A Time for Peonies

Tulips are my favorite flower, until peony season begins. Last year T planted a pretty pink peony bush in the sandy soil next to our garage. Our yard is home to most of the ants living in Minnesota, and we'd always heard that peonies and ants enjoy a symbiotic relationship. We were rewarded last week with multiple bright blooms that made our yard and house smell like heaven's garden.

Winter is my favorite season until summer begins, and summer is my favorite season until fall. And so it goes. I suppose there is something to be said for loving the one you are with. Today, we are with peonies and summer. Tomorrow? I'll probably tell you that flowering chives and basil gone to seed are my favorite.

Yesterday I got the syllabus for my final grad school seminar.  Class starts next week.  It has been quite a wild ride, and seeing a completion date on my calendar is a little awing.  That end date also notes a beginning, and a new (likely wonderful!) journey.  The ending of one trek ties neatly to the beginning of another.  That's why I've always loved the word commencement, so loaded with emotion and opportunity and hope.