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Beatrice Emma Parsons (1869-1955)
The Smell of Summer
Pencil and watercolour heightened with white
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While some might label themselves visual – needing to see
something to understand it – I consider myself an “olfactory” person, meaning
my sense of smell is strong and has the power to create moods, transport me to
another time and place and generate certain emotions.
I know that summer has really arrived when I smell it.
For me it’s not barbeque grills, suntan lotion or even freshly mown grass.
It’s the scents of nature, the smell of the soil and the
atmosphere.
Early morning smells are different from those of
midafternoon, and different still from the evening scents.
I walk outdoors in the early morning and breathe in the damp,
almost musty smell of the earth awakening from a restful sleep, the lingering
scent of dew on foliage.
By midday the smell of the heat takes center stage, as
dry, humid air has a scent all its own. Then, as night approaches, sweet scents
of night blooming flowers – honeysuckle, flowering tobacco, evening primrose –
woo the olfactory sense.
The sounds of summer also are special. Who can resist
listening to the crickets, frogs and night-singing Mockingbird? But it’s the scents
that best define the season for me.
Smelling the Abelia bush in bloom takes me back to late
summer afternoons on my grandmother’s porch. Honeysuckle evokes memories of
rides down country lanes in late afternoon with the car windows down, wind on my face.
Freshly
plowed plots remind me of daddy’s vegetable garden; I smell the earth and see
him there, hoe in hand, carefully checking the progress of his tomatoes.
Summer has a special meaning for most people, defined by vacations,
the beach, suntans, swimming, picnics and the like. But give me the scents of
summer and my memory bank allows me to travel to places and people I shall never
see again.
Sweet scents and sweet memories.
Oh yes, I think the sense of smell brings wonderful memories. Sometimes I am caught by surprise at the nostalgia experienced in the sudden scent of a long-forgotten plant, or the particular air on a mountain, or a stream. Old thoughts from childhood can come tumbling back just from the smells of nature. A lovely illustration for a lovely post, Sanda.
ReplyDeleteI thought that painting was nice! And the title fit perfectly for the post. Well, I forgot to mention the smell of a summer rain! Is anything better than that?
DeleteAlthough I am more a visual person sometimes I'll catch the scent of something that sparks a memory too. I imaging your garden is such a pleasure to wander through.
ReplyDeleteDarla
We are having lots of rain again, so everything is growing lush. The weeds, too!
DeleteYou describe the smells/scents of a garden perfectly.Cricket on village greens hearing the crack of "leather on willow" the men in white makes me very nostalgic,the long evening shadows thrown over the lawns,the scent of Stocks,heady scent of wild honeysuckle in the old hedgerows,beautiful Summer days........
ReplyDeleteAh, the scent of stocks! I do love that smell and the plants are so beautiful. Unfortunately, we cannot grow them where I live. I have started them from seed in past years, only to see them wither in our hot and humid summers. You get a few weeks pleasure from them in spring if you start them early enough, which is well worth the effort for the scent.
DeleteStumbled across your blog and was drawn in by this post. Very soothing and playfully nostalgic! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, Mike. Please visit again!
DeleteI echo Judith above. You are a storyteller and a smeller ( not knowing if the word exists ).
ReplyDeleteI remember the smell of tomatoes in the greenhouse; so intense, as is the heat in one too.
The smell of the bird-cherrytree is very recognizable.
A horse most certainly smells different in the summer!
Smeller seems like a perfectly good word! I like the smell of greenhouses in general. The damp, moist smell of dirt and things growing. Tomatoes definitely have their own unique scent.
DeleteSanda, what a lovely post. It captures a lot of nostalgia. I love the picture and your descriptions of various scents (I almost said odours but that has a different connotation!). I've read that the sense of smell is in one of the older parts of our brain and this is why smells trigger such strong emotions. Living in a colder climate I don't notice many scents these days - or perhaps my sense of smell is fading with age - but I am enjoying my lavender and the white roses have come out and have a nice scent.
ReplyDeleteHi Shelley, I never thought about it, but perhaps the colder climate does make a difference in scents. Enjoy your lavender and white roses!
ReplyDelete