The Scent of a Woman - Tanti Auguri!!!

International Women’s Day is held on March 8^th every year.  International it may be, but to be honest I’d never heard of it before arriving in Italy and spending my first March 8^th here.  I remember going to the little supermarket round the corner from where we lived in Rome (same place as I’d mistakenly asked for 50 rolls at Xmas), and being greeted enthusiastically by the cheerful shop manager.   He gabbled on merrily about something to do with women (I’d no idea what) and picked a little box off a pile beside him and pressed it into the palm of my hand. I thought at first he was trying to sell me something but he began curling my fingers round the box indicating it was for me to keep while nodding encouragingly. 

I noticed other women being given these boxes too, and as no one called the police as I left the shop, I assumed it was safe to take it back home. On opening it I found a small china blue and white duck.  Having no idea at all of the significance of the gift, I called Vito, who was equally surprised.  Not that I had received a gift, which according to Vito was totally in order.  It was the fact it was a blue and white duck that surprised him.  He told me Mimosa

 is what women are traditionally given, and they also wear a sprig on their lapel on that day.

It is also customary in Italy for women to go out together in the evening to celebrate their day.  Well I’d certainly be happy to receive Mimosa whenever anyone wanted to give me any, never mind on March 8th.  Mimosa has always been one of my favourite flowers, even when in the UK.

Every year I used to buy myself some in springtime even though the delicate flowers fell almost as soon as I got them home.  Not only that but the bunch, if you could call it that as it usually only consisted of three small twigs, cost an exorbitant amount of money too.  However the scent made it worth the extravagance as far as I was concerned.  I love the scent of Mimosa.  One major pleasant surprise on coming to Rome was the realization that Mimosa grew on huge trees of all shapes and sizes

Mimosa trees come in all shapes

and sizes

 that are covered in tiny canary yellow furry baubles grouped on proper branches, and not as I’d always believed on flimsy twigs.  Not only that the flowers last for the best part of a week or two before dropping to the ground.
There were plenty of the trees growing round about, and if you didn’t happen to have a tree growing anywhere near you from which you could cut some flowers, you didn’t need to take out a second mortgage to buy some.  I remember treating myself at a local flower stall for 20,000 lira (that’s around 10 Euro today) to huge bunches that filled my two biggest vases (which are by no means small), as well as a couple of buckets commandeered in for the same service.   The smell in the house for over a week was simply divine.  Just as bignè mark the first period after Christmas here for me, so too do the mimosa trees bursting into flower.   The strange thing about the mimosa is that during the rest of the year, the trees are so terribly nondescript.  Downright boring in their ordinariness, you never notice them until February when the flowers start to open on warm sunny days, and suddenly you find yourself needing sunglasses in some areas, so bright are the blooms.  Places are suddenly transformed,

Building sites are transformed

building sites unexpectedly start to smell like perfumeries and not oil depots, and places you’ve never noticed before suddenly become highlighted.    Hidden castles appear out of the blue, rising

Hidden castles suddenly emerge

out of 100-year sleeping forests, and forests some of them truly are.

Forests of mimosa

To feel the warm sun on your face and breathe in the wonderful fragrance wafting on the air, to see thousands of delicate downy,

Delicate downy flowers

fuzzy, sunny flowers in front of you is for me, one of life’s greatest pleasures.  So as a present for all the lovely women in my life, especially if they are not familiar with the magnificent Mimosa tree, as well as any other ladies who happen to be reading this, I thought I'd take some photos for you all for International Women's Day so you can enjoy it too. For each and every one of you who has spent time with me, taken time to smile at me, encourage me, laugh with me, commiserate with me, celebrate with me, dance on life’s huge dance floor with me, whether for seconds or over the course of years, and not least of all those who have loved me and still do, these pictures which I've taken over the past few weeks are to say thank you to all of you.  Here’s to you ladies, on our special day.

 May you enjoy mimosa in all its forms, floral or liquid  J and "tango on” J 

 “To us”, ladies!  Tanti Auguri!!!!!!!