Fragrances can take you back to a moment of time. There are some days the air outside has a fragrance that takes me back to my grandmother's home, her garden full of flowers and her fruit trees blossoming. Then there are those fragrances that remind you of school days or a how the dentist or doctor office smelled. The fragrance that caught me by surprise yesterday was in church. The stirring of people and in that little stirring I sniffed in a cigar smoke sweetness mixed in with Ralph Lauren fragrance kind of scent. At first I couldn't remember where or when I had known that aroma and then it came to me, the bouquet was the fragrance of a friend's home. A friend from the long ago days of tennis. Her husband smoked a good cigar brand and their home had an earthy, woodsy, almost masculine air to it. I loved it! I tried to emulate the same fragrance in our home, you know without one of us having to smoke a cigar. Ralph Lauren did make a home fragrance spray that was reminiscent of what I wanted and it was my goal to spray and saturate rugs, throws, furniture...anything that would encapsulate that aroma and become synonymous with our home. There was even a beryl wood candle that came close to replicating my friend's home. After a while I gave up, Ralph quit making the home fragrance spray and the candle scent was discontinued as well. I didn't give it another thought until yesterday in church when I remembered bouquet. Yep, I was sitting at my friend's kitchen table talking and dare say gossiping about tennis or whatever filled our conversations. About the time she turned 46 she decided she was through with the tennis portion of her life and it seems like she and her husband got involved in raising horses or something. The last time I saw her was at a mutual tennis friend's husband's funeral. Well, they were all good friends outside of tennis. She seemed incensed, no there wasn't any seemed about it...at my presence there at the service. I sat with tennis friends and had come out of the deep respect I had for Jane. My friend's callousness caught me by surprise, but in hindsight it shouldn't have. Her life had been made up of going from thing to thing, interest to interest. She had a room full of things or hobbies she had started and never completed. I was in that tennis portion of life and I'm sure my presence there only reminded her of a time long ago, when she left the courts and not on top of the game I might add. I was hurt by her callousness since we had been good friends at one time. That is the last time I saw her. Heard from friends they sold there home in Memorial and moved to Cypress with the intention of moving to Colorado one day. Who knows? But that fragrant reminder of days of yore when a lot of things meant so much to me then, don't even register on the radar now.
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It is now Tuesday evening. This morning Roy told me there had been a two alarm fire near the apartments we lived in when we were first married. off Winrock and Ella Lee. I went to Twitter to check the news and sure enough just down the street from where we lived, the fire had done its damage. I have to say that was the most fun apartment we lived in. Our bedroom window faced Ella Lee and when we had parties, which seemed like every weekend, those who got there early or on time would gather at that window and as our friends walked on the sidewalk to get to our place, we would chunk cookies down on them. Each week I would buy the cheapest cookies possible all for throwing out the window. Sadly, people were always on time and the opportunity to throw cookies out the window weren't as frequent. This apartment was huge and had lots of storage. In fact, I think we had more square footage than our first home in that apartment. Nothing like having a unique greeting to one's home.
Mike the Mower Man was here today and we talked a little about future plans around here and projects for him in the winter to do. He brought up that ugly word, snake. You see, I have not seen a snake this summer and I was beginning to believe that it would stay that way. No, he had to tell me that he saw a garden snake eating a frog on the other side of the deck. I don't know what it is about our deck but I do believe it is the underground railroad for small animals, snakes and birds. Happily, I left and headed over to Waynesville to do some antique shopping and maybe pick up some gala apples. On said journey the phone rang but I didn't recognize the names...but they had to be in my phone to have their names displayed. When I got to the antique store, there was a text message....oh yes, my next door neighbors. Ben was letting me know their dogs had cornered a big black rat snake in their yard and he felt sure it had sought cover over in our yard. Great! Ben also added that he had encountered one of those big black rat snakes over the weekend while working on installing stereo wires into his home. There underneath his house...well, let's just say if that had been me, it would have been my final resting place. He told me you usually see three snakes a summer. I am counting on hearing about snakes as being the same as seeing. So now I have to walk a little more gingerly and much more aware when outside. While over in the Waynesville area, I stopped to pick up some brisket to go. Yep I had a delicious dinner of brisket, Goode Company BBQ sauce, baked beans and sliced tomatoes.
Well, that's about all for now.
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