Do the sweet smells of summer carry you back to another place and time?
The heady scents of the tiny rambling roses, honeysuckle, and peonies, bring back memories of summers past. As the flowers bloom, and the lightening bugs appear, we all know summer is really almost here.
If only we could just shake off the lingering, but rare, frosty evenings, in May, and just jump headfirst into June!
The plants and flowers that we all accumulate, whether through purchase at the local nurseries, homegrown in tiny pots, or from ambitious winter sowing, make us eager for spring, warm soil, and flowers blooming.
I love to dream about gardens but am not the best gardener. I hate to weed (Mr. Green Jeans will attest to that!) I have learned a lot over the years. Now that my daughter has her own house, a literal stone’s throw away from mine, we can garden together and egg each other on!
She put in her own little garden by her porch. We drove around the property, searching for just the right rocks for her to make her rock garden. She is far more ambitious than I, (and a lot younger and stronger!), digging holes, putting mulch down, and planting flowers and trees. I am still working on mine and am hoping to catch the elusive groundhog that that probably has his (or her) eye on my newly planted flowers and herbs!
Similar to music being the soundtrack of our lives and memories, scents can bring back things hidden away in the depths of your brain. Scent triggers so many memories.
The other day, I had a less than fresh cantaloupe for my chickens. Even though it had expired, it still retained that sweet melon smell. Every time I cut into one, I am transported back to my childhood summers in Rhinebeck.
The first time I can recall eating cantaloupe, was on the screened-in porch of my grandparents’ summer cottage in upstate NY. A warm and sunny morning in a clearing at the edge of the woods, I loved going to that cottage every year. I can still recall the sound of footsteps walking across the squeaky kitchen linoleum, the smell of the toast in the old-fashioned toaster on top of the stove, and occasionally, music rolling down the mountain as my Great Uncle Henny pounded the keys of his antique pump organ.
Grandma Olga set out a bowl of cereal (probably Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies). with a plate of cut up sweet melon goodness on the side. All was served on her green Jadeite Fire King dishes – those were her cottage dishes. The picnic table was covered with a red checkered, laminated tablecloth, so drips could be wiped right up. Us little kids were not known for our neatness when eating!
Every time I cut into a cantaloupe now, in the past, and forever more, the sweet summer memories of my childhood come flooding back.
What scents and sounds of summer bring back memories for you?
Write in and let us know and maybe we will write about it in an upcoming issue.
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As the hay is being mown, all is well at Mountain Meadows, as we are entering June……
