Last evening, I was walking home along a quiet street, when my nose told me that the tall, graceful trees towering above were black locust acacia trees- in full bloom! These same trees grow in a small grove in one of the city parks in Nelson, and every year when I lived in that neighbourhood, walking beneath these trees in early summer, I would be surprised to find myself suddenly immersed in the most beautiful pink bubblegum, tropical ylang ylang floral perfume. Last night was the same. The scent that these shy white clusters of blooms high above my head release into the early evening is intense. Although familiar, I found these coastal blooms to be more in the direction of the cologne 4711 that my mother used to wear- rich with sweet neroli. So as I walked along this street, realizing then that the sidewalk was also strewn with the blossoms, breathing in the scent of my mother touched with pink bubblegum, I was reminded, as I have been so many times before- that the most amazing perfumes in existence, are like this- emanated so perfectly, intoxicatingly, from Nature. And usually when we least expect it…
A Perfumed Pilgrimage 