Day 141. Lilies of the Valley, Life, and Brevity - (No Longer Available)

There is a stretch of lilies of the valley on either side of one of my neighbors' bushes.  They burst forth last week and each day became whiter and plumper.  All my life, they have been one of my favorite little flowers.  In fact, I love all spring flowers--tulips, lilacs, lilies of the valley.  Maybe it's because I'm a spring baby, and I have an affinity towards them.  Maybe it's because when I used to walk back and forth to nursery school, I would walk along, balancing my 4-year-old self on top of a rounded cement ledge.  It stood about 6-inches above the sidewalk, and I would grasp my Grandma Peacock's hand on one side of me, and stick my other little arm out the other side, balancing it in the air.  All along my carefully placed steps--heel-to-toe, heel-to-toe--a line of lilies of the valley would accompany me.  And as all children like small things, because they are small like themselves, I was in love with their tiny bells, so fragrant, delicate, and creamy white.

Years later when I was in college, I used to go to a funky little store called, "Art Mart," and as an occasional reward, I would buy Crabtree & Evelyn's intensely fragrant lily-of-the-valley soap. Mmm.  I would just open up the box and inhale deeply.  Isn't it amazing the way scent and music can trigger memories and take you back to any point in your life?  (Oh, mighty amygdala!)

Back to present day, I didn't take a picture of those sweet little bells, always thinking that there would be more time.  Yesterday I noticed that they looked like they had went on a diet, like someone who begins eating low-carb and initially loses all that water out of their face.  Indeed, today they appeared further shriveled.  I had missed the healthiest, plumpest stage. )-:  I still went out and took a picture of them, and then I began to think.

We always do imagine we have plenty of time, don't we?  We think, next year I'll do this, another time I'll do that...but then, time runs out, just like it did for these ephemeral flowers.  They'll be back next spring, but it's a long time to wait, n'est-ce pas?

A few days ago, I ran across this saying on Pinterest:

Shut up and just start living your dreams.

Snap the picture, take the trip, go to the concert, eat the dessert.  Now.

One side and top:

 The palette: