I very nearly called this blog Loaves and Hyacinths, after the proverb sometimes attributed to the Chinese and sometimes to the Persians:
If you have two loaves, sell one and buy a hyacinth, for it will feed your soul.
This is the right season for hyacinths and I’m reminded of that proverb every time I walk into my bedroom, where a large white hyacinth takes pride of place on my bedside table. The individual flowers are beautiful: waxy and symmetrical. I like the way each flower head is made up of so many of those individual neat little flowers that the whole thing becomes a magnificent production.
And the scent is intoxicating. I’m aware of it even while I’m sleeping: heavy and heady, just three flower heads perfuming the whole room.
I can’t help but be optimistic when faced with daily evidence of how extravagant nature can be.
