Azalea nectar was a secret taste.

Azaleas are blooming as if they are competing with one another.

Because they bloom every spring as a matter of course, I had never paid them any mind until now. But for some reason, this year, I find myself captivated by the deep-colored azaleas.

When I was a child, azaleas of the same color grew in abundance near my home. I remember a friend telling me, "The nectar is sweet and delicious," and the two of us would lick it up. They say now that you should avoid them because you cannot tell them apart from toxic varieties. Thinking that there might have been highly poisonous azaleas even back then, it seems our spring games were a matter of life and death.

Perhaps I am captivated by the deep-colored azaleas because of those childhood memories. Back then, when I was innocently sipping the nectar, I didn't know that azaleas could be something to fear. As for things to fear, there were only ghosts and my angry parents.

One day, I was enjoying the nectar of the azaleas in the shrubbery of my parents' apartment building with a friend. Being able to taste the nectar of flowers made me feel like a swallowtail butterfly. Just as I was playing in high spirits, I ran into my mother returning from work.

"Stop that, it's dirty."

The flower I was sipping was taken away, and I was dragged back home. I was warned that I shouldn't drink the nectar because flowers outside might be dirty. But my father had also said that azalea nectar was delicious. I thought it must be fine since an adult said so, which is why I was playing with my friend. When I told her, "Dad said it was delicious too," my mother's anger reached its peak.

"Your father shouldn't be teaching you such unnecessary things!"

Because of me, my father, who wasn't even there, was being scolded. I had always wondered why sucking on azaleas was so wrong. It was sweet and delicious, and I didn't get a stomachache or anything, so I thought it was fine. What did it mean that beautiful flowers were dirty? My young self couldn't understand.

However, as I and my friends grew older, we stopped playing the game of licking azaleas. Time passed, and now that I am an adult, for some reason, I remembered the taste of azalea nectar.

Now, I understand what my mother meant. Certainly, you shouldn't pick flowers in public places without permission. Besides, there is a possibility that pesticides are used. As I wrote at the beginning, there are also toxic azaleas. But from the perspective of my younger self, I was just lucky to have found something sweet other than snacks.

I haven't taught my own children that kind of game. Perhaps it is because I have taught them since they were small that flowers are for looking at, not for picking. I have never seen them playing the game of picking flowers to sip nectar, nor have I ever heard of it.

Considering safety, I think that is for the best. I have no intention of teaching them in the future, either.

The azalea nectar from my childhood was sweet and enchantingly delicious. But perhaps it felt so delicious because it was an extraordinary experience, side-by-side with the thrill of being scolded.

And so, I will keep this sweetness as a secret of my own.