It’s been quite Spring-like lately (not that we had much of a Winter here in Chicago). I’m not complaining – I love the warm weather! Let’s see how I’m faring in August, but for now, I’m loving watching the trees bloom and the people mill about outside.
I’m a mad sucker for flowering trees – all kinds. I have a particular soft spot for lilacs that I attribute to the two years my family spent in Rochester, New York.
Rochester – and that whole area of the state, actually – has a long, wet Winter. You haven’t experience massive snowfall until you’ve lived below the wrath of Lake Ontario.
But… silver linings. All that wet leads to an amazing, colorful spring with lilacs bursting out of every cranny of the city. The city celebrates with a week-long festival of food, crafts, music, and plain-old being outdoors after such a confinement.
During our time in Rochester, our whole family would go to the festival together. I think those were the formative years that made me such a craft fair junkie. I remember wandering the stalls with my mother and usually coming away with a necklace or two (that exact sentence could describe all the fairs and festivals I’ve been to since with my dear mother).
Back home we had two lilac trees on the side of the house. Those babies can pump out the scent. It would waft all over the yard welcoming you home.
Today, I still adore the scent of lilacs – it’s concentrated Spring.
{Lilac images in this post are from (in order): Diane Beckwith-Zink, Bobolink, and ilovebutter; used with permission under the Creative Commons License}