Good evening !
Let me share an extraordinary experience. Today, as my wife & I returned from our the-day-before-Holy Evening afternoon walk, I noticed our rose »Albrecht Dürer«, despite winter night temperatures around 3 - 5 degrees below zero (!), had opened one of three buds just a little bit. Immediately I took my everyday K-1 (with favourite maximum quality lens SMC Pentax-A Zoom 1:4 / 28~135 mm plus macro, purchased in 1986) to portray this outstanding plant personality. What a beautiful Christmas present ! (see attachment). In this case, William Blake's experience does NOT come true:

Oh Rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy;
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
May God bless all of you !

Borealis

[BigMackCam]

What a lovely little story and warm Christmas message. Thank you, Reinhard. My very best wishes to you both - I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year

[Michail_P]

Merry Christmas to you too. Very thoughtful. Thank you for posting.

[angkymac]

Great shot on the red rose-that-survived, and with the great lens-that-survived.
1986--surely do recall that year of Pentax lenses!
Angky.