Hyacinth to Feed The Soul

"If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,

And of thy slender stores 

two loaves alone to thee are left,

Sell one, and with the dole

Buy hyacinth to feed thy soul"

"Hyacinth to Feed Thy Soul" 

By

13th century Persian poet 

Moslih Eddin Saadi

From his book "Gulistan"

("The Rose Garden")

Hyacinth certainly do feed my soul. They are the first herald of spring and warmth in my garden.

I love their sweet fragrance. They grow in so many fresh colors.

I can never have enough hyacinth, short-lived though they are, and I can never buy as many as I want, however drastically I deplete my "slender stores" to acquire them.

Hyacinth in the herb garden brighten my way to the back door.

                                                             

Thanks to
   Words From the Heart

for the poem

Worst Fears Realized ... A Hefty Dose of Snow and Ice in March

Frosted hyacinth are a normal sight after a mild winter, early spring and a late-winter storm.

This storm is to be the biggest of the 2011-2012 winter season. The high spots in the state will receive up to a couple of feet of snow; our more northern, but lower-elevation, spot will certainly get its share of wind and weather.

Yesterday dawned brilliantly with clear skies, warmish temperatures and calm air.  

But our complacency was short-lived. By mid-morning yesterday, wind-blown dust and dirt found every crevice and fold in our clothes, hair and skin. This morning, venturing out was for the sturdy souls among us. Dirt and dust continued to obscure the horizon, with colder temperatures and a spattering of rain on the windshield.

Do the little apricot blossoms stand a chance?

This is why apricots seldom produce fruits in our area. The fragile, hopeful blossoms are all too often slapped asunder by cruel, late-winter storms.

The grape hyacinth don't mind at all, however, and will be springing back to life after shaking off this small irritation. Of course, their reproductive cycle does not include producing edible fruits.

The regular hyacinth, too, will be just fine.

The snow level in Northern Arizona will drop to elevations of 3,000 feet tonight; already elevations of 7,000 feet have a couple of feet of snow. Northern Arizona University canceled classes for tomorrow, and we here in the extreme north-eastern corner of the state, at a mile high in elevation, will hunker down and continue to wait for spring.

The garden bench offers little invitation today.

Fresh green iris and grape hyacinth foliage offer a tantalizing suggestion of hope through an otherwise completely dreary front window view.