the five senses

Taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound. I wish I could describe them all to you when I took a walk outside two evening's ago. Flowers are blooming, trees are vibrant with color and sweet smells, the evergreens are letting off their own pine scent, and the mountains were out just above the haze and clouds in British Columbia. We relate a lot of memories to smells and mine go back to my "formative" years growing up when I step outside here. There are plenty of hikes and parks back in this mind of mine, memories of playing in the woods and touching damp dead tree bark, or digging through the decaying wood and pine needles on the forest floor. The gigantic maple leaves on some of the trees remind me of the humongous tree in our backyard that we used for climbing and swinging from the branches, or playing in the leaves when the fell in autumn. There are plants I've forgotten about until I see them nearly underfoot; small and soft little purple flowers, skunk cabbage (yuck), and stinging nettles (ouch). I never thought the flowers and fruits were all that exciting in this part of the country. Now I realize I took advantage of the rhododendrons, azaleas, lilacs, iris, tulips, flowering dogwoods, cherry trees, and so many others. It feels like "home" again!