The lavender lingers on my sloping hillside, autumn rain running in rivulets between the dying leaves.
At summer’s peak, the purple flowers tantalized the bees and butterflies and me, the glorious scent perfuming the air of evening and morning both.
No lambs frolicked in the lavender this year, but maybe someday a friend’s weanlings will lie in the hot sun, their tails flicking, noses pressed to the mauve blossoms, savoring the taste of this ancient nard.
Like the lambs, I the cook nibble the petals, stripping the stems with my teeth. For some more regal specimens, destiny calls and shows the way: their fate rests in … Madeleines. (Try this recipe from LA Magazine.)
[Once again, I must thank the marvelous photographers over at Flickr who share their photos via a Creative Commons license. What a pleasure it is to look at these glimpses into the beauty of our world, out there for us to see every day. Note: I just bought a new “real” camera and hope to share more of my own photos here soon. Must warn you, though, that my learning curve is a bit steep after being basically a “point-and-shoot” kinda photographer for so long.]
CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN 
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