A Grandfather …… 

There is something about the smell
It’s not particularly like the ocean

And it’s not just the smell of the land
but the combination that kickstarts the memory that calls forth from the deep,  deep within 

It’s the blue sky at the edge where it meets the trees 

The heat rising off the land with a hint of cool fresh air just riding on the top 

The song of the birds and sound of the dog way off in the distance
They bring me to you 

I don’t understand that really, for I don’t have a vivid, single and distinct memory

Well maybe one or two 

But they bring me back to you 

This combination of visual and olfactory bring me to you
imagining that you are here with me 
watching, protecting, loving 

I imagine that if you were here you would be in your delight to get up in the morning, sit in the porch rocker and watch the goings-on 

It would take you back to your yesteryears when you could take in the majesty of the similar around you and your own

I think my love of all of this came from you
As I walk the land I feel you walk beside me

As I touch their hide I feel your hand with mine 

As I breathe into their nostrils it’s your warm breath breathing beside mine receiving theirs back as they blow

Even the common house fly reminds me of you

The days spent in your shop or store as you called it 
The smell of the leather couch 
The black, in the corner coal bin with the  dust spread about the floor 
The workbench and the swarming flies ignorant that their life is about to end with flick of the flyswatter wielded by a child who sees it as a game

They all bring me back to you

It was too brief my time with you

The ways of a child don’t yet know the wisdom of the man but somehow the wisdom of that man lives on

It is inside me and as the child grew so did the wisdom with the knowledge that I am not alone but that you are here with me