I felt the first sprinkle of rain last night while riding to Berea on our old motorcycle. It actually felt good and as we rode further into Berea the rain gently pelted my bare arms. We pulled into Sonic and parked under the shelter. After eating a sandwich, we headed home, and was thankful to find that we had missed most of the rain showers.
Later, after resting on our front porch for a while, we decided to take out the loud, orange with red flames – 750 Honda that all of Kirksville is able to recognize from the loud sound coming from the straight pipes – out and chase the sun for the evening.
The sweet fragrance of honeysuckle assaulting the rain fresh air was the first thing that received my attention as my ears took a moment to adjust to the pressure from the helmet.
“Do you remember sucking the sweet honey from the the honeysuckles, when you were a little boy?” I asked Mike, leaning in so he could hear me.
I drifted into a memory coma for a few minutes, thinking of days playing in the fields and walking the fence line around the farm. Parts of it was covered in the honeysuckles. In late spring – early summer days, the vines are in bloom with pretty little yellow flowers. in the center we found a bud filled with honey. We would cap the bud, and suck the honey. Umm.
As we continued our ride, I breathed in deep breaths of the fragrances of wet hay, grass, weeds and the wet animals as we rode by farms. All of this reminded me of my days on our farm in Garrard County.
We didn’t ride long, but we did follow the sun and I took several pictures of the sun as it was setting. The rain intensified the many odors and fragrances in the air, and I think there is nothing any prettier than the Kentucky Hillsides and valleys after a fresh soaking.
The world was beautiful last night. I would say though, if we looked – really looked at the world around us each day, we would discover hidden beauty, and fragrances that will remind us of home and sweeter times.
We didn’t stop to pick honeysuckles, but I can recall the sweet taste – even now, after all these years.
Kentucky Scenes 