Friday, May 14, 2010

The signs of summer

Call me weird but I associate season change with certain smells.

Fall, my favorite season has a smell of dry, crisp leaves and fire wood smoke. The day I walk out of my home and smell those sweet scents traveling the wind hand in hand, my heart sings the earth's praises!

The scents of winter is the rich burning of fire wood, and crisp air. It fills my senses with a solemn and reflective state of mind that I enjoy so much.

Spring's scent is new, fresh, life. It's that one day after a good rain when you walk outside and just smell "spring". The smell of dew introducing itself to the newly budding trees, fresh uncut grass, tulips and lavendar. The smell of spring fills my heart with joy, wonderment and it gets me revved up for the all opportunities that will quickly spring forward.

And then, there's Summer. Maybe I have given summer a bad rap, but who could blame me?! The summer I know translates into unpleasant smells: burning flesh, stinky sunscreen and aloe. I am transparent, I am so pale I make porcelain dolls look good. I burn in the shade. Even the mere thought of "sun" causes me to burn, so I have chosen not to associate good smells with summer. That is until I had a child. I finally decided to look at summer in a different light and appreciate the hot and hazy climate, because it brings my son so much joy and so many memories have been made over the long dog days of summer.

I know summer is approaching when the sun stays out longer than my son's bedtime. Summer is here when Deacon begins to "glisten" and the tips of his hair are wet from his hard play of kicking the soccer ball and swinging his baseball bat. "Summer knees" is also a tell tale sign of my new found appreciation of the season. The knees that remain slightly dirty and scraped, no matter how long you scrub in the tub or prevent future scrapes with band-aids--it is the mark of fun and fancy-free.

Here is random list of other things Deacon has taught me to appreciate about summer: Bubbles. Lemonade. Strawberries and whip cream. Firing up the grill and having cookouts on a weekly basis. the garden hose.

The way the mulch, dirt and grass clippings stick to your feet after watering our plants.

long, late walks to the park.

sun-kissed cheeks.

kid sun-glasses.

Oddly, I have also learned to LOVE the smell of sun screen--it just smells better on Deacon than on me!

Stained teeth with the flavor-ice we had at dinner.

Summer is a new found friend, and I look forward to creating new memories with my family this year!

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