Wonderful Lilac Sunday on (Not Necessarily) Wordless Wednesday
Two lilac sprigs – babsjeheron
When I Met My Muse
I glanced at her and took my glasses
off–they were still singing. They buzzed
like a locust on the coffee table and then
ceased. Her voice belled forth, and the
sunlight bent. I felt the ceiling arch, and
knew that nails up there took a new grip
on whatever they touched. “I am your own
way of looking at things,” she said. “When
you allow me to live with you, every
glance at the world around you will be
a sort of salvation.” And I took her hand.When I Met My Muse
by William Stafford
Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford
Does the title of today’s post leave you scratching your head? It does me, and I wrote it. Smiles.
After all, why post about Lilac Sunday on a Wednesday?
I blame the Muse. Muses pay no attention to the calendar. And so artists, composers, and writers can always get away with blaming the Muse. She loves it when we pay attention to her whims.
It isn’t Sunday here, but it is Spring. It was a gorgeous early morning yesterday, though, with a warm front from the southwest that brought spring-like weather and house windows open wide. Delightful how the taste of Spring lingers. And yet tonight’s forecast calls for temperatures near freezing. “Welcome to New England” as we locals say about our weather.
Earlier, I had delivered some Great Blue Heron and flower photos for showing at a local gallery. While preparing, I came across my favorite lilacs, above. That photo and today’s warm weather brought Lilac Sunday to mind.
Each May since 1908, Boston has celebrated “Lilac Sunday” at the Arnold Arboretum. As their website says
With 403 lilac plants representing 175 taxa (kinds), the Arboretum holds one of the premier lilac collections in North America. Lilac Sunday has been celebrated at the Arnold Arboretum since 1908.
Lilac Sunday is held for only one single day each year. That’s part of the mystique that makes it special.
The other part? The sight and scent of lilacs, hundreds and hundreds of lilacs.
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About today’s post: Today’s post is prompted by Cee Neuner’s Flower of the Day and Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sundays Stills Monthly Color Challenge: In A Purple Haze, plus the Lens Artists Art in the Park challenge.
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Because of my near-blindness, I’m not able to link in my posts to the various host sites for WP challenges/tags in the way I have always done in the past, but please know that I value the sense of community here, especially among the Lens Artists, Cee Neuner, Debbie Smyth, Leanne Cole, BeckyB, Denzil, I.J., Restless Jo, Tofino Photography, Dan Antion, Bush Boy, Jez, and so many more, who all encourage the entire international network of photographers and writers. Sorry that I cannot link directly at this time – this is the best I can do for now.
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Great Blue Herons at TCAN Lobby January & February 2022 – babsjeheron
TCAN One-Woman Show Lobby Wall Two
TCAN One-Woman Show January through February 2022 Lobby Wall With TCAN Sign Reflected; TCAN Stained glass art by Carol Krentzman, framed by Jay Ball
My Great Blue Heron photographs were once again on display on the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick. The Summer Street Gallery provides an opportunity for accomplished visual artists in the region to have their work prominently displayed for TCAN’s diverse and loyal audience. If you’re in the Boston area, please stop by TCAN to see the wonderful gallery displays of artworks by many talented visual artists, as well as excellent live music performances and stage plays. The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.
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Art in the Park 2023 is coming in June! Watch this space.
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As always, many of my own photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed.
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Natick Center Cultural District logo
Folks, now that some areas have opened back up in a new normal, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past THREE years and they still need your love more than ever.
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The Natick Center Cultural District is situated in a friendly, classic New England town hosting a vibrant, contemporary fusion of art, culture and business. Click here and here to learn more!
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My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick – One-woman photography show through February 2022
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Natick Town Hall – Current group exhibit thru January 3 2023
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Five Crows Gallery in Natick – Represented since 2013
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Audubon Sanctuary
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Be a fly on the wall! Please CLICK HERE to see the Great Blue Herons gracing the gallery walls.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
May the Muse be with you.™
The Tao of Feathers™
A Patience of Herons™
© 2003-2023 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Share the love, but please respect the copyright. No reposting of any photos without permission.
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick Center Cultural District, Lilac Sunday
Posted on May 17, 2023, in # Lens-Artists, ardea herodias, Mindfulness, Nature, Photography, Sunday Stills, Wildlife Photography, Wordless Wednesday and tagged # Lens-Artists, #LAPC, #SundayStills, bird of the week, FOTD, naturephotochallenge, wordless wednesday. Bookmark the permalink. 23 Comments.
Babsje Heron 
💜
Merci! ❤
Lovely photo, and I appreciate your approach to (not necessarily) wordless Wednesday. Reminds me of a fellow who always seems to have more than one-line on One-Liner Wednesday 😉
Many thanks, Dan. Rules are meant to be broken, right? But for a one-liner that’s stretching it. My own first two Wordless Wednesday posts were in July and August, 2013. They were wordless except for the caption on the photo. I’m now significantly eyesight impaired and feel strongly that all photos on posts should have a caption. It’s easy to do and I think all readers should be able to know what an image depicts. But yeah, I do get wordy!
🙂
Babsje, thank you for refreshing our minds and hearts with this reprise. Oh, how we need it.
Hi Gary – thanks so much for saying that. You have a very good memory of the lilacs. I took that photo 19 years ago. Seems like only yesterday.
I so enjoyed your lilac photo highlighted by the moon, babsje, and the Muse poem by William Stafford was a warm greeting to my morning, thank you. Congratulations on your impressive gallery exhibit.
Hi Jet – many thanks for your lovely comment. I’m glad to have helped start off your morning with warmth!
Glad your work is out there getting appreciated! Beautiful.
Hi Rebecca. I’m pleased that you enjoyed this one. I have been reading your own poetry contest posts and enjoying even though I don’t participate.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!
What an incredible image of the lilacs against the moon (and of course the heron images you shared in the gallery, Babsje! Welcome (back) to Sunday Stills and I sure appreciate you sharing this great post with us today. Congrats on the 2022 showing of your art! I always tell folks that Sunday Stills posts are welcome all week long. Blame the Muse 🙂
Thanks Terri. I hope the muse doesn’t feel like we’re all ganging up on them! I’m glad you like the lilac Sunday image.
WordPress needs to install a “sniff” button!
Our Lilacs do not come out for months.
Hi Wayne. Brilliant idea, better get those Happiness Engineers on it pronto! I wonder why your lilacs come so much later? Looks like Massachusetts is in growing zone 5a-7b and Vancouver Island is sound 6, but I’m probably mistaken?
If I can remember,I will tell you when they blooming!
Your photo reminded me instantly of a few evenings ago. It was midnight when I stepped out onto the deck. A slight breeze stirred and suddenly I was enveloped in a most delightful scent. I’ve no idea what it was. I think it came from my neighbor’s yard. I just stood there in the dark, wrapped in fragrance, enjoying the moment.
What a delightful vignette, Susan, thanks so much for telling me about your experience. It must have been magical!
THANK YOU!!! Babsje – I have never heard it William Stanford before. I am truly grateful for the introduction. I will be exploring more of his poetry. In my short exploration this morning I read that he died at his home in Lake Oswego, Oregon on August 28, 1993. The morning of his death he wrote a poem containing the lines, “‘You don’t have to / prove anything,’ my mother said. ‘Just be ready / for what God sends.’
Hi Rebecca, so pleased you enjoyed the intro to his poetry. He was the Poet Laureate of Oregon and wrote a masterful piece for their Great Blue Heron event: https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/silken-feather-against-feather-as-she-rises/ I’ve been quoting him going back to 2014 IIRC.
I have many great memories of Lilac Sundays — first, in Rochester, NY, and then at the Arboretum. And on my walks at this time of year, I stop and sniff nearly every bush!
Aren’t they just amazing? Walking around like that and being able to smell them in the wild is a treat of Spring. My childhood yard had both purple and White lilacs and it was a small joy to find a local white lilac bush here a couple of years ago. Thanks for sharing your memories!