My Four Seasons of Smell
Before Smell Essay
Before I write my smell essay, I have set a few goals for myself. While reading Winter Day by Millie Chen I was very interested in the way she wrote her article. I have decided that this is the route I am going to take for this specific essay. The genre of this will be a combination of narrative and descriptive. My audience will be my classmates along with Marlen. I really want to make this piece of writing interesting and let my readers be able to relate to what I am saying. I really feel that I can achieve this, as I grow as a writer. To help myself with this essay I started by making a cluster diagram, which I have enclosed. The topic that I am going to write about is the four seasons, and how they affect my sense of smell.
My 4 Seasons of Smell
A season is one of the major divisions of the year, generally based on yearly periodic changes in weather. In my opinion, a season is a diverse exciting opportunity for my sense of smell to experience many different aromas that make, in my mind, the four seasons of summer fall winter and spring.
Summer
July August and September all have something in common, together they create the season of summer. With this beautiful warm season, the nose is introduced to many unique smells. When I think of summer, many things come to mind.
As the rich chemical scent of chlorine enters my nose, I run and do a canon ball into the bright blue pool. As I float in the aroma, I am also aware of the bright crisp green lawn that smells of dandelions grasshoppers and lemons. It is as if the grass has its own personal perfume, which I look forward to this specific time of year.
It is evening now and it is as if the stars have their own recipe of delight, a mixture of brown burning wood in the fire pit and the slightly golden and yet crispy creamy scent of marshmallows mixed with a Hershey’s chocolate bar. To be honest, I don’t really know what is my favorite, the scent of the campfire and smores or the smell of the drive-ins on a Saturday night. The grass is damp with moisture from a light rain with its own unique aroma while the guy at the snack bar is cooking hot dogs, and I order a large bag of popcorn with extra butter. The smells surround me as I settle in for the movie to begin.
Another great aroma that only visits my senses once a year is the great Dayton Fair. As I walk into the fairgrounds I am attacked by the extremely strong stench of dust, farming, sweating livestock and really greasy Denny and Pearls Stromboli.
Like everything else in life, there is always an end. After the beautiful smell of the summer season, a new season comes along with its own unique smells that I wait for every year in the fall.
Fall
September October and November, do not underestimate what can happen in these three months. Every year at this time, I visit the pumpkin patch to find the lucky pumpkin that gets to be my jack-o-lantern for that year. The patch smells of dirt, hay, pumpkins and the occasional rotten pumpkin. When I return to my house to begin carving the great orange wonder, I sit in anticipation for the smell and taste of the cooked pumpkin seeds soaked in salt and olive oil. They smell of popcorn with a rustic edge that makes the scent
one-of-a kind.
My all time favorite smell of fall rests in the hands of thanksgiving dinner. The definition of thanksgiving dinner is the centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States, and Canada is a large meal, generally centered around a large roasted turkey. My definition of thanksgiving dinner is defined by a variety of different things. As stated in the definition above, turkey is a major factor when it comes to thanksgiving. To be honest, I could do without the turkey. The smell of turkey is very blah and has no specific aroma that interests me in any way. The smell of peppermint on my grandpa’s breath as he gets the turkey ready to serve is a whole other story. Along with the wonderful peppermint smell as papa kisses my forehead and announces it is time to eat dinner is the mixture of apple cider that has a sweet but yet sour aroma with the light hint of cinnamon sprinkled over the top. Another wonderful smell that stands out to me is the warm apple pie fresh out of the oven with the mixture of sugar and melted butter along with the rich pumpkin pie with all of its spices.
As fall ends we get our senses prepared for the next season, winter. Here in these months we have the great opportunity to experience new aromas that again, happen only once every year.
Winter
December January and February, also known as the freezing months of winter. A lot happens during these months, just like the other three wonderful seasons. It all begins by the need to turn on the fireplace and get the charcoaled fire blazing in order to snuggle up on the couch and read a romance novel. As I sit and read I always enjoy the smell of the burning firewood and the smell of vanilla candles burning on the mantle. Together these two relaxing smells make a great combination. Of course, these two would not be complete without the wonderful smell of hot chocolate mixed with milk and white creamy marshmallows.
All though winter is dark and most of the time freezing, it does have its advantages. This season also is the holiday season. With this title, brings the strong salty but yet sweet syrup aroma of the pine tree. Along with this great Christmas scent is the peppermint candy canes given out every where with their sweet addicting smell.
Christmas cookies are traditionally sugar cookies (though other flavors may be used based on family traditions and individual preferences) cut into various shapes related to Christmas. My definition is the mixture of sugar and flour mixed into the creamy melted butter and vanilla that sends its smell throughout the entire house along with the butter cream icing that smells like heaven.
Spring
March April May and June can basically be summed up in two words, thunderstorms and flowers. The word flower is such a diverse word when it comes to my nose. It goes from the rich dark smell of potting soil as I set the planters around the house, to the ivy that is growing up the side of the house with its own green rich smell, to the bright hot pink tulip that just bloomed that is so strong with its perfume.
Thunderstorms have a famous saying every time spring comes around. April showers bring May flowers. Can I just say that the showers bring along with them the moist smell of grass that just received its vitamins for the day and the joy of smelling wet dog, as my two furry friends run inside from playing in the muddle puddles.
Every season is perfect and unique in its own way. All of which bring great memories and aromas to my attention. Like George Ellis says, ‘Snowy, Flowy, Blowy, Showery, Flowery, Bowery, Hoppy, Croppy, Droppy, Breezy, Sneezy, Freezy’ in his short poem The Twelve Months. In these fun words, they send my 4 seasons of smell into a great frenzy. Summer Fall Winter and Spring, such little words that mean so much to my wonderful sense of smell.
After Smell Essay
This is by far my favorite genre of writing. With this specific type of writing I was free to talk about the different smells that I experience during summer fall winter and spring. The way I described all of these seasons, I feel, will be able to capture somewhat of the same effects on my reader. With that being said, I hopefully kept my readers attention the whole way through to the end. I really enjoyed the short poem I added in my closing paragraph, it tied my whole piece together I feel. All together I am very pleased with this essay and feel I have accomplished my goals I set for myself in my before paragraph.
