The Lilac Booth, Part 1

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Speaker 1 Even before Symbiotica became a sponsor on our show, it was already in our cupboard. My wife, the wiser of the two of us, had it stocked up and an easy reach for me.

Speaker 1 Symbiotica makes choosing healthy habits easy, enjoyable, and something that I look forward to. Plus, spring is here and we've got an amazing discount from my friends at Symbiotica.

Speaker 1 There's no better time to hit refresh on your routines than spring. I've really been loving Symbiotica's Magnesium L3N8.
I take it with my mid-morning cup of tea for a boost in my mood.

Speaker 1 and my focus as I settle into right.

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Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good

Speaker 1 and then you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 Audio Engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 1 We give to a different charity each week, and this week we are giving to the Knuckle Bump Farms Foundation, empowering animals

Speaker 1 and enriching communities.

Speaker 1 You can learn more about them in our show notes.

Speaker 1 In the complex and ever-changing world of podcasting, the most meaningful way

Speaker 1 to help us keep these stories coming,

Speaker 1 if that's something that matters to you, is to become a premium subscriber. It costs about 10 cents a day, and I spent a few minutes trying to figure out what a person could even buy with 10 cents.

Speaker 1 Maybe a single button in a thrift shop?

Speaker 1 Possibly a small piece of candy.

Speaker 1 Even a nail or a screw costs more.

Speaker 1 So it's a small thing,

Speaker 1 but it makes a big difference. And you get a lot for it.
Our entire catalog with no ads.

Speaker 1 Dozens of bonus and extra long episodes with more coming every month.

Speaker 1 If you're interested, there are links in our show notes or head to good old nothingmuchhappens.com.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 here is how you will fall asleep. Just by listening to my voice, by following along with the general shape of the story I have for you.

Speaker 1 We will shift your brain out of its tendency to wander. We'll give it a place to land.

Speaker 1 And each time you listen, you'll train it to respond more quickly and easily.

Speaker 1 The shift from default mode to task positive mode

Speaker 1 will send you on your way to Snoozeville.

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 If you wake later in the night,

Speaker 1 don't hesitate to turn a story back on.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called The Lilac Booth.

Speaker 1 And it's a story about a spring morning at a familiar farmhouse. It's also about bullfrogs.
and garden clogs,

Speaker 1 old faces collected from friends, Armfuls of fresh flowers. Driving with the windows down on a warm day.

Speaker 1 And the small decisions

Speaker 1 that add up

Speaker 1 to a new path in life.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 it's time to rest.

Speaker 1 Devices down

Speaker 1 and lights out.

Speaker 1 Settle as comfortably as you can

Speaker 1 into your bed

Speaker 1 and feel how good it is

Speaker 1 to be about

Speaker 1 to fall asleep.

Speaker 1 You have done

Speaker 1 enough

Speaker 1 for the day.

Speaker 1 Officially, it was enough.

Speaker 1 There's nothing to do now

Speaker 1 but sleep.

Speaker 1 Take a deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and release through your mouth

Speaker 1 one more time, nice and deep.

Speaker 1 Let it all out.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 The lilac booth

Speaker 1 My favorite time of year year was here.

Speaker 1 The short weeks at the end of April and through the beginning of May

Speaker 1 when a step outside my back door

Speaker 1 would deliver me a lungful

Speaker 1 of the sweetest smelling air

Speaker 1 these acres held.

Speaker 1 And that's saying something

Speaker 1 Because life out here

Speaker 1 on the edge of the woods,

Speaker 1 near a creek where bullfrogs jug a rum

Speaker 1 and foxes sleep among the ferns,

Speaker 1 where stars stand out brightly against the midnight sky

Speaker 1 is already

Speaker 1 pretty sweet.

Speaker 1 It's strange

Speaker 1 how a casual left turn down a dirt road

Speaker 1 many years ago

Speaker 1 had led me to this new life.

Speaker 1 I'd been out on a springtime caper

Speaker 1 and I do mean that in the thieving sense of the word

Speaker 1 Listen,

Speaker 1 I return my grocery cart to the corral.

Speaker 1 I don't open other people's mail,

Speaker 1 and I'm more likely to leave a penny than take one.

Speaker 1 But there is one area of my life

Speaker 1 where I have been known

Speaker 1 to be downright criminal.

Speaker 1 I am

Speaker 1 a lilac thief,

Speaker 1 or at least I was when I came to that crossroads

Speaker 1 all those years ago

Speaker 1 and turned.

Speaker 1 If you've ever leaned into a bouquet of lilac blossoms

Speaker 1 and breathed in the incredible scent of them,

Speaker 1 you might understand

Speaker 1 what drove me to pack a pair of garden gloves,

Speaker 1 some snippers, and a basket

Speaker 1 into the back of my getaway car

Speaker 1 and sneak out into the country.

Speaker 1 I had a few favorite spots I'd already hit that day.

Speaker 1 There was a tree behind the library,

Speaker 1 a spot beside the highway,

Speaker 1 and a bush that grew through a fence near my house,

Speaker 1 where I could snag a few blooms.

Speaker 1 But I wanted more.

Speaker 1 Lilacs only bloom once a year,

Speaker 1 and the window is short.

Speaker 1 So I'd driven further out of town,

Speaker 1 taken random turns

Speaker 1 with no plan in mind.

Speaker 1 I remember it was early enough in the spring

Speaker 1 that sunlight still felt like a novelty.

Speaker 1 And I'd had to fumble around in my glove box for some sunglasses.

Speaker 1 I'd rolled my windows down

Speaker 1 and thrust my arm into the breeze.

Speaker 1 I drove past an old abandoned farmhouse

Speaker 1 and saw a whole row of lilac trees lining one side of the yard.

Speaker 1 I craned my neck as I passed,

Speaker 1 trying to spot signs of life.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 no

Speaker 1 the house clearly hadn't had a resident in ages.

Speaker 1 A tree was growing up through part of the front porch,

Speaker 1 and the driveway was full of tumbleweeds and fallen branches.

Speaker 1 But in the same way you can look into a person's eyes

Speaker 1 and fall in love at first sight.

Speaker 1 Something about the house

Speaker 1 called out to me

Speaker 1 as if I'd been there before

Speaker 1 as if I'd finally come home

Speaker 1 and after that first

Speaker 1 timid step onto the drive,

Speaker 1 the first cautious cutting of a lilac stem,

Speaker 1 I came back many times,

Speaker 1 not just to gather flowers,

Speaker 1 but to

Speaker 1 check on the house.

Speaker 1 I wanted to see it in different seasons,

Speaker 1 to watch the leaves fall from its ancient poplar trees.

Speaker 1 In winter, I wanted to see how the snow lay on the roof.

Speaker 1 Once,

Speaker 1 after a heavy rain,

Speaker 1 I came to see if the creek had risen over its banks,

Speaker 1 and it had,

Speaker 1 just by a bit,

Speaker 1 and the sound of the rushing water was louder than I'd ever heard it.

Speaker 1 Then,

Speaker 1 a couple lilac seasons back,

Speaker 1 I was out with my basket

Speaker 1 when I finally bumped into someone,

Speaker 1 a kind, older woman,

Speaker 1 with her hair tied in a scarf

Speaker 1 and the top down on her car

Speaker 1 I'd been caught purple handed

Speaker 1 and she chuckled from the drive

Speaker 1 red-faced I owned up to my thievery

Speaker 1 and apologized

Speaker 1 But she insisted it made her happy

Speaker 1 to know the blooms weren't going to waste.

Speaker 1 She'd inherited the old place and couldn't use it herself.

Speaker 1 Did I know of anyone

Speaker 1 who might be interested in buying?

Speaker 1 I smiled as I thought about that day now.

Speaker 1 It had been a long road,

Speaker 1 but the house had come back to life

Speaker 1 renovations and repairs

Speaker 1 fresh plaster and paint

Speaker 1 I stood in my garden clogs

Speaker 1 in the early morning outside in the yard

Speaker 1 and looked up at the window of my bedroom.

Speaker 1 It was pushed up

Speaker 1 to let in the fresh air

Speaker 1 and the curtain was dancing in the breeze.

Speaker 1 I flexed my hand,

Speaker 1 switching the snippers to the other one, and stretching out my fingers.

Speaker 1 I'd been clipping for a while,

Speaker 1 and still had a ways to go.

Speaker 1 The lilacs were blooming

Speaker 1 all around my little property.

Speaker 1 Since moving in, I'd planted even more bushes and trees.

Speaker 1 I had the classic pale purple flowers,

Speaker 1 the ones you most likely think of when you hear the word lilac,

Speaker 1 but also

Speaker 1 white lilacs,

Speaker 1 wine coloured,

Speaker 1 variegated, deep purple, edged in white,

Speaker 1 blue and even yellow lilacs.

Speaker 1 That variety was called primrose

Speaker 1 and was one of my favorites.

Speaker 1 Several large buckets sat on the back deck,

Speaker 1 already full of clipped blooms.

Speaker 1 But I wanted to fill more

Speaker 1 for this latest lilac project.

Speaker 1 I'd gone from thief to grower,

Speaker 1 even adding signs along the front drive, inviting others to stop and pick some for themselves.

Speaker 1 And now

Speaker 1 I was bringing the lilacs to the people,

Speaker 1 and I was excited.

Speaker 1 I liked having folks stop by to smell the flowers.

Speaker 1 But I wanted to share them with even more people.

Speaker 1 A flower that blooms only once a year,

Speaker 1 and then

Speaker 1 just for a week or two

Speaker 1 teaches you that time is precious,

Speaker 1 but things must be enjoyed

Speaker 1 or lost.

Speaker 1 So I'd booked a booth at the farmer's market for the day,

Speaker 1 and we'd be spreading the love of lilacs with everyone we could.

Speaker 1 I said we

Speaker 1 because thankfully

Speaker 1 I had help for the endeavor.

Speaker 1 The lilac booth was a fundraiser

Speaker 1 for a park project in the village.

Speaker 1 The money raised would help plant milkweed

Speaker 1 and buy sand for puddling spaces

Speaker 1 for monarch butterflies during migration.

Speaker 1 It was for the park across from the elementary school,

Speaker 1 a place I went frequently.

Speaker 1 When I saw a pamphlet about their expansion project,

Speaker 1 the whole idea had come together.

Speaker 1 Volunteers were helping me cut and prepare the lilacs

Speaker 1 and sell them at the market today.

Speaker 1 They were here among the trees with me now.

Speaker 1 The goal was for each person to pick three buckets worth.

Speaker 1 Then we'd load up the van

Speaker 1 and head to the booth before it opened in the late morning.

Speaker 1 We collected scads of donated vases from friends and family,

Speaker 1 and we'd make bouquets of the different colored blooms

Speaker 1 to entice market goers.

Speaker 1 I snipped another branch

Speaker 1 with several clumps of rosy hued flowers,

Speaker 1 and dew fell from the petals and leaves above me,

Speaker 1 giving me a brief shower.

Speaker 1 I chuckled,

Speaker 1 and I thought of how far I'd come from those days

Speaker 1 riding around town,

Speaker 1 swiping stems,

Speaker 1 and how a random turn

Speaker 1 on a country road

Speaker 1 can change your life.

Speaker 1 The lilac booth

Speaker 1 My favorite time of year

Speaker 1 was here

Speaker 1 The short weeks at the end of April

Speaker 1 and through the beginning of May

Speaker 1 when a step outside my back door

Speaker 1 would deliver me a lungful

Speaker 1 of the sweetest smelling air these acres held.

Speaker 1 And that's saying something

Speaker 1 because life out here

Speaker 1 on the edge of the woods,

Speaker 1 near a creek,

Speaker 1 where bullfrogs jugger

Speaker 1 and foxes sleep among the ferns

Speaker 1 where the stars stand out brightly

Speaker 1 against the midnight sky

Speaker 1 is already pretty sweet.

Speaker 1 It's strange

Speaker 1 how a casual left turn down a dirt road

Speaker 1 many years ago

Speaker 1 had led me

Speaker 1 to this new life.

Speaker 1 I'd been out

Speaker 1 on a springtime caper

Speaker 1 And I do mean that

Speaker 1 in the thieving sense of the word.

Speaker 1 Listen

Speaker 1 I return my grocery cart to the corral.

Speaker 1 I don't open other people's mail,

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 I'm more likely to leave a penny than take one.

Speaker 1 But there is one area of my life

Speaker 1 where

Speaker 1 I have been known

Speaker 1 to be downright criminal.

Speaker 1 I

Speaker 1 am a a lilac thief,

Speaker 1 or

Speaker 1 at least I was

Speaker 1 when I came to that crossroads

Speaker 1 all those years ago

Speaker 1 and turned.

Speaker 1 And if you've ever leaned into a bouquet of lilac blossoms

Speaker 1 and breathed in the incredible scent of them.

Speaker 1 You might understand

Speaker 1 what drove me to pack a pair of garden gloves,

Speaker 1 some sniffers,

Speaker 1 and a basket

Speaker 1 into the back of my getaway car

Speaker 1 and sneak out

Speaker 1 into the country.

Speaker 1 I had a few favorite spots

Speaker 1 I'd already hit that day.

Speaker 1 There was the tree

Speaker 1 behind the library,

Speaker 1 a spot beside the highway,

Speaker 1 and a bush that grew through a fence near my house,

Speaker 1 where I could snag a few blooms

Speaker 1 but I wanted more

Speaker 1 Lilacs only bloom

Speaker 1 once a year

Speaker 1 and the window is short

Speaker 1 So I driven

Speaker 1 further out of town

Speaker 1 taking random turns with no plan in mind.

Speaker 1 I remember

Speaker 1 it was early enough in the spring

Speaker 1 that bright sunlight

Speaker 1 still felt like a novelty,

Speaker 1 and I'd had to fumble around in my glove box

Speaker 1 for some sunglasses.

Speaker 1 I'd rolled the windows down

Speaker 1 and thrust my arm into the breeze.

Speaker 1 I drove past

Speaker 1 an old abandoned farmhouse

Speaker 1 And saw a whole row of lilac trees lining one side of the yard.

Speaker 1 I craned my neck as I passed,

Speaker 1 trying to spot signs of life.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 no,

Speaker 1 the house clearly hadn't had a resident in ages.

Speaker 1 A tree was growing up through part of the front porch

Speaker 1 and the driveway was full of tumbleweeds and fallen branches.

Speaker 1 But in the same way

Speaker 1 that you can look into a person's eyes

Speaker 1 and fall in love at first sight

Speaker 1 Something about the house called out to me

Speaker 1 as if I'd been there before,

Speaker 1 as if I'd finally come home.

Speaker 1 And after that first

Speaker 1 timid step onto the drive,

Speaker 1 the first cautious cutting of a lilac stem.

Speaker 1 I came back

Speaker 1 many times,

Speaker 1 not just to gather flowers,

Speaker 1 but to check on the house.

Speaker 1 I wanted to see it in different seasons,

Speaker 1 to watch the leaves fall from its ancient poplar trees.

Speaker 1 In winter I wanted to see

Speaker 1 how the snow lay on the roof.

Speaker 1 And once,

Speaker 1 after a heavy rain,

Speaker 1 I came to see if the creek had risen over its banks.

Speaker 1 It had,

Speaker 1 just by a bit,

Speaker 1 and the sound of the rushing water

Speaker 1 was louder than I'd ever heard it.

Speaker 1 Then,

Speaker 1 a couple lilac seasons back,

Speaker 1 I was out with my basket

Speaker 1 when I finally bumped into someone

Speaker 1 a kind older woman

Speaker 1 with her hair tied in a scarf

Speaker 1 and the top down on her car

Speaker 1 she spotted me with an arm full of flowers

Speaker 1 I'd been caught purple handed

Speaker 1 and she chuckled from the drive.

Speaker 1 Red-faced,

Speaker 1 I owned up to my thievery and apologized.

Speaker 1 But she insisted

Speaker 1 it made her happy to know the blooms weren't going to waste.

Speaker 1 She'd inherited the place and couldn't use it.

Speaker 1 Did I know of anyone who might be interested in buying?

Speaker 1 I smiled as I thought about that day now.

Speaker 1 It had been a long road

Speaker 1 but the house had come back to life

Speaker 1 renovations and repairs

Speaker 1 fresh plaster and paint

Speaker 1 I stood in my garden clogs

Speaker 1 in the early morning

Speaker 1 outside in the yard

Speaker 1 and looked up at the window of my bedroom.

Speaker 1 It was pushed up

Speaker 1 to let in the fresh air,

Speaker 1 and the curtain was dancing in the breeze.

Speaker 1 I flexed my hand,

Speaker 1 switching the snippers to the other one,

Speaker 1 and stretching out my fingers.

Speaker 1 I'd been clipping for a while,

Speaker 1 and still had a ways to go.

Speaker 1 The lilacs were blooming all around my little property

Speaker 1 Since moving in, I'd planted even more bushes and trees.

Speaker 1 I had the classic pale purple flowers,

Speaker 1 the ones you most likely think of

Speaker 1 when you hear the word lilac,

Speaker 1 but also white lilacs,

Speaker 1 coloured,

Speaker 1 variegated, deep purple, edged in white,

Speaker 1 and even yellow lilacs.

Speaker 1 That variety was called primrose

Speaker 1 and was one of my favorites.

Speaker 1 Several large buckets

Speaker 1 sat on the back deck,

Speaker 1 already full of clipped blooms.

Speaker 1 But I wanted to fill a few more

Speaker 1 for this latest lilac project.

Speaker 1 I'd gone from thief to grower,

Speaker 1 even adding signs along the front drive,

Speaker 1 inviting others to stop

Speaker 1 and pick some for themselves.

Speaker 1 Now

Speaker 1 I was bringing the lilacs to the people

Speaker 1 and I was excited.

Speaker 1 I liked having folks stop by

Speaker 1 to smell the lilacs,

Speaker 1 but I wanted to share them

Speaker 1 with even more people.

Speaker 1 a flower that blooms only once a year

Speaker 1 and then

Speaker 1 just for a week or two

Speaker 1 teaches you that time is precious

Speaker 1 that things must be enjoyed or lost

Speaker 1 So I booked a booth at the farmer's market for the day

Speaker 1 and we'd be spreading the love of lilacs

Speaker 1 with everyone we could.

Speaker 1 I said we

Speaker 1 because thankfully I had help for this endeavor.

Speaker 1 The lilac booth was a fundraiser

Speaker 1 for a park project in the village.

Speaker 1 The money raised would help plant milkweed

Speaker 1 and buy sand

Speaker 1 for puddling spaces

Speaker 1 for monarch butterflies during migration.

Speaker 1 It was for the park across from the elementary school,

Speaker 1 a place I went frequently,

Speaker 1 when I saw a pamphlet

Speaker 1 about their expansion project,

Speaker 1 the whole idea had come together.

Speaker 1 Volunteers were helping me cut and prepare the lilacs

Speaker 1 and to sell them at the market to day.

Speaker 1 They were here among the trees with me now.

Speaker 1 The goal was for each person

Speaker 1 to pick three buckets worth.

Speaker 1 Then we'd load up the van

Speaker 1 and head to the booth before it opened in the late morning.

Speaker 1 We'd collected scads of donated vases from friends and family

Speaker 1 And we'd make bouquets of the different coloured blooms

Speaker 1 To entice market goers

Speaker 1 I snipped another long branch

Speaker 1 With several clumps of rosy hued flowers

Speaker 1 And dew

Speaker 1 fell from the petals

Speaker 1 and leaves above me,

Speaker 1 giving me a brief shower.

Speaker 1 I chuckled

Speaker 1 and thought of how far I'd come from those days

Speaker 1 riding around town,

Speaker 1 swiping stems,

Speaker 1 and how a random turn

Speaker 1 on a country road

Speaker 1 can change your life.

Speaker 1 Sweet dreams.