Memories, Old and New

All is quiet....the babes are down for the night, the dog is snoring with her master, the windows are open, the cool breeze is blowing the curtain, the crickets are singing their familiar song, and that smell....that wonderful unforgetable smell of my childhood in the country on my grandparents' farm is all too familiar. When I see the lightening in the distance and hear the thunder moving closer, I smile. Sometimes insomnia is a blessing. Granted, I usually think of it as a curse and sometimes I am painfully tired, but on nights like this....I see it as a gift. I am awake, not wanting to close my eyes because I will miss something. I would miss the sound of a silent house....not the kind where everyone is gone, but the kind where everyone is off in another world, refreshing their spirits to tackle it all over again tomorrow. I have gone into their room and stared at the girls, watching the curtain blow gently, creating a soft and cool breeze that dances over their little bodies. I smile, not wanting this moment to end. Oh, if I could start all over again from day one with them as newborns I would in a second. This amazing gift of motherhood is BEYOND my wildest!
As the storm closes in, the wind picks up again and blows in the scent of fresh air, clean and crisp like the new day that it will bring shortly. Soon the raindrops begin to pelt against the glass, lightly at first and then more steady. When I think of the new day ahead, I pray for a day much like the series of days that I had growing up. Playing outside, climbing haybales in the barn, having the kittens around, going fishing, shooting crickets with the bb gun, getting dirty, and finally, washing off in the bath with that same country breeze blowing into the opened window. The scent of Brut, my grandfather's favorite "after a long day's work in the field treat" and my grandmother wearing "white linen" which she powdered on after her bath at night. The house had all of these amazing scents going on at once, but the one I remember most was that country air. As I inhale that familiar air tonight, I am grateful that I can still find it and even more grateful it is right here at the place I call home, with my own family. I hope to recreate those times for my girls so that they can have the same kind of memories themselves one day. For now, I am just grateful for the insomnia.