Recent Journal Entries

The Days Hot Doc! Any Easier Never Too Hot Montage Trains & Boats & Planes Easy Reader Outdoor Cutlery New York Summer Fight Song For a Friend HOT DOCS PART TWO HOT DOCS PART ONE Prayer For Animal Friends Cucumber April 21: Al Purdy Day Everything Is Nothing Birthday Girls Susan Juby All entries >

Photo by Gail Harvey, no reproduction without permission

Lilac Wine

There were of course lilac bushes in Toronto, but not THIS MANY. On certain County roads you have to pull over and breathe deep or risk driving while under the influence of May's most fragrant flowering trees. Better yet, walk or bike, olfactory lobes entranced to the point of delirium. I've come to love every season in my adopted home, but May is by far my favourite. When apple trees blossom and burst with the promise of eventual fruit. When an asapargus overdose is [almost] possible. When the goslings strut down to the millpond under watchful parental eyes, safe from shotguns. The canine personal trainer rejoices in every walk and thus inspires extra mileage. The other day, buffeted by a sweet purple breeze, the melody for Nina Simone's version of "Lilac Wine" entered my mind. A pleasing melody to hum in the nearby meadow where we're always on watch for rabbits, even if the dreary lyrics don't apply personally. Mud-spattered ATVs blow by and the blackflies frolic on sun-warmed unsleeved arms. The least charming apects of the season, yet easily forgiven when confronted by all the amazing sights and sounds and smells.
I've finished "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" and am scanning the shelves for another gripping volume. Something cottage-suitable and equally entrancing. It's so good to be reading voraciously again. To ride our bikes at sundown and marvel at the crazed flight-paths of yellow finches. To drive past the asparagus harvesters hunched over in their mad-looking contraptions, see the vineyard-tenders tending, and to have this be daily life. All this and an endlessly active test-kitchen too:)

Listening to: Then I Met You, The Proclaimers