A kind relative alerted me the date. April 17th is International Haiku Poetry Day. So here is a haiku — written off the cuff as I always feel haiku should be (but which I don’t always achieve).
Blue skies and bright sun
Lilacs a little early
Yes! Spring is springing
(The photo is from a few days ago. The sky is blue and the sun is shining today.)
FYI – The Vienna City Marathon is on Sunday. Stand by for the usual report (which, however, due to circumstances, will probably be shorter than usual).
Twice in one year, but they have been flirting with us. After my near rapturous post on May 26, the scent faded again. Then it would appear and disappear. Just Monday, a friend commented that it was a wonderful year for roses, and I said, rather sadly, “But not for the linden trees.”
This morning I was taking my usual walk in the park and was overwhelmed with the scent. They’re back in full force, and I am basking in the fragrance.
A little later this year than last, which I think is a good thing. I caught a faint whiff this morning and by this evening they were as noticeable as ever. Ah, May!
The last two mornings I got the faintest whiff and thought I was imagining it because it is very early. This morning, it was clear — the linden trees are flowering again and the air is full of the sweet tantalizing scent.
Since I like to check my perceptions, I decided to go back and see if it really is so early or whether I was making that up. Here are the dates of my previous posts about the linden trees:
Two days ago I caught a whiff of a sweet fragrance as we set out on our morning dog walk. Yesterday it was clear it was the linden blossoms of one particular tree that gets a lot of sun. Today it reminded to let you know — it must be June, the linden trees are out.
Every year the MA 42 (the “Magistratsabteiling” of the City of Vienna responsible for public parks and gardens) choose certain mixtures of flowers that they plant everywhere. The daffodils and red tulips are gone, but these have come out. I have no idea what they are (I am the kind person who is happy to work in a garden as long as someone else tells me what to do), but they are tall (about a foot and a half) and look like something out of Dr. Seuss, if you ask me. Fun.
Today we carried on with the second half of Trail 18 and more than all of Trail 19 (we missed a sign and probably went about 2 kms out of our way). And today I have photos! 🙂
It was a beautiful sunny day (although with such a wind that a friend sent a message: “Hopefully you will not get blown away!”) with beautiful flowers (see above), including lots of elderflowers (visible on the left of the photo below), which my hiking partner collected to make syrup, and some interesting wildlife. We saw a bird that neither of us had ever seen before and I couldn’t find in my field guide and which I think may, in fact, be a pet that escaped and is now living it up in the fields of the 22nd district. In shape it had some similarities to a dove but was much larger, had bright blue markings on its head, and interesting black and white striping on its tail. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.
We were still in a very flat part of Vienna with scattered small bodies of water. It is still quite rural (see below) and had horses! As with other parts of the Rundumadum trail, I was amazed to see food being grown on a relatively large scale (the 10th district also has proper fields with grain and vegetables). From the underground train you can see extensive greenhouses and the paths we took today were almost all through open fields. Really extraordinary for a city of almost two million people. Long may it last.
This was such a nice stretch that I would like to come back and perhaps even swim in the Süßenbrunner Teiche (ponds).
This afternoon I caught my first whiff of the linden trees in blossom. They’re late this year, but then we have had a cool spring (thank goodness, in my book).
ecbinvienna 