Winter air
Last night on the evening walk I rounded the corner toward our street and caught a spicy whiff of pipe smoke. I find pipe smoke a homey and comfortable smell; it reminds me of uncles and tweed and storytelling and winter nights, even though no uncle of mine ever smoked a pipe.
I inhaled as I crunched along the snowy sidewalk, and I looked around for the pipe smoker, but there was no one there. He must have passed by just moments before, leaving behind nothing but his smoky, earthy fragrance.
This morning, trotting along on a half-inch of new snow, I walked into an invisible cloud of sweet perfume.
Have you ever noticed how smells are sharper and more intense in the winter? Something about the thinness and clarity of the air lets fragrances hang a little longer. In the summer, the air is hot and muggy and thick, redolent with blooming flowers and rotting leaves and newly cut grass and impending thunderstorms and joggers' sweat, a rich, soupy mix all fighting for your attention.
But in the winter, there is nothing to smell. Snow. Just snow. Car exhaust, sometimes, when people idle at the curb, warming their engines before driving off, taillights blinking red in the dark. But mostly just empty, cold air waiting to fill up with whatever scent it is offered: wood smoke wafting from chimneys (or peat smoke), the warm scent blowing from dryer vents, the occasional juicy smell of someone grilling steaks on a snowy deck.
We are headed into one of the coldest weeks of the winter; by Thursday, the temperature is not expected to get above zero, with a strong wind. Dog walks will be truncated; we'll wrap up in wool and rabbit fur and Polarfleece and try to make it six or eight blocks before our glasses freeze to our faces. The air at that temperature feels so clean. I will walk quickly, jerking the dogs' leashes with impatience when they linger at a tree trunk or a fence. But every now and then I will catch a quick whiff of pipe smoke or dryer vent or perfume or steak, reminders that there are other people out in this cold and frozen world, and, just like Boscoe, my nostrils will quiver in response.
26 comments:
Oh my that's going to be cold:-(
The good thing about winter here is the smell of the river at low tide is not so pungent:-)
I'm washing my long johns, wool socks and winter underarmour right now. It's going to get so cold.
I love the smell of a wood burning fire coming from chimneys in the neighborhood.
You're talking zero Fahrenheit, aren't you? Zero Celcius is what we have here, not very cold at all in your terms. But I'm sat very still, studying, in an old house with no cavity walls... I take layers of clothing OFF when I go outside!
It's been a while since I felt cold like that, Laurie, although I spent most of the first 40 years of my life in places that saw lots of -40. I always thought that the first snow fall always had a certain smell - and perhaps it was the absence of any smell at all.
Lovely. I love the smell of pipe smoke too.
And one way I feel I know spring is really here is that I can SMELL things again. You're right about the cold taking so much of that away.
Good luck getting through the cold. I hear we're getting that too, but have decided to bury my head in a snowbank about it for now.
Pipe smoke reminds me of that wonderful professor of mine from freshman year. He taught my Greek tragedy seminar, my philosophy course, and a fascinating seminar on Dante's "Divine Comedy", Giotto, and flying buttresses. Dr. Hernandez must have been all of 30 years old, but he wore a tweed jacket and walked to and from while he lectured with that pipe stuck in his teeth. The height of sophistication to my 18 year old mind, and the biggest crush I'd ever had on an actual grown up man.
Your writing is SO vibrant! Never leaves me disappointed!
Your words paint pictures for me!
ah, but gail....do they paint smells?
rudee, i don't mind the cold. i mind the wind.
lola, yes, fahrehneit. but it won't last that long. just a few days.
pondside, and it's so dry! the air is so dry it crackles. my hair is entirely different in the winter than in the summer.
kaycie, in retrospect, perhaps he was a pompous man? one of my editors used to smoke a pipe. and a wonderful writer i worked with at the strib smoked a pipe. it does seem to be the addiction of intelligent people...
I always enjoyed the smell of my dad's pipe. It smelled rich and sweet. I used to ask him to smoke that instead of his cigar, which I couldn't deal with at all.
I have pretty severe sinus problems, and I've had years upon years when I couldn't smell anything at all. It is always a shock when my anosmia goes away--the world is a really smelly place.
It's okay if your nose quivers like Boscoe. Just as long as you don't start rooting trash out of the gutters.
I don't know how you stand it that cold. I'm freezing just reading it.
Not that I have a clue what your cold weather is like, I, too, love the sharpness of the cold. I feel so invigorated in it, and you're right, it feels clean and sparkly. Thanks for the images since I can't have the reality often.
Lovely piece of writing Laurie. My grandda used to smoke a pipe and I can never smell one without thinking of him.
it is an awfully chilly winter up here too. I've got a cold so am particularly irritable.
XO
WWW
With Burns Day coming up, your picture is appropriate, Laurie! Where did you find it and who are they - ghillies? I must get a kilt out and brushed ready for the 25th. Any Scots amongst your readers, remember this year is Homeland Scotland Year and come back to the old country!
But here I must confess to being the opposite of you and your readers, Laurie - I HATE the smell of pipes, cigarettes, smokers' exhaled breath and anything to do with smoking!!!!!!!
doglover, i found the illustration in google somewhere. i should have given credit.
i don't like cigar smoke, and since the smoking ban i find i have become quite sensitive to cigarette smoke, which i also don't like.
but a pipe i do like. a pipe is less tobacco-ey and more leafy, earthy, spicy.... homey.
and RC, isn't it nearly as cold where you are?
You are so right that smells are one of our strongest memory senses. Just a whiff can take us back to years ago. I hadn't even thought about pipe smoke until you mentioned it. My great-grandfather used to smoke a pipe and it always makes me think of getting dressed up and going to visit them when I was little. Thanks for such a lovely post.
Oh, I could not handle those temperatures. I get cold to my bones when the temperature hits the teens.
My neighbor (a retired professor) smokes a pipe, we always know when he is outside.
mmmmmmmm yes!
I think the warmth of the scent (human skin, burning tobacco,dryer vent, barbecue coals) in the air is a factor in the cold
I saw a news item that people in some areas were being warned not to wear earring (& body piercings exposed) in the cold.
pamela, i think that's exactly right--that the wonderful smells of winter usually involve warmth.
hadn't heard that about piercings. my earrings have never caused me any trouble. maybe it's just tongue piercings that would be problematic--because of the moisture? ick.
I got my long johns out too already, actually I've been wearing them since Calgary. By tomorrow we are getting the same cold spell. -32C is roughly the same as 0F...ciao
Good smell descriptions! The other one I love -- and for some reason, I associate this with later in winter, like March -- is french fries wafting from a McDonald's. Takes me right back to 7th grade.
Beautiful! And true.
Actually, I think he was trying to impress us with his pipe and his tweed jackets. He was quite intelligent, though. He spoke and read Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. For a while, he made me want to major in classics and wear tweed skirts.
I've lived in Kansas, not 30 minutes from RC's liberal collegeville. No way, no how is it as cold as Minnesota. I would have died.
I love the scent of pipes! :) And your weather sounds lovely. Too cold for me, but at least no rain.
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