Lilacs

[redbird]

I should be sensible, *sigh*

The Arnold Arboretum, which in normal years would be having a combination Mother's Day and lilac celebration today, now has signs advising "Please enjoy the lilacs from a distance. Treat the lilacs like any other surface that can spread COVID-19."

I can't get to the Arboretum right now anyway, because it's a multi-part trip on mass transit. What I'm considering is walking around my own neighborhood some time in the next few days, probably early when even fewer people will be around, and standing near and smelling lilacs in people's yards. If I do this, I will have a bandanna with me, to put on if anyone comes nearby. I don't think just walking down the sidewalk next to a lilac bush is higher-risk than taking the other side of the street, and so far social distancing is mostly working for walking around this part of Belmont. I'd be going early because it will be chillier, so the man down the street is less likely to be reading in his lawn chair near the sidewalk, children are less likely to be out playing, and so on.

Comments

[pameladean]

I sympathize! I'll be able to smell lilacs in my neighborhood, but no expotitions to concentrations of them in cemeteries or parks seem like a good idea.

P.

[havocthecat]

I wish I could send you some of the lilacs from my area, though they have not yet bloomed here.

[threeringedmoon]

Your posts about the lilacs remind me of the neighbor's (where we used to live) lilac which would bloom this time of year. The smell was intense enough that I could smell it while feeding horses even though we both had five-acre properties.

Fortunately, a friend of mine has some and if they bloom this year (not a given since sometimes a hail storm will shred them before they manage to do so) I can visit. She has a lot of land so we can safely visit.