Nothing happened this past summer. Only that, in the hot sun from time to time, a brief thought would appear and disappear around me. That thought was closer to me than any of the flowers in the shop. Even as I tried to capture the thought on paper, the heat would exhaust me and I’d give up. There were plenty of things I gave up on, using the heat as an excuse. Which means I spent this past summer repeatedly deciding to do things and then giving up on them. As if my life were an exhibition of how good I am at giving up. It was that kind of summer.
Sweet violets for February! Violets are edible and were a popular flavor in the late 1800s. Today they've gone out of fashion, and instead flavors like vanilla fill up our flavor palate. Violet pastilles were first made by the Monks of Benedictine, in France. Today a 9th century recipe is still used to create these pastilles.