Summer of 2023. June is here and with the beginning of the 3 months of summer, I am full of plans and goals. Exercise, blogging, journaling, reading, bible study, tennis, pickleball, bicycling, sewing, cooking and having guests at the lake house. Well, with all those things to do, I want something to keep me grounded also. So I am attempting to blog again.
These lilacs smelled so good while I was walking along the road early this morning. I was going to steel a couple branches to bring home for a bouquet, but when I touched them, the white petals starting falling like crazy. I think these were actually originally lilac in color. So, since they were so nearly gone, I decided I will just have to be sure to walk by and stop and sniff them the next few days before they are gone forever.
My blog is going to be four-fold. I want to share my love of sewing, love of nature, love of God, and commune with others about those things.
Lilacs. Did you know? They are a flowering woody plant in the olive family. The flowers produced in the spring are usually a light shade of purple, "lilac". But they can be white, pale yellow, pink, dark purple and even a dark burgundy color. When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd is a lengthy poem by Walt Whitman that reflects on President Abraham Lincoln after his death in 1865, It was written during the summer after he had been assassinated on April 14. I would share it with you here, but it is quite lengthy, 206 lines!! Lilac is the state flower of New Hampshire.
Several locations in North America hold lilac festivals, including Lombard, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Lombard is called the "Lilac Village". Right in the middle of town is a block size garden with 200 varieties of lilacs as well as over 50 kinds of tulips. Believe me, it is lovely in May. If you ever ride the commuter train anywhere west of Lombard into Chicago, be sure to watch for the park. It is right along where the train goes thru the center of town.
If you love the scent of lilacs, there are some perfumes that claim to smell like lilacs. Good ole Estee Lauder even makes one called AERIN.
Do you feel like you can smell lilacs right now? Breathe deeply and imagine!!!