i think spring may finally be here. early this morning when i took zeph for a walk, i noticed a particular smell in the air that always tells me it's coming or perhaps it's arrived. i noticed it yesterday as well but now it seems to have stabilized. the neighborhood is saturated with the smell of wet earth. it's hard to describe why today's smell is different from the wet sidewalk smell of last week when it was much colder and the ground was still partially covered with rather dirty snow - all i can say is that today smells like spring.
since i've lived in new york for a long time, i've come to realize that this scent is very fleeting. it lasts a few days at the most before it's once again overcome by the general smell of the city - garbage, exhaust, pollution and people. but then spring itself in new york seems to last about six minutes as well. we have a sharp spell of freezing rain or blizzards and then move right on in to the hot temperature of summer.
spring in new york always makes me a bit homesick for the country where i grew up. i remember the garden i used to have and the earliest and bravest of the flowers beginning to poke through the black earth. these early spring flowers have long been some of my favorites - crocus, jonquil, hyachinth, daffodil, narcissus and then later on lily of the valley. and of course toward the end of march, the dandelions begin to bloom and those i truly love.
suddenly the grass and many of the fields turn brilliant emerald and the forests cloud themselves in a shimmering veil of pale yellow green. here and there in the woods wild cherry trees burst like fireworks of pale pink. the air is rich with the odors of wet bark, damp moss and freshly plowed fields. of course on some days it's also redolent of newly spread fertilizer which is not so pleasant...
while there are certain scents i wear myself through the whole year, there are still a few that i prefer most in the early spring. i'm sure those remind me most of the country where i can't be as often as i'd like. this morning when i got back from my stroll with Zeph, i sprayed myself with a bit of Black March.
I did it almost without thinking - lately i've been wearing a lot of Patchouli EMPIRE. but as i sat for a moment quietly sipping a cup of tea, i realized the smell of Black March was just what i wanted today.
just a little bit more Spring...