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Sometimes I randomly dip into the dusty vaults of this forum to see what you good people were talking about in the past. The other day I was reading an interesting thread about poetic sounds and that gave me the idea to start this one about smells...!

Here we are enjoying the beginning of autumn, so I'll kick off with some seasonal ones:

- the aroma of blackberry pie, baking in the oven
- the fresh smell of damp air filling the nostrils first thing in the morning
- the 'mellow, fruitful' smell coming from dense wet hedgerows
- the heady scent of fresh lavender crushed in the hand and inhaled

What smells do you love?

Diane

I like the smell of that scent in the air that foretells of coming rain after a long dry period.

Napalm in the morning.

The scent of a woman just behind the earlobe on ovulation day.

apart from your first suggestions, Diane, there are some more that are typical of late summer:
-hay brought freshly in the barn
-the last flowers on the pastures in golden sun
-a collection of leaves and fruits for autumn decoration

Hi Diane,

Another great idea for Lian Lunson's next movie..."Ten new pongs".
Rob.

the smell of truth, the smell of happiness, the smell of the inside of my nostrils

The fresh, balmy smell of Hydra ~ and, conversely, the smell of New York City .
Each has a wholly different essence and association.

Whilst I really enjoy the seasonal smells (like that of the jasmine and wisteria in bloom here, now that it's spring), the smells that have a powerful impact on me these days are those nostalgic ones that usually take me back to my childhood!

I think some of the most transporting moments I’ve had in adult life relate to smells that fleetingly bring back a beautiful childhood experience or very significant moment and set of circumstances. The scents of certain flowers are most powerful in this regard.

Whilst this usually has to do with the scent of flowers, it is also related to other scents (eg. soap, pipe tobacco/smoke, mould, hospitals). So for me, the sense of smell is a powerful connector to distant and disparate periods of time in my personal life experience and often elicits a sentimental longing to recapture the elusive experience which is only too briefly flashing through my consciousness (and so usually not in any substantial or ultimately satisfying way)! Sometimes memory comes to the rescue, other times it feels like I'm clutching at something that my memory can't quite reform for me.

Cheers
Andrew (Darby)

In the way of childhood, popcorn is a biggie for me .

Many others, too, like the smell of a particular, Spring day, where each time it comes to me, I remember exactly in which block I was walking home from school with my boyfriend and the feeling I had. It apparently has to be the exactly right mix of whatever is in the air to evoke it. It doesn't happen that often, but when it does, it's powerful.

~ Lizzy

Rob,

Interesting responses, all. I realise, reading your responses, how much of a smell's attraction has to do with what it is associated with, unlike the taste of something, for example, which is liked or disliked for itself.

Davideo said:

I like the smell of that scent in the air that foretells of coming rain after a long dry period

so do I!

Here are some more of mine:

the smell of the first whiskey I've had in a while
the smell of a new book
the smoky-waxy smell of candles that have just been extinguished
fresh basil
food cooking over a camp fire outdoors
pipe tabacco (ditto Andrew)
the scent of my son's skin (well, before he became a teenager!)
the salty smell in the air at the beach when the sea is wild

Diane

the smell of food when I am hungry....

the smell of a public toilet no-one has been in recently.

the smell of a hot and dusty street shortly after a heavy rainfall set in
the smell of a newly mown lawn in early march
the smell that passes through the open window of a cozy pub you pass by on a very cold december evening
the smell of the smile on the face of a mother seconds after she gave birth to a new life
but most of all the smell of life itself

the smell of freshly cut grass
the smell after the rain in may
the small of old wooden houses (old wood and dust)
the smell of lilly of the valley
the smell of apple scented water-pipe tobacco
the smell of old books