Lily of the Valley Saturday 2 May 09

Greetings!

I have Lily of the Valley growing in my front yard! For the past several years I've watched as they've multiplied each year, and this year, they're all over the front side garden next to my front stoop. I love the scent!

When I walk past the Lily of the Valley plants, the scent swirls around my feet as I walk by to the front stoop.

I look forward to the Lily of the Valley blooming every year...it's too short a season--they bloom and fade away too quickly, until next year, and next year, there will be more of them.

Besides the Lily of the Valley flowers, there's been a lot of pollen. The pollen is like a green powder that covers every surface. It's rained; the pollen has been washed away; it's come back again.

Another event is happening in the background--the Swine Flu is hanging over the population of the earth as a potential pandemic. Will it happen? Or not?

"We", the population, don't know what's going to happen. We have to wait to see how things evolve. I think that we'll see another mass vaccination of the population in the US--just as soon as the vaccine can be manufactured.

And that's a good thing--we have a reasonable expectation that we won't succumb to a flu pandemic--because we have science to provide us with a solution. Scientists all around the globe are working on vaccines that anticipate how the flu viruses will mutate. The vaccines will protect us, and all the while that we are protected, there's ongoing research to anticipate the next version of the flu.

We live in an age of wonders.

Lila