sand people visit us that first summer."

"Were you still embarrassed?"  I quipped

"Not one bit.  We were very proud of our lavender crop," replied Debbie.

Debbie then went into explaining some of the unique things about Lavender.  She told us that the plant was in the mint family and has been used for well over 2,500 years.
"The Greeks and Romans cut lavender and used the plant oils for baths and soaps and lotions. The Egyptians used it as part of their embalming process.  During the middle ages, people did not bath all that frequently and used lavender oil to cover up their body odor."

"Hey," I whispered to my wife. "You can use lavender wands instead of speed stick for deodorant."

"Shussssh" was her reply.

Debbie continued with her class.  She told about lavender cultivation.  It does best in well-drained, alkaline soils.  She spoke a bit about how to weave lavender wands, and told some stories about the medicinal and therapeutic value of lavender and lavender oils.
"Lavender is really, really relaxing" said Debbie.  "People say that you can use its aroma to calm hyperactive children"

My wife looked at me and whispered, "I wonder if it would work on husbands."

I leered back "It turns us on…"

I found the class interesting, and my wife purchased a couple of gallon-sized pots filled with lavender plants. 

Later, I did do a bit of reading about lavender. I discovered that lavender is mentioned in the Bible, not by the name of lavender, but rather by the name used at that time "Spikenard."  In the gospel of Luke the writer reports: "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment…"

As we returned home, my car was filled with odor from our just purchased lavender plants.

"Hey Claudia," said I.  'What does lavender smell like?"

She smiled and said: "It smells like lavender."

"Hey Claudia, said I.  "What color is lavender?"

"It's lavender color," replied my wife

"No it isn't," said I with a smirk.  "The plant is green, and the flowers can be red, blue, purple, and even white… 

"Gotcha!"

I am an old guy, but hey!  I can still learn stuff.