Cobweb Express

Scents of the Season
by Mel McFarland

This is perhaps my favorite subject. Recently I looked at Main Street and wondered what it was like a hundred years ago during December. In looking around, we have a few places over on Santa Fe that sure have interesting aromas, but today we might not have the time to enjoy the smells around us.

I remember different smells for this time of year. Christmas and Thanksgiving aromas have to be some of the best! When you think on it there are a lot of things which have memorable aromas. I know kids remember toys and such but how about the smells of the holidays? Probably one of the strongest, at least in the most favored variety is that of baking. Who does not know the smell of fresh bread? To me that is enough to make you look for the butter! The aroma of a warm berry or apple pie? surely the difference between sugar and oatmeal cookies.

These sweet memories came from almost every neighborhood kitchen, but none like Mom’s. A walk through town even now catches the air, and wakes memories of seasons past. Thanksgiving, more or less, brings similar smells from each house, but Christmas is different. In the old days the drug store was hardly free from aromas, but it is easily overpowered by what came from the restaurant across the street. What sort of goodies are in those big pots brewing in their kitchen. Soup and stew, pot roast, or bacon and eggs, each tempts the assembled patrons.

Even before you get in the door, the coffee is sending its sign through the screen. From down the street even comes the smell of roasting chilis. In the afternoon the smell of various evening meals await anyone who comes past the front gate. In the winter there is the difference in those who burn coal, and wood. Then the smell from those that burn Cottonwood lingers in the morning.

Ah, yes, morning afternoon and evening all are different. At the newspaper office, ink even has a different smell, mixing with the oils that keep the presses clanking. There are other smells that mean other kinds of shops. You can tell where you are without even looking up.

How could you miss the barber shop? and those tonics. I do not care what the season is, this is my favorite time of the year, except when the cold chill hits the nose. Once home it is better to smell fresh soup or even cookies baking! What could be better? I bet you remember certain smells, some make us smile, others might even bring a tear, for all kinds of reasons.

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