my Lilacs are blooming and they're simply gorgeous!
The latest natural disasters have made me think again about what’s important to me.
It is NOT a tidy house or a clean desk.
It’s my family & friends.
BE mindful.
ENJOY each minute because the next is not promised to you.
Do what you love.
Smile more. Give more. Be more.
Laugh, love … shed only happy tears, dance to what moves you, forgive, let live and for heaven’s sake … BE grateful!
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First time I saw Lilacs was in Montana. Middle of the summer and I had a jacket on. Guess you guys have the same kind of weather. Yours are spectacular this year. Thanks for sharing them with us!
I love Lilacs. My mother has/had a large Lilac bush and I grew up with that fragrance wafting in through the sheers on a Spring day. Imagine my surprise to find a Lilac blooming in our yard (we bought our MI house in Winter.. I had no idea) … It’s still my favorite flower/scent and I remember threading the blossoms on strings/needles & dreaming I was a Hawaiian girl
Cheers, MJ
My mom always had a lilac; love that scent!
Your post today is so true. Thank you for the reminder. (And I’m glad to be reassured that it isn’t all about a tidy house or a clean desk. Guilty!)
now that I think of it, my other favorite yard flower is another “tried & true” from our mother’s, and grandmother’s, time: peonies. Mine are getting very tall; I’m glad I staked them this year.
And yes, after all that’s around us, I have nothing to whine about!
MJ
Read this with interest. Tornadoes were on my mind…again… yesterday and this morning. One struck Joplin, Missouri and I wanted to hear news about a high school friend with whom I have reconnected via fb. By late yesterday morning she reported she was fine…prayers answered. Last night she was exhausted with the relief efforts. …in our global, fb and blogging world…something like a tornado does strike our “neighborhood” despite the 600 mile distance between us.
Thank you for the calming lilacs. Today is daughter #1′s birthday.
And I read that there’s more a-brewing. It’s horrific. I’m glad your friend is ok… and in times like this, it helps to be able to get those updates quickly & electronically.
Happy bday to daughter #1
Cheers, MJ
Right on, MJ! One of my blogging buddies lives in Joplin, and suffered serious damage to her home and vehicles. I spent yesterday morning e-mailing our mutual friends and suggesting they send a donation to her as I had…her “stuff” was a lot more important than mine at that point…
Wendy
Very kind of you Wendy. MJ
Yay! Beautiful lilacs. Beautiful reminder.
The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.
–Eleanor Roosevelt
Couldn’t agree more CC
MJ
Lilacs! Beautiful. I always love seeing them when they’re in season. The fragrance is wonderful too. Lucky you to have a nice specimen in your yard!
Thanks for the reminder of what’s important. That’s a battle I feel I fight constantly. Some days the right things win! Other days, I’m sorry to say, the urgent wins over the important. But at least, as I’ve gotten older, I am better about righting myself than I used to be.
Happy Tuesday!
Sheila
Well, if it’s any consolation, I do think it is human nature to get caught up in our own “stuff” and sometimes it takes footage of what another is facing to put it all into perspective for me. Thanks for weighing in … it rained last night and my Lilacs are lying low this morning, the branches are soaked from the rain and many of the blossoms are on the ground. I took that photo just in time I guess … cheers! MJ
Thank you for the beautiful pictorial and written reminder of how much we need to cherish each day. I live just a couple hours from Joplin, Missouri, so the news updates have been constant and disheartening–but they have also highlighted countless stories of the human spirit rising above the devastation. I am grateful to live in a part of the world where so many people will do everything within their power to help others.
Amen! And thank you for weighing in ITWL … like you, I find the stories of survival and aid to others are truly inspirational.
MJ
live for right now…it’s all we’ve got.
my mom had a huge lilac bush when i was growing up. i’ve tried to replicate it but mine is very scraggly…still produces excellent flowers tho…
Yep – you are on the $ my friend. Although I admit I get sucked into having “planner’s disease!”
My lilac survives in spite of me. I don’t have a green thumb but somehow it rallies and comes back every year. We’ve had a cold wet spring and apparently they love that … not me so much
Cheers! MJ
Those lilacs are great. It has been cool and rainy here for many days so mine are just starting to open. I’ll enjoy yours till that happens.
Unfortunately the rain swept in and thrashed them and now .. most of the petals are on the ground. But .. for a few days .. they were magnificent. Hope yours come in just as glorious
Cheers .. MJ