After the Lilac Blooms

 My husband and I planted a scrawny lilac by the side of our front lawn, next to our driveway, about thirty years ago.

It has grown so enthusiastically that we have to cut it back a bit so that we can walk on the sidewalk in front of our house, without being slapped in the face by its branches.

When it blooms in June, I love to sit on my front porch and simply inhale its wonderful fragrance.

I’m always a little melancholy when the flowers die off.


But today, as I was getting out of our car, I noticed little green buds on the bush.

Excited, I asked my husband what they were.

He said they were seed pods, although lilacs usually propagate by putting out runners.


I am thrilled.


These seeds promise new life and it seems hopeful that as soon as the lilac stops blooming, it begins preparing to bloom next year.

I find, as I get older, the signs of nature’s regeneration become more and more meaningful to me.

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