A Journey In The Forest

I don't know
which tree it comes from,
that fragrance.

Matsuo Bashō

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A couple years ago during one of our trips to Eastern Kentucky I got a Haiku book in the mail. I was pretty excited about it because at the time my Russian version of the very same book was in Crimea and I do love going through those short verses every now and then.

So I took the book and walked up a tiny mountain to sit in the grass and enjoy the reading surrounded by nothing but the trees, plants and some random bugs going around their business nearby. While I was reading my nose started picking up on some sweet floral scent, it felt surreal seeing a poem that talks about fragrance coming from somewhere and actually finding myself in the very same setting.

Surprisingly there were no flowers blooming anywhere near that I could see, so I got up to investigate. Turned out it was pawpaw tree blossom. At the time I didn't even those existed. It felt pretty amazing spotting those brown little buds, I almost felt like a baby hero having complete the blossom hunt adventure.

Awesome little bells. Here is a picture of pawpaw trees in bloom:

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