Smell and Memories

I believe that one of our strongest senses that we have is our sense of smell. A smell can bring back memories of your childhood and beyond. You really don't think about certain smells until it hits you. As an example you have to cut your grass which takes you a few hours to accomplish but after you have finished and headed back inside and get cleaned up and you go back out to view your handy work the smell of freshly cut grass assails your nose and BAM! Your back to another time. And just that nice clean smell of cut grass makes you want to sit down outside and relax and think about some of your happiest times. I feel sorry for those who live in a city where you have no grass but concrete and asphalt, the smells of the renewal of the earth in Spring and Summer showers that you might never have had a chance to experience.
Yesterday early in the morning it rained a little bit, it didn't last long but afterwards you can smell the nice clean scent left after it has rained. In the desert you have the same scent in the air and it is wonderful. Breathing it in reminded me of home. Both Charlee and I enjoy the clean scent of the air and even after a thunderstorm which is our favorite to watch. After the rain Charlee usually laments that after the rain she will have to get out and cut the grass in a few days. Don't feel sorry for her she loves cutting the grass.
What is it for you that brings back memories from the past? The smell of freshly baked bread? Fresh tamales coming from the steamer, your favorite cake or pie being baked? Think about it, think about that one particular smell and I bet you will probably have a smile on your face.

And so it begins

Since yesterday afternoon it has been raining, drizzling, back to rain and now, early this morning it seems as if a fog has rolled in and is acting as a blanket covering everything in sight. I don't mind the wet season here because of the life it brings to the desert. The small thorny bushes, the grasses that lay here and there not to mention some of the short trees, they are all just enjoying the extra moisture and soaking it up.
We have 5 trees here where we work and have been nurturing them since late summer and they have been doing quite well. It is unfortunate that they are planted so close together that I believe after a few years of growth one or two might have to be removed but I hope not. Anyway by the time they grow to any kind of height I will probably not be here. But it is nice to sit back and dream of what is to come of the trees.
What I do not like about the rain here is what comes with it. The mud! It sticks like glue to your shoes and gets everywhere. No matter how careful you are the cloths you are wearing are going to get muddy. Has anyone heard of a dirt shirt? If you haven't the idea is to take the red dirt or what ever type of dirt that is in your area and take a nice clean shirt or two etc. and place the shirt in a tub with the dirt and some water to get a nice slury going. stir it around for a bit so that the dirt works itself into the fabric and stains your once white shirt brown and viola a dirt shirt. Some one can market it and call it the Kuwait dirt shirt (Don't forget to print that on the shirt just don't call the shirt an dirt shirt without having it spelled out on your shirt). Now if anyone starts that trend here in Kuwait I get a percentage! At least 40% Anyway this is the same as the Alabama dirt shirt and other dirt shirt through out the USA.