who moves in the forest leaving no scent

The less said about this past weekend, the better, really. It was too hot. We spent most of one day helping an old Lady dog on her last journey, and then condoling with the one who had to go home without her.

People have said to me, 'but you've done this so many times,' as though somehow it becomes easier with practice. It does not.

But enough. Here are my tiger lilies.



They are taller now than they were the last time I wrote about them. Nearly four feet tall, in fact, but they haven't really required staking. They have been blooming a few days, but have opened by degrees, one set of petals peeling back to reveal another bud, and then another, five flowers stacked together, each just slightly askew from the one before, until at last the stamens are revealed. If you look closely at the photo, you can see a couple of blossoms still in the process.

George Oppen