The Roses

Back in the 70's and 80's, one of my favorite bands was Journey. They were a pop band that had some hits, mostly derided by critics and 'hard rock' fans but I always liked them, their tunes were melodic and I liked Steve Perry's voice, the lead singer.
Recently after the move, I decided to treat myself to some dvd's, and I picked up a Journey dvd. It's mostly concert footage and some old MTV type videos, which is amusing to see, what we (or they) thought was cool and fashionable back then....
Over time, the original band Journey broke up. Steve Perry had back and hip problems, and his mom was sick, so he moved to Visalia, California...a town in the Central Valley. I hear he is back in the studio, which is cool.
My mom lives nearby in Tulare, and I visit her there. One time a few years ago, maybe 2001, we drove to Visalia and went to a brew pub. I asked the bartender about Steve Perry, "oh yeah he comes in here...all he talks about is his glory days, he says, "you know, I used to perform in front of 50,000 people, and now here I am in this small pub"....
It made me think of the phrase, 'stop and smell the roses'....I can easily empathise with what Perry must have thought....I too look back to my 'glory' days, when I would attend MacWorld and actually sign autographs on Tetris boxes. But that's in the past now, and even then, it was like riding in a car going 100 mph and somebody says, "ooooh, did you see that tree back there? that wonderful rose bush?" Maybe that's why some of us look back with envy of those times, we should have enjoyed them more.
So now that I have a bit of time, I will certainly enjoy and savor each moment even more.
Aside from the metaphor, There are tons of real roses around here where I live now, and on my walks I stop and smell them, and they smell beautiful.