Reading Response#1

Write about the smells you associate with one season: summer, fall, winter, or spring. You may want to connect these smells to your feelings about the season. For example, do the smells you associate with summer connect to your love of summer? Or do the smells of spring relate to the hope of new beginnings?

The season that I want to associate with is summer. Summer is the season that I was born in. I associate many summer scents with my birthday. In my youth my family would make numerous trips to the beach. We lived about 45 minutes away from the coast. Every time I smell salty air it triggers memories about the coast. The beach is great for many activities. My personal favorites are observing tide pools at low tide. It's amazing how much life is associated with the salt water. Another favorite activity is just to sit and enjoy the atmosphere. Another smell that reminds me of summer is the smell of fresh seafood. I could live off seafood if I had the choice and money. When I go grocery shopping, sometimes I get a whiff of fresh seafood and it automatically reminds me of the beach.

The smell of smoke reminds me of the summer as well. I fought forest fires for over four years, and the smell of burning vegetation gets me excited. The surrounding forests and agricultural industry spews smoke into Chico during the summer time. The smoke memories consist of driving to fires, cutting line around the fire for containment purposes, and helicopter rides. The smell of smoke also triggers memories of family camping trips during the summer. Our family would take annual camping trips to various lakes and forests. At these camping trips we would have camp fires and barbecues.

Another smell that brings back memories is the smell of pine trees. Being a forest fire fighter entailed us to camp in the woods, we had projects that included cutting trees and burning acres of national forest. Pine reminds me of the hard work that was associated with fire fighting. I also recall many people that I have become friends with over those years. This job cultivated many friendships that will last for a lifetime.

Sometimes I smell barbecues around my neighborhoods and it takes me back to these memories. I have memories of childhood birthdays at community parks. At the parks there were horses to ride, trains to ride, jungle gyms and open meadows to play on. At the park there was a pond that was stocked with fish annually. My father would take me to this pond on the weekends to catch trout.

These smells that occur during the summer months have a major impact in my life. The memories that I acquire when a distinguished scent hits my nose, bring pleasant memories into my life. This is very important to me for the simple fact that I had a solid childhood. I think about how lucky I am to have a great childhood. This outweighs the negative memories I recall during my teenage years. It's amazing the stories that can be told just by a small whiff of a distinct smell.