I can capture the sounds of the birds with my digital recorder. I can freeze the sprouting crocuses and newly green blades of grass in a jpeg file. But the smell… technology has yet to master the science of harnessing this heavenly smell. (I’ve worked at enough chemical companies to know they can fake it somewhat, but that is replication – and poor replication at that – not capture.) Words are the only tools we have for this task.
Smell is without question the most difficult thing to describe. We are forced to lean on other types of associations. Spring smells like childhood to me. And dirt. Digging in the dirt. To plant maybe, but also just for the pure fun of it. And Easter dresses (and the corresponding smudged white shoes, and grass-stained knees of white tights). And clothes hung out on the line for the first time in months. It is a slightly wet smell. Loamy and full of growth and all that is new.
Too bad they are forecasting a 70% chance of a “wintry mix” for Friday. Precious, fleeting Spring.
Posted from the BDO Annex Office #2 - back porch.
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