The sun hangs low as we skirt fields of sweet corn, green and tall. Past white split-rail fence, horses with soft brown faces buried in grass, the long yellow barn, hay in stalls. Over the bridge spanning the slow Scantic where we waded in secret, scrunching up the hem of our shorts as the cicadas sawed.I notice it the minute we pull out of the airport parking lot and hit the winding back roads. I never recognized it in all the years I lived there, long before I met Meadowlarks and grasshoppers, searing wind and flat plains.
Now, though, it’s immediate, tangible. Moist and hot, dense and fertile. A little bit of farm, a little bit of woods.
The scent of summer, of home.
It smells like hot tar and bicycles with plastic waffle-weave baskets and rainbow daisies, banana seats, tassles twisting from the handlebars like pom poms.
Like the smudgy sweetness of newspaper print on fingertips, pulling the red Radio Flyer door to door, slipping pages under welcome mats.
Like afternoons sprawled on splintery wood, Sun-In and Coppertone SPF 8, Casey Kasem’s Top 40, acrid chlorine on warm skin.
Like mornings in the aluminum rocker with the cracked floral cushions, bare feet brushing astroturf, floorboards creaking, Where the Red Fern Grows.
Like towels heavy on the clothesline, cidery apples melting into the grass, blueberries piled into green cardboard containers on the roadside stand, White Owl cigars, Dad in his driver’s cap on the back deck.
It smells like my wedding day, hot and still, veil clinging to my back, Nana’s Chanel No. 5.
We drive from the airport in light the color of sunflowers, the boys next to windows all the way down. I sit between them in the back seat, my hands on their knees, wind on my face. And my dad brings us home.
Have you ever been transported somewhere by a familiar scent?
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Welcome to Graceful Summer, a link-up community here on Fridays through the end of August. We’re sharing stories about the smaller, quieter moments of summer – will you share yours, too?
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Beautiful imagary, Michelle.
Scents amaze me! How can just one little wiff of something transport you back to a different time. The smell after a good rain always tosses me back into childhood. The smell of something baking brings me comfort, and the smell of skunk makes me automatically angry with my husband…long story involving buying a house with a family of skunks residing under our back porch. Whew! It wasn't pretty.
Hope you are doing well, friend.
Love how scents take us somewhere. The smell of lumber and sawdust always takes me back to when I was a little girl. My dad built a few of the houses we lived in and I love that smell.
The scent of summer. Yes to the Coppertone and Casey Kasem's Top 40 as we spent our days at our lake house. Slamming screen doors, fresh peaches, water skiing, wind whipping my hair in my eyes as I speed across the lake in our boat. I'm there.
Ah…the scent of Jergen's hand lotion…my so sweet Gramma Jessie. She WAS the love of Christ to me. Told me everytime I stayed with her, “Jesus loves YOU!” Can't wait to see her again, on that 'sweet gettin'-up Mornin'!
The skunk story is making me laugh – I think you need to write about that one! 😉
That is very cool, Eileen. I love the sweet smell of sawdust, even though I don't have any particular memories associated with it (except woodshop in junion high – and that's not a good one!).
You brought me right there, too, Renee – thanks for this little peek at life on the lake.
Oh wow, that is a powerful one. Just like Chanel No. 5 and my Nana – she was a fancy one! One day I was walking across the grocery store parking lot and an elderly woman passed by me. I caught a whiff of Chanel No. 5 and it literally stopped me in my tracks, the reminiscence was so strong.
Ahhhh… The scent of summer! The scent of home!
Yes, I know that scent.
Afte spending several years living in Texas, I went back home to South Arkansas to visit my parents, and was overwhelmed by the scent of summer at home!
I stayed out late that night, drinking in the scent of honeysuckle mixed with pine, while listening to the whip-poor-wills and cicadas.
Such a sense of home…of belonging…
Powerful!
I don't know what heaven will be like, but suspect it will be a little like that. I suspect that the God I've never seen face-to-face will be such a familiar friend that it will feel like coming home for the first time…as though I was returning after a long absence…
Scents are intimately linked to emotion and memory, as I discuss in this week's post of how we are made in God's Triune image. Thanks for the great post & for hosting the linkup, & God bless,
Laurie
http://savedbygracebiblestudy.blogspot.com/
Nothing beats the sweet scent of home! A life-long Texan, it means the scent of freshly mown grass, BBQ on the grill, and an occasional afternoon shower that bring out the smell of mint leaves in the garden. There's no place like home!
Good evening girl! I LOVED this post… there's no place like home. Enjoy sister and visit when you can! ~ Blessings and prayers, Amy 🙂
The scent of remembering home! So lovely and I am happy your children can visit home too!
Oh, I LOVE this Michelle. It's like we lived the same life and all those memories came back to me. I wanted to cry. I wonder what the smells will be for our kids. This could be one of my favorites of yours, it moved all my senses.