Everything drips from rain in the wee hours. I notice that the white lilac at the woods’ edge is blooming again, and ...

Everything drips from rain in the wee hours. I notice that the white lilac at the woods’ edge is blooming again, and more vigorously then it did in the spring, before months of assault from whatever disease has been decimating its leaves. There’s an almost ghostly presence to these new white inflorescences, appearing alongside a flush of fresh green.