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Friday, June 14, 2024

Scent of Lilacs in the Air



Now that lilacs are in bloom
She has a bowl of lilacs in her room
And twists one in her fingers while she talks.
T.S. ELIOT


Alas, we have no bowls of lilacs in our house today. We have no lilacs blooming in our garden this year. Our lovely Korean Lilac, which struggled last spring, showed no signs of life when winter was done; we finally cut it down this week. It was a little sad, but we're grateful for all the lilacs in bloom around town. Rick and I went out for a coffee yesterday afternoon (after gardening all morning), and when we stepped outside the café, I caught the scent of lilacs on the breezes. Oh, what a delight.

Lilacs scenting the air reminds me of something I read years ago by Helen Keller, maybe it was in her autobiography. Details are vague in my mind but it was about a time she traveled north by train from her home in southern US, up to Boston. What I never forgot was Helen's description of how the air was so heavy with fragrance where she lived and she noticed how the scent grew less intense the further north she traveled. I was intrigued; I'd never noticed the air where I lived to be scented with the fragrance of flowers - be it lilacs, flowering apple trees, or whatever. In my experience, one always had to bend nose to petals to catch a whiff. 

Perhaps that's why the anecdote stayed with me. I tried to imagine what that must have been like for Helen. Not being able to see or hear, she could smell. How sharp her sense of smell would have been. To think of her noticing the shift in the air, enough to mention it in her writings. And for me, what a wonder to imagine places in this world where the fragrance of flowers is so intense the air is drenched with it. It's an experience foreign to me. Here in northerly Alberta where I live, we get only a few days in a year where we might catch a hint of fragrance when all the trees are blooming. I never take it for granted if I happen to catch May Days or lilacs wafting in the air on a perfect summery day.

Now I wonder what it would be like to live where the fragrance of wisteria drifts wildly on the air, or the lavender in Provence, or roses in Grasse, France. Would it be like walking into a flower shop, but on a grander scale—the air filled with the scent of roses, carnations, heliotrope, lavender, peonies, lily of the valley. Perhaps it gets overpowering. Do people get tired of all that fragrance? Maybe they do, but I hope not.

I was working in the garden yesterday, and my little four-year-old neighbour came over and asked me to pull down a branch on the large lilac tree in her family's front yard. She wanted to smell the lilacs. She then tore off a few sprigs—her mom must have shown her how to twist and pull, for she was quite the expert. She was delighted with her fistful of flowers. I mentioned that she might want to choose sprigs in full bloom rather than the ones still closed up. She took note of that, for she proceeded to identify which ones were in full bloom and described how the shape was different. Smart as whip... and cute as button!

I loved the moment. She probably won't remember it, but I think I'll carry it in my heart's eye for a long while.

Wherever you are today, I hope you'll take time to stop and smell what's scenting your corner of the world, whether lilacs, peonies, roses. Or wildflowers. And whether you catch the scent in the air or you must bend near to get a whiff. Here's to our wonderful sense of smell and all the good things our noses can enjoy on a summery day.


Wishing you a beautiful weekend,
Brenda
Photo Credit:
Image by Pixel2013 from Pixabay


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12 comments:

  1. Oh what a sweet moment with your little neighbor! I think she will remember your wee visit for a long time; she learned something new while doing something she loved. The scent of lilacs years from now while bring the memory back to her:) Precious!

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    1. Hi Kathy, Thanks for letting me know this is you. Perhaps you are right that she will remember the moment when she smells lilacs down the years.

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  2. Oh, this is lovely, Brenda. Our lilacs at home are long gone, but we needed to sniff them closely to capture the scent. I'm writing this from the Dutch city of Leiden where we walked along a cobblestone street today and yesterday and the sweet scent of a jasmine clematis wafted towards us. I took in some deep breaths as we passed. Your little four-year-old neighbour sounds delightful.

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    1. Lorrie, To imagine that you are currently enjoying the scents of Leiden in The Netherlands. How splendid! And to come across a jasmine clematis - oh my - happy to hear you took some deep breaths as you passed. Enjoy your day. Thanks for your note.

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  3. I can't imagine anyone getting tired of sweet scents! In his later years, my husband whose sight was almost gone, used to love the scent of roses. I made sure that he had as many as possible to smell. Lilacs are beautiful, though I have not succeeded in growing one. I'm sorry you lost your special one.

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    1. Malcolm must have loved that. What a wonderful thing you could do for him making sure there were roses around for him to catch the scent in the air.

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  4. Hello Brenda. Oh yes, let's give thanks for our precious gift of smell! What a terrific gift that truly is. I LOVE lilacs with all my heart. Right now, I have three luscious, full bodied pink peonies in a vase on my tiny table. Outside, on a wee strip of grass there is a potted rose plant with gorgeous bright, red roses; a potted mint plant near a pink geranium and hanging from above are brilliantly colored pink petunias. I wish I had space in my apartment for more plants. Anyway, your post is lovely today. Thanks for sharing Enjoy the rest of the sweet weekend. Hugs. Susan

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    1. You have created what sounds like a bit of paradise right where you live. How lovely, Susan! Thanks for your note! xo

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  5. One of my neighbour's had lilacs that bloomed a few weeks ago. They smelled lovely!

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  6. When I was mowing my neighbour's lawn the other week suddenly I was caught off-guard by the scent of lilacs and i remember taking a deep breath and thinking that it's kinda rare to catch their scent on the breeze! I can usually smell our apple blossoms when the tree is blooming but most flowers I think of, as you described, to get close up to get a whiff (or sniff) and then some beauties have hardly any scent at all!! I strolled out at sunrise to enjoy the flowers before our scorching temperatures start. Fast fading peonies due to the heat, tiger lilies, yellow loosestrife, spiderwort, wisteria, and delphinium<3 Today I will thank God for, and focus on my sense of smell!

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    1. I love those 'caught-off-guard" moments when it's for something lovely like catching lilacs on the breeze. You mention your scorching temperatures. Oh my! And we have frost warnings tonight for our area. Fingers crossed our tender plants (just planted annuals) make it through. Thanks, Janet, for stopping by!

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To My Beautiful Readers,

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same. ~ Franz Peter Schubert

Thank you so much for leaving your 'footprint' here in my comment box. I do appreciate you taking a moment to share your thoughts today.

Brenda xo