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Appreciating flowers - and life 賞花的隨想

Heading towards the end of autumn, May in Melbourne is not only the time for red and golden autumn leaves but, somewhat expectedly, for blooming flowers too. It may be hard to get one's head around this for those from Europe or Hong Kong, and even for me despite having lived in Melbourne for so many years - somehow I have been rather oblivious to this natural phenomenon!
五月深秋在墨爾本，除了通紅和金黃的樹葉，還有花可以觀賞，對在歐洲和香港生活過的我來說，是頗新奇的景象——雖然我在澳洲生活也有多年，我卻一直忽略了。

The roses have definitely taken me by surprise, as I have always expected them to flower only in spring and summer. They put on another good show in autumn that can rival the earlier seasons!
尤其是玫瑰，我一直以為只會在春夏綻放，但原來踏入深秋仍不欺場，更可和春天盛開的景況媲美，令人喜出望外！


Thankfully I managed to capture the best moment for this bush, because a bout of overnight rain and wind reduced many flowers to petals, leaving the bush in a rather desolate state the next day. Good times don't always last, but I also didn't expect it to be so whimsical and fickle.
幸好我捕捉到這株酒紅玫瑰最美好的一刻，過了一天，一夜間無情的風雨，來個真的「辣手摧花」，一口氣把幾朵花打得「落花流水」，花瓣散滿一地，不禁令人感嘆：美好的時光，有時會不等人，轉瞬即逝。歌手許志安《爛泥》開首的歌詞「妳　最盛放的玫瑰    流芳百世　怎可瞬間枯萎」也正好形容此感覺啊。


I suddenly felt the urgency to preserve the other flowers so that they would not suffer the same fate so quickly. I picked three of them and sustained them with small 'pots' of water. That way I could also have a chance to enjoy the beautiful flowers at night.
此幕也令我更令悟到「花開堪折直須折」的重要和迫切——為免更多盛開的花朵遭殃，我挑了三朵好的剪下來，在室內插水養着，把花朵「延命」之餘，晚上也可觀賞。



Camellias are eye-catching with their plentiful flowers on often large bushes. The bushes are colourful from the ground up, thanks to the dense paving of dropped petals on the ground that resembles bright pink carpets. The juxtaposition of the abundant petals and flowers is simply spectacular.
同樣搶眼的也有茶花，不止開得茂密，而且樹長得又高又大，滿樹是花，可算壯觀。除了樹上的花朵，樹下的花瓣也一片鮮豔，密鋪地面，有如一張粉紅色地氈，襯托樹上的朵朵粉紅之餘亦展現其獨特的美感。


Everything has their moment, which ought to be treasured and preserved like the roses. And even towards the end of one's life journey, it is still possible to show one's worth and colour like the camellia  petals. Appreciating flowers is also an opportunity to reflect on and appreciate the many facets of life.
萬物有其展現光芒之時，宜好好珍惜和保存，如那些酒紅色玫瑰花，而即使走到盡頭時，在最後一刻都可仍然發光發亮，為身邊甚至世界增添色彩，就像掉下的茶花瓣。賞花除了是視覺享受，也是反思世情、滋潤自己心靈的時候。

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