Spring.

There were peonies on sale at the market last Thursday. Five stems for $10. I adore this flower with its lovely but subtle scent. Soft beyond softness, like moths' wings, as if they would disintegrate when you touched them, but they do not. A slice shy of a solid sphere that is anything but solid. Get your fingers in the petals, find how much space is there, more than between your fingers in your hair, more than cotton candy, it's almost all air. It's the paradox of the thing that gets me. Nothing at all about it makes it more special than other flowers, but it remains my favorite.

I have never bought any peonies. Aside from the bush in my childhood friend's backyard, only my eyes have consumed them in farmers' markets and flower shops. They have to support their demanding maintenance with but a month of blossom production and so are far outside my normal budget for bouquets, not that it's ever preplanned. Having pined for a vase full of peonies for so long, I wonder whether they might be worth even more than ten dollars to me now.

1. Belle & Sebastian, Mayfly
2. the Association, Along Comes Mary
3. Architecture in Helsinki, Spring 2008
4. Red House Painters, I Feel the Rain Fall
5. Rogue Wave, Falcon Settles Me
6. John Coltrane, After the Rain
7. R.E.M., Sitting Still
8. Nada Surf, Happy Kid
9. John Vanderslice, Wild Strawberries
10. Joanna Newsom, Peach, Plum, Pear
11. Jethro Tull, Songs from the Wood
12. Jeff Buckley (James Alan Shelton), Lilac Wine
13. the Arrogants, Butterflies
14. Eric's Trip, May 11
15. Animal Collective, Grass
16. Air, Cherry Blossom Girl
17. Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Beast for Thee
18. My Morning Jacket, Just One Thing
19. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Cherry Lane
20. Bill Evans Trio, Spring is Here
21. Iron & Wine, Promising Light
22. Jolie Holland, Springtime Can Kill You