Monday, July 14, 2014

the scents of nature study

I wrote this a week ago, while visiting my parents in Pennsylvania.

As I sit here on the computer, my fingers still carry a strong scent of walnut.  I just finished working on weeding one of my mother's flower beds that had become home to four small walnut saplings and two larger saplings and I didn't wash my hands yet. As I sat here typing with scented hands, I also thought of the mint I had pulled and the fresh strong smell that came wafting up as I removed the invasive, yet lovely mint and restricted it's boundaries.

It occurred to me that studying nature is also about identifying scents, not just leaves, flowers, bark or bug. Knowing that as you walk by a grove of branches and shrubs you are smelling honeysuckle before you even see it.  Admiring Queen Anne's lace as you smell carrot tops. Brushing up against some plants and realize that you smell lavender and sage in the flower bed. Learning to know the scents of chrysanthemum and geraniums.  Getting to know the perfumes of phlox in all its different colorful arrays.
There is a memory bank of scents to store up in your mind as you wander through creation and enjoy this aspect of nature.

this phlox smelled so good!

2 comments:

  1. I have thought of this, too, this week, Heather. My fingers smell after I've picked tomatoes, and I love to walk near our dill plants this time of year.

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  2. gardening is rewarding in so many different ways!

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