The weather was kind to us from beginning to end. When we arrived in Boston the rain had stopped and the air was hot and humid. Andy was following the progress of the storms in Albany ~ eyeing something about a Bow-flex or Bow-echo or bow-and-arrow ~ I was just thankful to be far from the meteorological madness. The sun would smile upon us for most of our weekend, and the rain would hold off until the very last moment we were leaving. The previous few days of high heat had brought out every possible spring bloom that might have been hesitant to let go, and we arrived to a city filled with flowers at the height of their beauty.
Andy was fighting off a sore throat and fever, but he powered his way through it like a trooper. I’m grateful for that, because with all the changes that this year brings (we’ll be holding off on our annual Ogunquit trip until September) I didn’t want to forsake our anniversary tradition in Boston.
We were there, once again, at the perfect time: everything was in bloom. The daffodils were just finishing up, the tulips were in their splendor, and the apple and cherry blossoms hung from every branch. American dogwood blooms (or bracts as the case may be) fluttered like white and pink butterflies on their bare branches.
Even the vinca was throwing its small purple stars out from its glossy groundcover base. A new variety of bleeding heart, with this magnificent chartreuse foliage to set off the pink, heart-shaped blooms, was a lovely surprise along the Southwest Corridor Park.
Most thrilling for us, and we paused significantly in our various strolls to make them matter, were the lilacs. We will miss them in Maine this spring, and seeing them here was enough to conjure a new happy memory. We pulled a branch down to our noses and inhaled the signature scent of spring and the summer to come.
I’d padded our weekend with a few moments of rest, which we elongated for Andy’s recuperation. To be honest, I find myself enjoying an afternoon siesta more and more as the years go by, and in the condo, as the sun streams in from 3 PM onward, there is no better place to rest and relax.
Our anniversary weekend had begun in beautiful fashion…
