Sharing Early Literacy Learning Journeys

Lilacs are prolific this spring.
Woodlands, roadsides and edges of fields are dotted with dark-lilac lilacs,
light-lilac lilacs and bright-white lilacs.

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White lilacs? I’ve only just learned of white lilacs.

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In nearby woodlands, I wander on paths edged with fragrant lilacs.
I’m reminded of  Anne of Green Gables, one of my favourite children’s books.
I wonder aloud,
“What would Anne have called this path?”

Would Anne call it,  “Lilac Lane?” No. Too ordinary, like Diana’s Birch Path.

Lovers’ Lane… of Lilacs? No. She has a Lovers’ Lane already.

Lovely Lane of Lilacs? No. Lovely is not specific enough. But loveliest?

Loveliest Lilac Lane? No.

Luscious Lilac Lane? It’s a luscious fragrance that wafts by. Anne didn’t use ‘luscious’ – but she she learned  ‘scrumptious’ the day of the picnic.

Lavish Lilac Lane? Luxurious? Luxuriant?  No. But. lilacs are plentiful, pretty and pleasantly perfumed…

Longing lilacs? or Lingering lilacs?

Linger. Lilacs linger – especially in warm, spring weather. The fragrance lingers. And certainly Anne likes to linger…

Yes. That’s it… Anne may have called this path, Lane of Lingering Lilacs.

What do you think?

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What do you think Anne would have called the lilac framed path?

Montgomery, L. M. (1908). Anne of Green Gables.  Toronto: McClelland and Stewart-Bantam (Seal Books).

“Spring had come once more to Green Gables – the beautiful, capricious, reluctant Canadian spring, lingering along through April and May in a succession of sweet, fresh, chilly days, with pink sunsets and miracles of resurrection and growth”  wrote Lucy Maud Montgomery (1908, p. 160) in Anne of Green Gables  – one of my favourite childhood books that I still read and enjoy today.

After a cool, capricious and certainly reluctant Canadian spring…

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we now have Anne’s ’empurpled’ violets…

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‘grass scattered with dandelions…’

Apple blossom

apple trees ‘showered over with blossoms’

Lily-of-the-valley

‘wild lilies-of-the-valley…’

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and one flower she doesn’t mention: the pretty purple-blue periwinkle.

Later in the book Montgomery says,  “… and then, almost before Anne realized it, spring had come again to Green Gables and all the world was abloom once more” (p.246).

Happily, now, at the end of May, I can also say, “Spring has come once more…”

Montgomery, L. M. (1908). Anne of Green Gables. Toronto: McClelland
and Stewart-Bantam (Seal Books).

After the rain,

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the dandelions’ delicate ‘fluff’ disappears
leaving a definite structure to admire…

My great escape is…

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 a morning walk on a freshly washed beach
to see a sea of blue

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or a slow saunter in the woods
to see a sea of green…

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and with camera in hand
there are always surprises.

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Two tall tulips

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Two turtles talking, on a tyre

Patterns here, patterns there,
Patterns, patterns everywhere.
Patterns in nature and patterns man-made with care.

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I like the simple 4 leaf pattern on this plant…

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and the circular leaf pattern on this plant.
Are you tempted to count the leaves?

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A fascinating, tightly structured pattern on a… Travellers Palm
which is not a palm
– but Ravenala madagascariensis
and related to the banana plant.

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This man-made pattern of pavers and stones appeals for its
simple design, stark colours and contrasting textures.

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And now… take a welcome rest on this solid, wooden bench
with its gently curved patterns and symmetry.

A sunny morning walk from a pond at the edge of a woods… across a gravel road… towards a lake, reveals spring contrasts and camouflage…

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My dark, shiny shell contrasts with the grey/white gravel.

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A tulip stands alone, in new,
green growth on the forest floor.

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Bright, yellow daffodils dazzle midst old, brown cattails.

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Green and white trilliums make a spectacular ground
cover in contrast to the brown earth and rotting leaves.

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A motionless green and brown Leopard Frog is cleverly camouflaged
against old, beige grass of winter and new, green grass of spring .

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I bask in warm, morning sun on an old, black tyre by a dock.

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I stretch my neck as far as I can above the surface to see
if another Midland Painted turtle is nearby in the lake.

Today I feel like Heidi may have felt when she discovered masses of wild flowers in the Alps – except I am in the woods when I come across masses of trilliums.

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Trillions of trilliums!

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One superbly formed flower… after another…

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But I don’t ‘gather great handfuls of flowers and
stuff them all into my apron’ 
like Heidi.

Instead, I photograph the brilliant white trilliums.

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When I get home, I learn three very good reasons for not gathering the wild flowers. One, trilliums bloom in April/May – a short time to enjoy their beauty. Two, a trillium takes up to 11 years to … (read more)

The trillium is Ontario’s Provincial flower or ‘floral emblem’.

Spyri, Johanna. (No date). Heidi: A Story for Children. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.