Project 365 Day 127

Lilac City

You know how every city has a name? The Big Apple. The Windy City. Well, for Spokane, Washington it’s The Lilac City. It’s where I did a lot of my growing up - some of my real “formative” years. I have a ton of memories that attach to Spokane and the surrounding area because they are tucked safely (so far, anyway) into my “long-term-memory” banks. Not like trying to remember what I had for lunch yesterday. Lilacs and their smell can take me back to the Lilac Parade winding through downtown Spokane. Prom time. When-is-summer-going-to-be-here-because-I-am-so-sick-of-school time (otherwise known as Spring Fever). Some of my favorite memories are not necessarily so “Spring” specific, though. Just smelling lilacs can remind me of Spokane and then my memories are off to the races. I remember record snow in the winter, playing Kick the Can on a street paved with bricks in the summer. I remember being the new kid in school in the 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, 9th grade and 11th grade. And I remember...Star Trek. I practiced for days on end getting that Vulcan hand greeting down, and even now I can throw that hand sign up as easily as I can one finger...you know, like when I’m pointing at something. So it seemed appropriate that the new Star Trek movie was released in the spring and not the summer. It was a big Date Night for me and hubby. It made perfect sense. We don’t often go to the movies, it’s just so much cheaper to wait and watch them at home (not to mention being able to rewind, use closed captioning and pause...and we won’t even go to the cost involved in the Concession Stand). When we were dating (a period of just over 3 months) we actually went to Star Wars 13 times. 13. I loved it. That was back in the day when a theater would only be running 1 movie. And we’d stand in line and wait patiently, like it was the first time we were going to see it. I loved the new Star Trek movie. I would like to see it again. Soon. I don’t necessarily want to wait for the small screen. I want it now. Big and loud. With really expensive popcorn. I want to attach a new memory to the scent of Lilacs...the young Jim Kirk and his new friends. Boldly going where no one has gone before. (At some point they had to become politically correct and replace “man” with “no one”.) Sigh. Live Long And Prosper.