a fading smell

 My lilac bush is starting to fade

    The petals are dropping and the scent isn't as strong tonight.  (Actually, people say the same thing about me.)

    There are two smells that make me happy.  Surprisingly, none are coffee, wine, tea or donuts.  

    I love the smell of lilac and lavender.  

    Every time I see a lilac bush I try to take a sniff or two.  I have planted lavender around the house, and when I weed those areas I love to breathe deeply.  The scents just relax me.

    Jackie and I used to to to Mackinaw, Mackinac, or whatever you call it Island at the end of the school year.  We would pack up  our classrooms, pack up our suitcases, throw a bike or two in the van, and head for the island.

    Usually it was just before the Lilac Festival and the lilacs were in full bloom.  The smell was hypnotic.

    We would sit on the porch of the Metevier Inn and have some tea, listen to the horses clip-clop down the street and enjoy the smell of lilacs.  Of course, I also enjoyed fudge and ice cream, but it was the lilacs that made it perfect, or close to it.

    I think the last time we went was 2008, maybe 2009,  Teachers at Tilton gave me a special bottle of wine as a retirement gift, and I waited for a special occasion to open it.

    I took it to the island, opened it, and over two nights enjoyed a very nice wine.  That was such a remarkable gift.

    I have always wanted to see the lavender fields in bloom in France.  The flowers and the smell would probably put me in a semi coma.

    Since I don't plan on going either place again, I will just have to be content with smells fron nearby.

    Maybe I can find a lilac candle?  

    That might be something I would like.

Peace and Love