Honeysuckle Dreamin'

One of the endearing qualities about where we live (some might call it the 'country,' I just call it the burbs of the burbs) is that it's quiet, hilly and there are some great roads to bike very close by. Some of the prettier roads even run adjacent to bits of farm land.

So this weekend, my hubbie and I decided to take a bike ride with our little man. It's one of our favorite things to do together. And Saturday was just one of those days that it seemed blasphemous to stay inside. The sun was shining, the temperature was in the high 60's, a constant breeze was blowing and the skies were a perfect tar heel blue.

After our little one's nap, we saddled up the bikes, and headed down our driveway to discover our new neighborhood and all it's wonders. Let me qualify that we've lived here for almost a year, but it's still kind of 'new' to us.

Watching my son peak out from behind his bike seat -- on the back of his daddy's bike -- to watch me and, with a big, mischievous smile, say, 'Mommmmy' was the best. Isn't it amazing how children can make a seemingly mundane moment something incredibly special? I know, it's sounds so corny, but it was just one of those instances I try to imprint on my brain so that I'll have it in the years ahead when he won't want to be seen with me. Yes, those days will come I'm told.

Soon we were riding on a lonely dead-end road bordered by luscious green trees on one side and thick meadows of tall, airy grass on the other ... and that's where I got it. My first 'summer's coming' whiff of honeysuckle. Mmmmmmm..... don't you love that smell? There's something about honeysuckle that just makes you breathe deeper and slower, preparing you for the summer months. It's as if God Himself whispers from above that summer's right around the corner.

It's been a rough few years, but I feel God telling me to relax a bit and take it all in. Seeing the summer months through my 2 yr olds eyes is something I'm truly excited about. I'm looking forward to lots of ice cream smiles, smells of chlorine, sun lotion and the air after a good thunderstorm, dolphins at the beach, concerts in the grass and cookouts with friends ... Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Funny, all this started when the wind delivered a little honeysuckle bouquet to my freckled nose. Now, go do some honeysuckle dreamin' of your own ...