Barbed Wire and Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea plants are found everywhere in Pakistan.  They grow prolifically, clambering up walls and hedges like enthusiastic children, their green shoots reaching upwards and eventually exploding in a cascade of paper-thin flowers.  In the midst of the dust and grime of Pakistani streets their exuberant colours come as a relief, a reminder of freshness and vitality in otherwise drab places.

This one is doing its best to climb across a roll of barbed wire.  The juxtaposition of the beauty of the flower and the harsh reminder of the lawlessness of Pakistan struck me as I walked around our house, reminding me that beauty is possible even in the middle of difficulty.