Monday 9 August 2010

Running to catch the Poetry Bus.

Too busy for pictures today but a quick bit for the poetry challenge. Well actually mine isn't a poem, just a small collections of childhood memories really. We are asked to recall a favourite summer sensory memory this time. I have more than one but would have to start with the smell of tomatoes as you pick them from the vine. At the end of each summer, Grandad would clean out his greenhouse, pull up the haulms and we grandchildren were allowed to eat the tiny little fruits still hanging on. I can also remember the smell of his garden hut where the apples were stored. He also loved to have a bonfire and his fires always smelled lovely as they contained only garden refuse which was probably not suitable for the compost heap. Another sensory memory is of a newly tarred and gravelled road surface when the sun shines on it after rain. This takes me right back to junior school and the start of the autumn term - new school shoes and a nature walk!

10 comments:

Erratic Thoughts said...

You did not need any pictures, you have picturized it quite sumptuously...
Ohh I remember, I had bonfires all the time and I was one helluva dancer.

Gina said...

Isn't it wonderful how evocative smells can be.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Oh that lovely tarry smell - did you used to pop the tar bubbles in the road as well?

Heather said...

Yes Pat, I did, and got told off for getting tar on my shoes which would be carried indoors!

Clare Wassermann said...

very evocative - I like your grandfather very much!

Maggi said...

Thanks for sharing the images so vividly.

Dr. Jeanne Iris said...

Yes! That wonderful aromatic blend of sweet apples and burning leaves! I love the fall....especially after such a long, hot summer as that which we're experiencing this year.
Lovely memories, Heather! Thank you for sharing them with us. xo

Digitalgran said...

What lovely memories Heather. Smells are always something that will bring back a vivid memory.

Linda Vincent said...

My earliest memories of smells are connected to my grandfather too!
He had a shed with honeycombs, potato sacks and old chests of drawers with apples stored inside.
I can still conjure up the combined smell in my mind even after 50 years:-)
Thank you for reminding me Heather.
xx

Val said...

Lovely, lovely Heather! You made me think of my own Grandfather and the first memory flash was the smell of wood. He was a Carpenter, and also made us wooden toys!