Saturday 13 June 2009

time and tide



The lupins are out, brightening our hearts and roadways.

They look like spiky crown-tops of some forgotten woodland king, peeking out of the long grass. A few years back, Nova S planted lupins all along the roads and highways in a beautification - and quite possibly tourist - project. Aging stock and repeated mowing have destroyed many (they're quite a fragile plant) but there are still enough to make you gasp as you come around a corner and see a field dappled with coloured pointy stalks, swaying in the breeze.

Blues and pinks and purples, everywhere you look for a few weeks each spring.

I spent a very nice afternoon lazing around - Cass was at a party, and I had time to myself - an intoxicating few hours to stroll through the grocery (which is a very different place when you aren't running through the aisles on a time line or shepherding children) go find some things to take photos of, and sit (sit!) at a park, smelling the beach roses. It was heady and wonderful and completely foreign.

And being childless made me realize how different things will be this fall. With both kids in school, I'm going to have time for things.

Time by myself. Time for myself.

Which will be as strange in its own way as having both kids be in school.

Funny how seeing the strange, shaggy flowerheads peering out at me can cause such introspection.

10 comments:

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

It is always good to have some time for and by yourself. Rejoice in it. Don't question it. The lupins must be beautiful.

Jen on the Edge said...

I love lupines, but can't grow them here because it's too warm.

Have you read the children's book "Miss Rumphius" by Barbara Cooney? If not, I highly recommend it. It's about a woman who plants lupines wherever she goes.

Anonymous said...

Great image! I love lupines!

molly said...

Lupines remind me of my mother's flower bed which stretched the entire length of our garden on one side. I think, though she's been gone for many years, the lupines are still there... Isn't life wonderful? You'll be embarking on a whole new stage this Fall. Enjoy it!

BTW---lovely shot of those roadside beauties!

Loth said...

Beautiful. Both the post and the lupins.

Stomper Girl said...

The time to yourself is a good thing, but it's been half a year now and I still miss my youngest. Call me crazy but I lIKE school holidays!

Chantal said...

I wish I could grow lupines. Ever since I went East for a holiday I have wanted too. Not enough sun in my yard.

Time to yourself...What a wonderfully foreign concept :)

MARY G said...

Yearning over the lupins. And remembering my first day of 'two kids in school' when I got to read the paper and drink my coffee uninterrupted. Life can hold no bliss more sweet.
The scowl in the blanket above is sort of lupin shaped, don't you think. I guess I will not say what I think about Princess Barbie -- if the result is like that. Ooh.

Woman in a Window said...

Oh but they're Lupins. That's synonomous with introspection. (Love the Lupins!)

Magpie said...

i love time alone. crave it, actually. i also love lupines - and i tried to plant one this year but some horrid beast ate it.

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