Smells like…
Already I’ve identified smells unique to our new old house. All summer I enjoyed a smell in the air, particularly strong warm nights, wondering what it was, this linen-like smell, kind of herbal but fresher. It’s the smell of Clary Sage, a commercial crop grown in this region. The smell has faded with the summer. A new smell wafts across the town this week. It smells like burnt popcorn, only nicer. A common enough smell to Edentonites especially during harvest, but brand new to me, it’s the smell of roasting peanuts, coming from the peanut factory on the edge of town.
Author friend Miriam Bradley recently told me about an exercise she uses with students using smells to evoke memories they then write about. What a powerful exercise! It made me realize how many times I’d used this in my own writing to make a scene come alive with scent. During school visits a student will usually ask, “Where do you get your ideas for stories?” I refer them to their senses. Of all the senses, smell is probably the most personal, but it’s also one that can be shared. Everyone can “smell” the stench of the landfill; everyone knows kitchen smells, onions frying, pies baking. Everyone knows the smell of blood. When you need a quick get-away from reality, take a time machine break. Think of a smell from your past. Smell it. Be there.