Lilacs in April

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
—T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land, 1922
(One hundred years after publication)

A bi-coastal moment. The lilacs bloom this month in the mountains of San Diego County. I recall, as a child driving past Lake Henshaw on the way to Anza Borrego. Likely it was April when we’d stop to see the lilacs blooming. I’ve wondered if they are still there. There’s a celebration of lilacs this month in Julian and a Lilac Festival May 1. Perhaps I’ll go.

Lilacs in A Window, Mary Cassatt, 1880

Lilacs bloom at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston in May and they offer Lilac Tours. When we lived in Massachusetts many years ago, there was Lilac Sunday in mid-May and also the large lilacs planted in our yard by a previous owner.