Celebration count down day 6: the smell of autumn

When I was a little girl my favorite season was autumn. I think mostly this was because my birthday is in autumn (as you know, from this series of celebration posts) but I have come to love autumn independent of my personal association.

While I could list all kinds of things I love about autumn (the colors, the sweet melancholy, Halloween) it is the smell I most associate with autumn and find most fleeting. Like autumn itself.

That sweet aroma of leaf decay. The tang of woodsmoke. The crispness of the air. All of this smells like the passage of time to me. It is this smell that I imagine inhabiting the realm of fairy tales. It is this smell that I think of when I imagine my childhood and when I think of wandering towards death.

I love this smell. And I love that it is here only for maybe six weeks each year. Go outside. Take a deep breath. Enjoy the moment while it's here.

(c)2012 Laura S. Packer