“The Bridge of Flowers” by Phil Billitz (CreateSpace, 91 pages, $24.95).

Phil Billitz of Shelburne Falls published his picture book “The Bridge of Flowers: A Garden of Inspiration” in 2020. At that point, COVID-19 had shut down most local businesses and lives. People were not able to visit the Bridge of Flowers.

His book reminded them that the bridge was still out there, biding its time with beauty while people were restricted to their homes.

Today, the bridge is closed again ... this time for major repairs aimed to keep it going as it nears its 100th birthday as a footbridge in 2029. I didn’t write about Billitz’s book when it first came around, but the author asked me to do so now.

“I figured there are lots of folks missing the bridge and that they might like to have some nice memories on the coffee table,” he suggested.

The book is subtitled “Photography and Gardening Quotations.” The photographs dominate. They are divided into three sections.

“A Walk in the Garden” shows the bridge and its flora from a variety of angles and at different times of year. Although I adore the flowers, I must admit that I am always partial to the way the bridge looks in winter, a portrait in steel and snow.

“The Flowers” features close-ups of many of the colorful blossoms that adorn the bridge in full season. These vibrant geometric images bring the reader closer to the individual blooms than people usually get, reminding us of nature’s infinite creativity.

“The Bridge” shows off another form of geometry, the bridge itself, often pictured from a distance to highlight its graceful curves.

The quotations that accompany the photographs are from a variety of sources, from Rudyard Kipling to Oscar de al Renta. The late fashion designer is quoted as saying he gardens to relax but also uses nature to play with colors as inspiration for his fashion design.

My favorite words are those of Phil Billitz himself. In his introduction, he shares memories of his Great-Aunt Julia in Alabama. Julia was apparently a prolific gardener.

“For Aunt Julia, gardening was an art as well as a necessity,” he writes. “I am sure the vegetable garden was for sustenance, not for a pastime, and took a lot of time and effort. And that the food she put up in mason jars and sealed with paraffin kept her fed through the winter. But the flowers, the wonderful flowers!”

Julia seems to have taught her young grand-nephew the lesson of the 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike, known widely as the Bread and Roses Strike. In a poem about the strike, James Oppenheim wrote, “Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.”

Beauty is in fact a necessity of life. Phil Billitz and his Aunt Julia do well to remind us of that — and to share the loveliness of the local treasure that was (and will be once again) the Bridge of Flowers.

“The Bridge of Flowers” is available locally at A Heart for Art in Shelburne Falls.

Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook writer and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.