Scent memories

Yesterday we gave the house a good cleaning in an effort to get rid of whatever germs might be hanging around since we were all starting to feel a bit better. This included cleaning all the open surfaces of the house, every toy and of course all the linens.

As I wrapped myself up in my quilt last night to go to sleep I breathed in that scent that you only get from line drying laundry, and it hit me. I recognized the scent. It was my grandmother's house. You see for the longest time she would always hang her laundry out on the clothesline behind the house. When I was a kid I remember how much I loved helping her hang out the laundry. It's quite interesting, the things that kids see as fun that most of us grownups think of as work isn't it? But I did love it. I was usually given the task of hanging washcloths, most likely because they were small and easy to manage but I was proud of my work no matter. I still enjoy hanging our laundry on the clothesline though I will admit to using my dryer much more often than she did. Regardless there is just something about seeing beautiful quilts hanging on a clothesline that I love. Maybe its the simplicity of the act in a world that is so often moving away from "old time" traditions like this one, or maybe it is simply the memories of a simpler time in my own life.

Summer days spent waking earlier than I ever thought necessary because we wanted to make it to all the yard sales to find those special treasures. Using a butter knife to eat brownies hot from the microwave and how sad it was when they stopped making the ones with cream in the middle. Endless hours spent on the boat waiting for the fish to bite and dodging them as well because we all knew what it felt like to get a little too close to a big catch. Skip Bo games, crochet lessons and not a single care in the world.

I remember snuggling down under handmade quilts (much like the one I am under tonight) after a busy day of being a kid and breathing in that scent. I don't know that I ever connected the two in my mind, to me it was simply what grandma's house always smelled like.

Maybe it is those days that are in the back of my mind making me smile whenever I see a quilt blowing in the breeze. All I know is that tonight those thoughts will certainly be on my mind I as drift off wrapped in that familiar scent of summer.