Spring is in the Air Once Again

Semaña Santa is upon us once again which signals the onslaught of Spring on the island.  On an island, the change of seasons is not as apparent as, say, in Florida.  

Having been raised in Minnesota, I was use to a very welcomed but short spring, a short 

and not-so-hot summer, a cool, quick fall and a long, long, long winter.  In my younger years, I  moved to Kentucky where the seasons seemed to last longer and my favorite, Fall, seemed to go on for weeks.  We use to take drives in the Kentucky hills just to see the gorgeous fall colors.  Then I moved to Florida.

Florida does have distinct seasons, but not as pronounced as Kentucky or Minnesota.  Spring would come to Florida with Azaleas in bloom. Spring was also signaled by Plant City’s

 Strawberry Festival and the luscious strawberries that were in season.  There was some “turning of the leaves” in fall if one drove to the northern reaches of the State.   Actually, Fall was really signaled by the corn festival in Zellwood where one could eat the most delicious sweet corn ever imagined.

Of course, on an island, spring is the time of Mangos.  The scent of the flowers is pleasant, but not very strong.  Our wild orchids bloom this time of year and are really a sight to see.  

However, I miss my favorite flowers of the north, the Lilacs, the Iris and especially the small Lily of the Valley flowers.  Lovely little bell-shaped flowers with a heavenly smell which brought us the scent of Spring.  In Kentucky, I had daffodils and tulips, but these did not have a scent to speak of.  No, the flowers of Minnesota blooming in profusion sent stimulating fragrances into the air.  The colors were varied and awesome.  

It has been years since I smell Lilacs or a real Lily of the Valley flower and had to be content with the essence of the odor of  Lily of the Valley in a soap I purchased in San Pedro Sula at a lovely bath shop.  However, that shop has since closed and I no longer have access to that wonderful soap.  The first time I bought it, I could not remove my nose from the bar!  I inhaled that smell and was taken back to a time of innocence!  My husband thought I had lost my mind when I stood in the bathroom with the soap to my face!

So, I went on-line and found a blog by Chris Gardner whose blog at Digitailflowerpictures.com  has wonderful garden photos and found this photo of a small bunch of Lily of the Valley flowers!  I wrote and told him I would love to use the photo in my blog because it brought me such pleasant memories.  

I cannot share the heavenly scent here in my blog with you, but I can give you a glimpse of the wonderful flowers of my past.