The summer has passed and now we are only weeks away from winter. Fall arrived this year with some of the most beautiful colors that we have seen in years. Autumn is my favorite season. Even though I am an artist and colors and gorgeous scenery always thrill me, it is not what I find most wonderful about fall.
It is the scents and smells that excite me.
Wednesday after the rain I was up for my morning dog walk on Wood Hill. The heady aroma of sage mingled with wet dirt and Pinion Pine was heaven. As I descended the hill I caught a whiff of wood burning in someone’s fireplace. Autumn’s fragrances are mellow in contrast to the harsher smells of summer.
Our sense of smell is one of the most powerful memory triggers we have. I think I enjoy the aromas of fall so much because most of my memories of fall seem to be good. I think of back to school and Friday night football games. I remember raking leaves into a pile so big we could hide four of us in it. I actually miss the weird smell of burning coals from my coal fired furnace. It reminds me of moving here to Price some 20 years ago.
Not very many people burn coal in furnaces any more. It was a good, warm heat. I hated the grime and effort associated with it though. But when I smell that peculiar odor associated with coal, I smile and think about that little blue house and the fun we had there.
The only bad thing about fall is that these days Christmas is creeping into the fall season. There are Christmas displays in stores even before the Halloween stuff is put on the shelves. I could go on about that in itself, but I will leave it for another rant.
So I try to enjoy the smells of autumn as long as I can. Christmas and its wonderful fragrances will come soon enough.
I hope everyone takes a bit of time to get outside and enjoy the last of the nice days for a while. Take someone who may have difficulty getting around out for a drive into the mountains just to smell the wondrous bouquet that nature surrounds us with this time of year.
It’s time to enjoy our surroundings.
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