Rose Hips

As I walk up the creek trails at the arboretum, I come across small thickets of rose bushes that are adorned with brilliant red hips. Standing back from the bushes, the hips are small, floating hot air balloons. As I step in for a closer look, they are luminous sea creatures with bulbous red bodies and tentacles. They are suspended in clusters like a child’s mobile. Today I watched a flock of bushtits and a few chickadees darting between the stems presumably gleaning small insects. It was a joyous sight.