Lilacs and Springtime and Time Travel

My favorite flower happens to be the Lilac. It reminds me of when I was little. Before my dad passed away, before my world became more than just our family, when I was still a little girl wanting nothing more than to play outside.

Growing up we had two lilac trees in our yard. They were purple and we'd always know when spring was finally here when they began to blossom. That also meant that summer break was coming and dad would have the baseball game on the radio, the riding lawn mower going, and a cold PBR in his hand.

The smell of lilacs also reminds me of my mother. She was always busy cleaning or cooking or canning. Or taking care of the horses. In my world she knew everything and could do everything. She never got tired. In the summer she was always so tan, except her feet. While you couldn't keep shoes on my brother or me, my mother always wore socks and shoes and on the rare occasion she did take them off her feet were so white in comparison to how tan she was everywhere else.

I remember her boiling water and washing dishes in a five gallon bucket while my dad worked on building the addition on our house. After the house was built, she refused to ever go camping because she said she had had enough of camping while the house was being worked on.

I sit here while the baby naps, writing this as I listen to the birds sing outside and smell the Lilac in my wax warmer. If I closed my eyes I could almost be there, in our old house with the blue carpets and kitchen window looking out onto the front yard. Isn't it amazing how one smell and a bird song will make you time travel?