Wednesday, May 12, 2021

the scent of May

It's a beautiful day! Stunning, in the way that only May can be -- fresh, vibrant, sunny, fragrant.

It's that last trait that so often gets lost in our recollections and memories of beautiful moments. It's hard to think or write about fragrance. And yet, it matters so much! That whiff of a lily of the valley, or of a lilac branch -- how do you describe its delicate sweetness? Snowdrop always wants to bend down and put her nose to a flower. To her, the flower has an impact only if the eyes and nose work together to create something magical.

I get it. That delicate scent of an apple blossom creates something unusual and magnificent when coupled with the image of those lightly dancing flowers on our trees. 




And what can I say... the heady fragrance of lilacs is like something out of a fairy tale. You could never get enough of it!




Big purple clumps of lilac scent!




(I bring some to the breakfast table. On the porch, finally!)




It's a yard work day for me. I've planted most everything that's newly coming into the garden, but the old stuff, now nearly halfway there toward its seasonal maturity, needs adjusting.  I can see where plants would benefit from being moved and so I move them. Dig, transplant. I do a lot of that today.

And in the late afternoon, Ed goes on his bike ride and I head out probably for the ast time this year to the greenhouse. I need just a couple of replacements for the tubs. Cats and chickens conspired to bring down several baby plants. They need to be replaced. You gotta love those cheepers! All claws and very little brain power.




(And the little girls... under the lilac..)




Evening: Ed is wiped after his bike ride, I'm spent from a whole day of outdoor work. Well matched for once! He naps, I sip a glass of Bergerac white after a day well spent!