The Tulip Season

The tulips arrived from the market this week. Pale, upright, not yet fully open — the kind that take a few days to find themselves in a room.

They went straight into the cast iron vases. It was not a considered decision. It simply felt right — the weight and darkness of the iron against the delicacy of the blooms, the rough texture of the metal against petals that are almost translucent in the morning light…