Draughts of fragrance

It was almost warm today. As I walked around doing errands, I kept getting hits of a powerfully heady floral scent; it came from many profusely blooming shrubs of a daphne variety, I think it's called daphne odorata, or something similar. It's unprepossessing in appearance, but it's evergreen and hardy. It produces big shiny black berries in late summer that you want to keep away from kids, since they're toxic. Its blossoms are delicately tinted little dark rose, pink and white clumps at the end of the branches. The scent is almost intoxicating, especially after so many weeks of unpleasantness. The pedestrian could be excused for dashing around looking for more of them.
That big spooky house off the alley has had a bumper crop of snowdrops, and now the fawn lily leaves are starting to come up. I saw the owner out in her yard, and she looked like a regular little old lady. The house suggests inhabitance by someone more menacing.
Angela Carter spent a fair amount of time in Japan in the 1970's. Her observations are still kind of alarming to me, and I wonder how much Japanese taste in say, evening diversions for businessmen or adult comics has changed.