Lilac Dreams

The anticipation of the blooming of spring lilacs is killing me. They are only now tiny little buds, but will soon be full-grown blooms that drench the yard with their scent. I "don't want diamond sunbursts or marble halls," just give me lavender lilacs for perfume, and a white picket fence to contain their charm.

"Go down to Kew in lilac-time, in lilac-time, in lilac-time; Go down to Kew in lilac-time (it isn't far from London!) And you shall wander hand in hand with love in summer's wonderland; Go down.. to Kew in lilac-time (it isn't far from London!)" ~Alfred Noyes

Photo by Anne Keiser

Crave the Rose

"But he that dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose." ~Anne Bronte

The wisdom of this quote was never more real than this afternoon as I sat on the ground weeding a smallish rose garden. Rather than me grasping it, it grasped me. But I crave the June rose too much to stay away.

Anne's roses were untamed wild-grown moorland blooms, smelling woodsy and sweet. Mine are lovely, and at least partially tame, hybrids. Just like their unbridled cousins, every cultivated rose retains some wildness, wearing their hooky thorns like talons, ready at any moment to tear into any flesh that happens by them, leaving behind a wound that craves time.

Free Classic e-Books

Amazon is offering free ebooks for Kindle right now. Any title that is pre-1923 and out of it's copyright is included in this promotion.

I just got all my favorites, and some that I have been wanting to read - Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Walden, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Keats Poems, The Woman in White, Emily Dickinson Poems, Utopia, and The Secret Garden. There are pages and pages to choose from. I think they work for iTouch phones, too.

Opposite Sides of Sky

Rainbow and lightening
compete with full sunset,
on opposite stretches of sky.
Secretly we watch, as
the competition wanes,
they little knowing we have already stolen
the prize.

Photo - Spring at Barbizon by Jean-François Millet

Chamomile Books

Chamomile tea is a favorite of those trying to slip off to sleep after a busy day, needing to unwind and relax from the day's cares.
For me, reading a book just before going to bed does just about the same thing, allowing me to escape the unending loop of thoughts that keep me from capturing sleep. I am quickly transformed to another time and place, and can finally push the stop button on stream of consciousness and drift through the gates of slumber.


A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by
One after one; the sound of rain, and bees
Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas,
Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky -
I've thought of all by turns, and still I lie
Sleepless...
~William Wordsworth, "To Sleep"

Photo credits
Top photo - Night and Sleep by Evelyn Pickering Morgan
Night and Her Train of Stars - by Edward Hughes