Welcome to the (secret) rose garden!

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Biboy and Barbara took me to one of the most peaceful parts oaf Oakland: the rose garden. I felt like I landed in Wonderland! I almost expected the White Rabbit to pop up out of nowhere, frazzled, as usual, because he's late; the card soldiers who were painting the roses red; the flamingoes that were used as croquet mallets for the hedgehog croquet balls; and of course, the Queen of Hearts. 

The walk, however, made me change my mind. Because it's still winter, the flower beds were bare. Twigs abound in the garden as if it were an abandoned part of the city! Only the hardiest of roses were in bloom; the rest were hibernating. Those that were in bloom, however, were so pretty. I could just imagine how fragrant and how colourful this place will be once all the flowers are in bloom! So yes, my mind's changed. We weren't in the Queen's Garden. We were in Mary Lennox's secret garden; a place where wheelchair-bound kids get to walk, where previously aloof fathers bond with their sons, and where kids with wild imaginations are rajahs at night by a bonfire. Yes, once spring is in, the Oakland rose garden will thrive and bloom, just like the garden in the novel.

In the meantime, since it's winter, I'd deal with what's here and be content with my imagined version of this garden. :)









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