hyacinth – Miriam Drori, Author

“Yakinton,” said the woman, the only person in the walking group wearing a sun hat.

“Yakinton?” said the boy with headgear slung round his shoulders. “You mean mackintosh?” he said, looking up at the ominous sky.

“Yakinton is what I mean,” said the woman, pointing to a flower with long, curved, interwoven pink leaves. “Yakinton is Hebrew for this flower. You know what it is in English?”

“Yep, hyacinth.”

“Yakinton is hy-yacinth. You hear the connection?”

“Y-yeah,” said the boy with a tone of doubt, after which he promptly covered his ears with the black round disks putting an end to further conversation.

“Youth of today,” said the woman, slowly shaking her head.

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Spring Has Sprung

And everything is good… well almost everything.

Blossom is everywhere.

It’s getting warmer. Warm enough to sit outside in the sun. But not so warm that I search for shade… except on days when it’s extra hot. The weather can’t be trusted at this time of the year, but that gives us variety that vanishes in the summer.

This hyacinth branch was falling off, so it’s now indoors and its fragrance is exquisite. By the way, in Hebrew hyacinth is yakinton, a word that always reminds me of ‘mackintosh’ but actually has the same root as ‘hyacinth.’

I can’t say I’ve started the spring cleaning, but I’ve started thinking about it. Maybe today….

There is one thorn in my rose. Someone I see regularly has decided to stop talking to me and I have no idea why. (It’s OK – she’s very unlikely to see this blog.) I wonder what’s the best response to it. I could write to her and explain how I feel. I could talk to her normally and pretend to ignore her curt behaviour. What do you suggest?