Lilac - or French Lilac as it is called here, "Flieder" in German - is a shrub or small tree that you can find all over Germany. There, it usually blooms in May and fills the air with its wonderful scent. California is not the best place for lilac - the summers are too hot (at least in many areas) and the winters are too mild. Lilac needs a good and decent winter chill to perform to its full glory.
And still I have lilac in my garden. This year they are doing especiallywell - maybe because we had some pretty cold days in the winter.
I planted this particular one in memory of my dad who passed away in 2014.
He loved lilac. Specifically, he liked the scent of lilac. Whenever he saw a blooming lilac he would go there and put his nose close to the flower, inhaling the typical lilac perfume. Sometimes we would all be in the car - my parents, my brother and I - driving somewhere when he would suddenly stop and jump out of the car. He had seen a lilac by the side of the road and of course! he had to smell it. This didn't happen once but several times. I remember that I felt rather embarrassed as a child about this behavior.
Today, I understand him so much better! I wish he could smell my lilac.
This is one of my fondest memories of my dad. He was a difficult man and we often argued, but the older I get the more important the good memories become - and this is perfectly fine with me. I only wish I had told him how many good memories I have of him.
And since this is a post for Elizabeth's T stands for Tuesday and I'm writing about my dad, I'm sharing a drink my dad often enjoyed - a cold German beer (this picture, however, I had taken in a German restaurant in Manhattan).
