Hyacinth Days

You are looking at Madeline Rose Rice, who nearly jumped out of her fur last evening when a stranger came to the door, followed a few minutes later by a fierce thunderstorm. Maddie returned hours later from hiding under a bed, still slinking slowly around the house. She eventually assumed her usual postion of curling up on my chest and sticking her face into my neck after visitor and storm had gone.

My plant collection, which consists only of an oak leaf acquired in Virginia during a backpacking trip to the Appalachian Trail in 2001, was enlarged this weekend with the addition of a bunch of hyacinth from the Washington Street wilds of Champaign. The hyacinth is in a vase, with hopes that Maddie will not eat it. The plant will be preserved as a reminder of a great day.