Scents of childhood

By all accounts it will yet be another hot day here. What used to be the exception of hot summer days, is now quickly becoming the norm. The heat, the bright skies, the sun, the pool and the flowers all take me back to my childhood that was spent in the summertime either at the seaside or in our backyard pool. So, as it turns out, hot summers are a point of comfort. This morning I started thinking back on how much quiet time I spent as a child. Sure, I would of course hang out with my younger brother and sisters in the pool and backyard, but I spent a lot of time alone. Time spent reading, exploring the flowers and plants in our backyard, listening to the birds early in the morning, smelling the air and feeling the comfort of the dew wet grass under my feet, full of ladybugs, and butterflies and bees, as our lawn was strewn with daisies. I would collect daisies and put them in my little plastic wallet. They are still one of my favorite wild flowers, as Michael knows. I love it when he picks them for me on his way home, from the side of the road. I have some sitting on my table right now he brought home last week. As a child I was fascinated with textures. The texture of a blade of grass, a flower petal, the skin of a wet frog, the touch of a butterfly wing, the texture of a favorite sweater, or little leather purse. I suppose that tactile delight still shows in my love for doing tapestries these days. I was also fascinated with scents, the smell of spices, of honeysuckle, of a rose, of my mother's many expensive French perfume bottles I would sneak in to secretly smell. To this day I love fragrant shower soaps, and treasure my few French perfumes myself, my most favorite being the powder soft and sensual Anais perfume made by Cacharel, a perfume I first wore when I went to Kinshasa. So, now, it always reminds me of the exotic experience of my trip to the heart of Africa. Good fragrances make me feel more in tune with the things around me, and they also delight me. Food that cooks rich with spices, a casserole, or BBQ., a pie, a piece of ripe mango or peach, or pineapple. So many things to delight the senses. I think that is why I love summer. Even the air and water smell good to me. People smell good, fresh from the water, the pool or the ocean, smelling of heat and salt, I love that sensual quality of summer. I have always liked incense and fragrant candles. Incense of course, I first smelled in church during Catholic mass growing up, and over time, incense became popular during the sixties and seventies, and I love it still, its quiet, strong fragrance now available in dozens of scents.Then there are the candles of lavender and cedar wood, vanilla and rose. We have a candle lit on our dinner table every day of the year. Ah, summer, the time of year we feel 21 again, as the sun tans our faces and makes us feel young again in body and heart. Summer seems to loop time for me back to the beginning, when I was a child, when time was endless and all around you, not linear and tied to adult schedules. It is lunch time here,  I think I will eat a great smelling, crunchy apple with some whole grain toast with sweet smelling honey and a glass of  rich smelling creamy milk. I love honey, and it delights me to no end that we have so many flowers for the bees to enjoy and pollinate. When I water the garden in the mornings or at night, I love hearing the bees buzz by as I water our sunflowers and Morning Glory and sweet peas, and I smile at seeing the bees covered in golden yellow pollen, and I am grateful that my heart can still thrill at the sight of such simple yet deeply satisfying pleasures.