O lily of the valley, why do you so please the eye?
Other flowers there are more sumptuous and grand,
With brighter colours and livelier patterns,
Yet they have not your mysterious fascination.
Where lies the secret of your charms? What do you prophesy to the soul?
With what do you attract me, with what gladden my heart?
Is it that you revive the ghost of former pleasures,
Or is it future bliss that you promise us?
I know not. But your balmy fragrance,
Like flowing wine, warms and intoxicates me,
Like music, it takes my breath away. . .

Excerpt from “Lilies of the Valley,” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Translated by Alexander Poznansky

There are at least four places on the property where I have patches of lily of the valley growing and today I found a shady patch at the edge of the driveway had already bloomed. So fast, every day the growth of everything around the yard! I stopped to smell the purple lilacs from the bush my daughter gave me some years ago for Mother’s Day this morning, and there was a very faint perfume if I stuck my nose right into a blossom. Then, in the afternoon, I walked near that same bush and the scent was blasting in the surrounding area! So many bumble bees buzzing in the field. The pair of bluebirds dart across the yard every morning. All the ferns are up and fiddling. I was outdoors a good amount of the day, appreciating this bounty. I took my poem to poetry workshop this morning, and got very helpful feedback. Will bring the second part there next week and see how it works as a whole. Frank and I had two car rides today where we had a chance to talk, cover a lot of details about the renovation which we hope will begin soon. I am coming to terms with the need for this disruption to daily life: the noise and the traffic and the decisions and all it will entail. To be enthusiastic, is what I’m hoping for.