Fragrant and Lovely

In early summer, I seem to sniff my way around.  At that time of the year, I can't seem to get enough of the fresh and fragrant scents.  As we walked at Devil's Lake State Park many evenings earlier this summer before the temperatures soared to sweltering, I commented nearly every time to Larry (who was probably sick of hearing it, but politely agreed anyway) that the air just smelled grand -- sweet, fruity, fresh and lovely.  The commingling of trees, grasses and wildflowers must have made this delightful concoction.  Those fragrances are lovelier than most anything I can imagine.  As I would breathe in the air as deeply as possible, I would try to imprint that scent in my mind so that when winter comes, I'd be able to retrieve the smell of summer freshness.  And with it, I'd see the darting dragonflies, hear the giggles and splashes of children swimming in the lake, and see the beautiful place that we call Devil's Lake.  Now that mid-summer is here and the ground is brown and the vegetation stressed, memories of those early-summer scents are even more precious to me.