Stepped outside to walk my little dog last night and got hit full blast with the smell of Missouri, the smell of my childhood.
Just before it rains here, you can smell iron in the soil, heat from the rocks, and snakes in their holes mixed with something indefinable and sweet, like cookies baking in the next gallaxy—first star to the right and straight on til morning, or some place close to that.
Fecundity. Maybe that's the sweet smell—ripeness and possibility.
Since the blast from the past of The Counselor's cologne, I've been obsessed with smells: noticing them, dissecting them, describing them. Nothing jerks me into the past or pitches me into the future as thoroughly as smells and nothing is as difficult to explain. At least nothing I've tried so far.
Ever noticed the smell of berries baking? Their sweetness turns inside out, deliciousness shimmying in the air like the a preview of coming attractions.
Or vanilla? Why does the scent of warm vanilla makes you want whatever it's attached to? And what exactly does it smell like?
Ahhhhh. The mysteries.
I've got to go. It's still raining and I've got to sniff the pond.
7 comments:
I love this piece! Smells are my biggest memory trigger, both good and not so good. I love your descriptions that go deep into the essence of your home.
Florals take me to glorious places - lilac, sweet pea, peony, lavender.
And then there's the smell of cigar smoke that takes me another place altogether. . .
Hoping to get to read your scent of the pond.
Love you.
Wow! What a treat to wake up to this. I remember fondly the smell of an electric storm coming in the unbearable Wyoming summer heat - love that sweet, sweet scent of possibility. Thanks!
Mmmmmmm....
Mmm, love those smells..... Can't wait to sniff your pond...
I remember a long time ago, reading a study about smells. It said that men in the study ranked vanilla most to the idea of sexy women, and sex. We like flowers, and they like vanilla. lol. So if you want to snag a lovah, go bake some sugar cookies? Slap on some vanilla extract?
:)
This is my favorite piece I've ever read by you. Wow how you hit me where I live. Smells are the hardest to describe and you do such a fantastic job of it. I follow my nose everywhere and part of me never lands, never.
I am usually in awe of your art- how you paint a picture with your words, but I can actually smell this post! Amazingly aromatic!
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