June

My favourite thing about June, other than the approaching end of school lunches, is the explosion of roses in my garden. Depending on the fickleness of Ottawa weather, they can last for most of the month or be gone in a week. Many of them I started from cuttings from my grandparents' farm in Nova Scotia -- seeing them in bloom is a fleeting reminder of childhood, as intangible as a wisp of fragrance on a cool breeze or as heavy and cloying as rose perfume on a humid day.

The open spaces of my childhood seem a lifetime away, living in downtown Ottawa, but if I close my eyes and breathe deeply enough I can be transported.