That Springtime Scent

Those TV commercials for laundry detergents or fabric softeners that tell us that they've managed to bottle the scent of spring always make me shake my head. I'd be willing to bet that no one will ever manage to capture the smell of spring - sure, they can make your laundry smell pretty with perfumes, but the real scent of spring? Not a chance.

That's not to say that you can't bring the smell of spring into your house. Today, not only did I have all the windows open, airing out the winter blahs, but I hung my laundry on the clothsline for the afternoon and then carried it all back in and folded it in the living room. The house doesn't smell like flowers - there are no flowers anywhere near blooming in Saskatchewan in April - but the whole house smells FRESH. The perfect ending to a day of fresh laundry is a bed made up with the same kind of freshness. I've put in a long, physical day, and I'm not far from that perfect ending.

This past week has been phenomonal. Seven days ago it looked and felt like winter. There was snow everywhere. Mother Nature must have decided it was time to turn up the thermostat because in less that one week the white stuff just disappeared. One morning the world was white, the next day there were patches of brown showing through, and after two more days, the creeks were going into flood mode. Tuesday morning we had a lake in our front yard. Water drains toward our corner of the quarter section we live on, and if the culvert under the road south of us is blocked, it takes no time at all for the to water back up and threaten to contaminate our well. We were pretty relieved later that morning when the pressure of the water managed to push through and it started to drain away. As of this morning (Saturday) the waters have receeded to our usual spring creek trickling between the house and barnyards.

We spent a few hours at an auction sale this afternoon. Glen was kind of interested in a tractor, if it would have gone cheap enough, but mostly we went because it was a beautiful day to be outside and to visit with friends and neighbours. By the size of the crowd, it would seem that everyone had the same idea.

The weather forecast is saying that we may have rain or snow tomorrow. It hardly seems possible after today - I even got a bit of a sunburn today! But, even if we do have one more turn with the white stuff, it won't last long. We don't have flowers to prove it's spring, but the birds are back. We've seen robins and meadow larks and kildeers; the crows have been back for quite a while, and great wedges of Canadian Geese fly north over us every day. I guess that means it's time to dig out the humming bird feeders - they'll be showing up next.