random thoughts – Day 1,516 – (Monday) – may delights

Porch lilacs.

This is possibly my favorite time of the year with the long daylight. The warming temperatures with sunshine mean the heat can be turned off,  the air conditioning isn’t needed yet, making it budget friendly. Overall, it's a delight. 

The drawback is the pollen and the resulting allergy symptoms of itchy eyes and runny nose. Despite the mostly mild allergy symptoms, it was pleasant being outside in the beautiful weather for a quick midday break and then again after work. Thank goodness for tissues. 

The lilac tree – or maybe it’s a bush, despite trying to research it, I still don’t know – visible across the yard from the desk, was looking shaggy with shoots growing from the main branches, some lanky branches with blossoms, and some dead wood. A few minutes with the loppers and it was trimmed and tidier, and the nearby peonies had some breathing room.

Face full.

The lily of the valley under the lilac is marching further into the yard and is very fragrant. It's always a nice surprise when a pleasing scent penetrates the sinuses. For many years, my sense of smell seemed to be on sabbatical and I couldn't detect pleasant scents, just yucky ones.

The clipped lilac branches with blossoms are now in the blue water pitcher serving as a vase and set on the little table near the front door. When the front door was open, the breezes carried the lilac scent into the house, like nature's plug-in air freshener. Again, it was a joy to be able to smell it.

The clipped branches without flowers were snapped and stuffed into the yard waste bin at the curb, which wasn’t emptied today. Pickup seems to run a day late every week and maybe the city should just push it to Tuesday and be done with it.

The groundhog was back and busy with the dried leaf mission, emerging from under the shed that is disintegrating at an alarming rate. It appeared with a face full of leaves and made the diagonal journey across the already shaggy yard that was mowed a week ago and needs it again. 

Today, I was able to get a photo of the ground critter at work, but the object of the task is still a mystery. To me, anyway. It probably makes perfect sense to the parties actually involved.