The Smell of Fall

I love the smell of fall.  I love the crisp air in the morning and then again in the evening.  Even though it's a time when the leaves start leaving the trees and flowers start to die, I feel revived.  I love living in a state that has all four seasons.  Don't get me wrong, I love going to the beach in the summer and there are times when I wish that I lived there all year long.  But I would miss the changing leaves and all the smells of fall.

Smells can bring back memories from childhood.  The smell of fall always takes me to 410 Webb Lane, Havre de Grace, MD in the late 70's/early 80's.  I was a little girl, playing with my sisters and brother.  Our church was in the process of building an addition and it just so happened that we lived in the apartment over the church.  Ronald, Christian, Cheryl and I would play house or war or whatever we could think of.  What is now the Bishop's office was our "house".  We took 2x4's and made a pretend fireplace with a mantle.  We used whatever we could find and made a house.  I remember playing out there until Mom said it was time for dinner and going right back out after dinner (if Mom was OK with it).  It would be cold as the sun went down but we didn't care.

I love how we used our imaginations and when Christian became too bossy and tried to make me the husband or son, I would just move down the hall to one of the now Sunday School rooms.  I would make my own house and have my own rules…Good times.  But what would start out as a fight would lend itself to more imagination and we would become neighbors who could visit each other, like real women…lol.



Yes, the smell of fall makes me want to be a kid again.  I had a great childhood full of imaginings, fairy tales, laughter and love.  We didn't have a TV for many years and we made up our own plays and acted them out for our parents.  We had popcorn night listening to records or telling stories.  It was a 2 1/2 bedroom apartment with a small living room and kitchen and one bathroom.  But there was always room for one more.  Not a problem in the Estep home.

FALL…Smells…Childhood…Memories…LOVE.  I would have to say that fall is my favorite time of the year.  I just realized why, it's all in the smells or should I say, Memories.

Henry last fall, walking through the leaves
He loved the way they crunched under his feet.