Scent of Days Gone By

It's nearly 6 a.m. and I am awake, yes, awake on a saturday morning at 6 a.m. No, that's not entirely true. I was awake since 3.30a.m. after falling asleep on the couch last night. Since I have been sleeping for the past few hours, I am as awake as an owl. A few hours passed and my kids have been hassling me to let them out to relieve themselves.

The moment I opened the door from the garage to the yard, I was hit with the familiarity of my childhood days... the scent of morning dew and breeze. Momentarily, I was transported back 15 years (or so...). That scent reminded me of the early mornings (not so) long ago when we all had to get up at 6 a.m. to prepare for school. The early morning birds chirping and the smell, oh the smell! I love it sooo much.

It's like the dawn of a brand new day, that smell. So fresh, so enlightening, so nostalgic. It's funny how I am thousands of miles away from the place where I experienced this nearly every single morning for so many years, but the air still holds the same old fresh (how's that for an oxymoron? :P) scent! Makes you believe that it doesn't matter where you are, you will still be close to home... through these little but significant elements around you.

Not only does that scent remind me of waking up to go to school or walking through the school porch at 7 a.m. (God how I hated to go to school sooo early, but now, I think I miss it), it reminds me of all the other stuff that we do early in the morning, like first day of chinese new year, camping trips & school road trips with friends, sitting along the corridor of the classrooms before the morning bell rang, eating fried noodles or nasi lemak...

So many wondrous memories, how I wish I could rewind time and go back there again, and experience the innocence and the joys of being young and carefree. Yes, that is what the smell reminded me of... suddenly, I feel so old........ thanks to friends who are still close at heart, I am always reminded of those amazing years spent with them from childhood to adolescent years, and now, as young adults. I can't thank them enough :)