a few photo ops. Whatdoyoumean Rose Gardens? And how did have I missed them all this time? 

Well, 1) Because I’m possibly the least observant and most aloof person on the planet. You know that saying, ‘if it was a snake, it would have bit me.’? Story of my life. If the Rose Gardens were a snake, they surely would have bitten me by now. 

2) I’m pretty sure they were doing some planting and renovation work on the gardens last summer which is why I never noticed them on my daily jogs with Bailey. Now that I’m on a shorter walking route, I usually stick to the forest and cut out this part of the park  on my route so that (in a long, runoff sentence, nutshell) explains why up until last Monday, I’d never stepped foot in these colorful gardens. 

Well, I’ve quickly made up for lost time and have visited 3 separate times since then. Nary took plenty of pictures in the gardens last Monday, but I was bummed that I hadn’t brought my own personal camera along to snap some photos. 

A few days later, I was in the adjacent dog park with Bailey and decided to get a few instagrams out of the garden. 

Then this past Monday I was on a walk with a new friend for me (Kit) and a new playmate for Bailey (Kit's Springer Spaniel, Bosun) and I was showing her the various trails Hazlehead has to offer. We, of course, stopped by the rose gardens to oooh and awww over the enormous blooms and variety of colors.

Over the past week, the blossums have started to wither a bit, so if you’re in Aberdeen and haven’t explored this part of Hazlehead park yet, you must go! I’m hoping that they might be lingering around when my mom arrives in 2.5 weeks because she loves yellow roses. 

P.S. Oh, and the title of this post come from a book I read by Joanne Greenberg called I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (great title, huh?). It’s written from the perspective of a teenage girl diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. It’s a bit crazy but pretty insightful into a tragic mental illness. Here is more info if you’re interested.