Peaceful Fragrance
** Written in spring 2018, but never published**
Watering a few plants around my yard I'm deep in thought about my work to-do list, which is growing deeper and wider by the minute, and my family calendar of upcoming events. Mentally chronicling my day with most urgent to things I can do tonight, my heart rate beat faster than the water pouring from my hose -
then suddenly, there it was
a smell in the air hijacked my thoughts. It was a gardenia.
My husband and I have owned three houses in our married life and every one of them have faced west. What this means (to all you non-valley folks) is that there is not one part of my front or back yard that does not suffer the cruelty of our three-digit summer temperature. Flowers like geraniums, gardenias, hydrangeas and azaleas (just to name a few of my favorites) cannot survive in my yard since there is nowhere to hide from the scorching sun.
With foolish-thinking, I still plant gardenias in the off-chance I might see a flower. The greenery on the plant and structure of the branches are beautiful, even without the white flower. Today, I saw flowers! Not just one, but multiple flowers.
The smell of this little white flower ushered me back in time to a day when I was a little girl. I would walk around our neighborhood smelling flowers. One neighbor had a gardenia plant. I remember I would pick the delicate flower and then put it in my pocket. Back at home, I treasured the tiny fragrant jewel! The flower would become my companion for the day, traveling with me to far-away places (in my imagination) all the way to my dreams, being tucked safely under my pillow to smell through the night. It was a season of imagination, adventures and beauty.
I am amazed how fast smells transport me back in time. This gardenia, in particular, had me tear up thinking about childhood fantasies, running through the neighborhood barefoot and feeling as light as a feather with no responsibilities at all.
The beautiful gardenia smell brings me warm, happy memories of childhood - a place I wish I could visit again. I recognize the blessing of a positive childhood and am so thankful for an active imagination, a love of nature and God who found me in the middle of my fantasy-world.
My prayer is that parents remember to fight for their child's childhood. Our culture wants our children to grow up too fast. Fight to keep them innocent, keep them imagining, keep them exploring. As my children continue to grow, I hope I created spaces for them to explore their world and see beauty in people and nature. My heart also grieves the many children who have not smelled a gardenia or put a flower in their pocket as their companion for the day.
Our world is full of sadness and injustice - but it is also a place where beauty blooms and love grows.
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