Bliss

The peonies in my yard are so gorgeous and fragrant this year that I feel I don't fully deserve them in my life. We're in the middle of an awful storm -- we spent the entire afternoon yesterday in the basement during five consecutive tornado warnings -- and today it's raining like nobody's business. Peonies are hardy but sensitive creatures, their giant blooms already nearly too heavy for the plant supporting them, so I worried they might not make it through the storm. I ran out in the rain and clipped six or eight more blossoms, putting them in little vases around the house. I played with the "curves" of this image in PhotoShop until the background didn't show. She deserves nothing less.