in praise of variants

After a week of seeing only lilac-colored lilacs, these dark purple panicles almost made me veer off the road. Don’t worry, I did not steal them from someones yard, I stole them from my grocery store parking lot..but not in front of the store––these were not intentional landscaping––but back behind the store where the delivery trucks unload. It’s hard to believe these dark beauties were stuck in such an unbecoming location. I guess we can’t choose when or where we are born. But we can make the most of it.

dark purple lilacs (Syringa vulgaris)