A calendar of scents: Autumn edition
While reading some random book, which I cannot remember, I learned of a group of people from the Andaman Islands. (They are in the Indian Ocean if you struggle in obscure geography as I do.) These people, called the Onge, are known to put a lot more importance on the sense of smell than most do.
According to the book, they even have an entire calendar based on scents. This just amazes me.
With the onset of autumn, I started thinking about our own calendar and what it would be like if we arranged it by the smells of the season. I certainly think it’s possible, but it would definitely bring about a few disagreements. Which scents would dictate each time of year? Would they be smells of the natural world or odors that society has introduced?
For me, the scents of fall are a little of both. No one can deny the smell of leaves as they tumble from the trees and pile in our yards. There is a distinct sweetness when we rake them up, and I’m not talking about the sweat we produce. As they start to decay and break up, warmed by a sunny day, that is one of my favorite smells. I’d put that on the calendar.
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Fruits of the season make sense, too, but scratch the pumpkin
What about those fragrances that only exist because we make them? I would argue that baking apple crisp or crumble would be another scent of fall, especially if the baker uses extra cinnamon. Once in the oven, there’s no denying I know exactly what time of year it is because the apples are that much better when they are in their prime.
There is another fruit that seems to have taken over all the smells of autumn, but I would be very leery to put it on my calendar. The humble pumpkin, a bizarre gourd of bright color and varying size, which decorates our doorsteps and fills our pie crusts, has been reduced to a flavoring that has swept the nation. What was once a seasonal coffee flavor, the pumpkin spice craze, is everywhere now. Cookies, ice cream, candles and air fresheners. There are pumpkin spice crackers and protein bars and cakes and muffins and marshmallows and pudding. There is even pumpkin spice hot chocolate and pumpkin spice beer, two beverages I really wonder about because I would never put chocolate in a pumpkin pie or wash it down with a hefty ale. It is for those very reasons I will not put pumpkin spice on my calendar.
In the Andaman Islands, over there between India and Thailand, I’m not sure what the world smells like in the fall. I’m guessing no pumpkin spice, but I’m also guessing no sweet leaves, which makes me pretty grateful for my nose’s calendar.
Karrie McAllister can be reached at mckarrie@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: It all makes some sense: The smells of the season
