Rare as a Blue Rose

What devastating damage the pandemic inflicted on spontaneity! After a three-year hiatus, routines could no longer be reconstructed; normal activities prior to that long imprisonment gathered dust. 

Coffee chats with friends used to be just a text away. “I’ll see you there in 20 minutes.”  

Family visits were unscheduled and could happen anytime. “We’re here; we brought merienda!” 

All these became as "rare as a blue rose," the idiom I like to use for rarity. 

"Did you know that blue roses are now aplenty?" one friend exclaimed when we finally met for lunch after many months of hedging and re-scheduling.   

That piqued my curiosity so I did a quick research. Indeed, the AI generated blue rose above is no longer a dream. Due to the absence of the pigment delphinidin, which give the blue hue, blue roses were (past tense) rare. 

In recent years, however, there has been a scientific breakthrough. Researchers have added genes to roses to make natural blue colors. 

Ergo, blue roses are no longer as rare as I thought. They are now a-plenty and a reality in flori-culture. 

“Ding, dong,” our doorbell rang one day this month. “We’re here!” My sister, one brother and his family, came to visit unexpectedly. And they brought merienda!  

From this day forward, I will stop using the idiom about a blue rose being rare. Because meet-ups with loved ones two years after the pandemic are now aplenty and a reality in people-culture. 

"For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace."  John 1:16