Saturday, 18 April 2020
Lilac Time Again
With so much less noise from cars and almost none from overflying planes, the sounds of nature are coming to the fore in these strange times, and many urban dwellers are noticing birdsong for the first time; some, indeed, seem to be finding it rather startling, especially when the dawn chorus gets going. A milder, but also noticeable, effect is that, with the air that bit sweeter, the scents on nature are also getting more of a chance. Lilac time has never smelt better (at least when the flowers are warmed by the sun). I seem to mark lilac time most years, often with one of Manet's glorious late flower paintings, and I see no reason to stop now, when we need all the beauty we can get. So here is Manet's White Lilacs in a Crystal Vase – a square vase this time. The flowers are magically created from tiny flecks of cream-white touched in on a thin scumble of cool green-white, and you can almost smell them...
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Beautiful indeed! Speaking of birds in lockdown, an update from our neck of the woods: https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/120863029/extremely-rare-bird-photographed-in-wellington-during-lockdown-silence
ReplyDeleteWow – she did well to spot that.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of all those birds taking over the CBD and strutting around Lambton Quay!
Where I grew up, in northern Ohio, lilacs were common. The lower Potomac valley is a bit hot and humid for them, so I don't see many here. I do miss them.
ReplyDeleteAh yes. 'When lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed...'
ReplyDeleteYes, we are being reclaimed. Last week, here in Kensington, I heard overhead a raucous cacophony of gulls, busily engaged in mobbing a buzzard.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't seem that long ago that the only place you'd see one was in the Western fastnesses.
Yes, I never thought I'd live to see buzzards over London – whatever next? Probably those red kites, followed by white-tailed eagles... Vultures? They'd probably do fine in London.
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