“Each day has a color, a smell.”
The clouds are back, but the rain won’t be. This will stay a dry weekend. My deck is just about ready for summer. A couple of pots still need flowers, the spawn of Satan ate the lights on the deck rails so I need a new set, and I have arranged for the deck and wooden furniture to be power washed. I have already chosen the first movie for the opening of this summer’s deck movie night. Get ready to roll out the red carpet!
I stood on the deck for a while last night. Henry was roaming the yard. I could hear him walking on the bed of dead leaves. The air smelled sweet. It was flowers and fresh mown grass. The night was warm. I could hear bird songs. I saw one firefly.
When I was a kid, the field below our house was filled with brown grasshoppers during the day. During the night, it glowed with hundreds of fireflies, maybe even thousands. That’s what it looked like to me.
When I landed in Marrakech, the air smelled of spices. I could see the orange-red wall around the city and some of its ornate gates. Horse drawn carriages, called calèches I found out later, were sharing the roads with cars. It was the most remarkable introduction to Morocco.
When I first stepped out of the plane in Ghana, I was hit with tremendous heat and such sunlight I had to squint. The air was thick with humidity. I could smell the greenery, the ferns, the high grasses and the trees. Now, so many years later, very time I go back, I can barely wait for that plane door to open so I can smell and feel Ghana again.
On some damp mornings, I can smell the ocean. It isn’t close, but the air carries that smell all the way to my house. I am always loathe to go inside. I want to stay until the ocean smell disappears.
I can smell the rain coming. I can feel the change in the air. I can smell those first drops hitting the ground. They smell of the dirt, an earthy smell.
Smell triggers memories more than any other sense. Turkeys cooking at Thanksgiving, the tree at Christmas and wood charcoal burning are reminders of family celebrations, places visited and a life so far filled with sights, sounds and, best of all, smells.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: Morocco
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
June 10, 2018 at 2:11 pm
It has started to cool down finally and even if the prediction for has changed I could feel some drops of water hit my face when I was outside just now, it felt so nice 🙂 I heard the first katydid yesterday, about two months early 🙂 It was so loud that it blocked the sounds from the birds 🙂
Every place has its own smell, Paris is fumes and food and Lisbon is the ocean and food 🙂 My old home town is mostly the ocean but also a kind of forest smell since there are two big forests in the city, I do miss the ocean smell to be honest.
Have a great day!
Christer.
June 10, 2018 at 5:45 pm
Christer,
We will be down to 49˚ tonight according to the weather predictions. That is low for this time of the year. The weather is so up and down. Boston has had a heat wave already. For us here on the cape, the weather is typical with warmish days and cool, even cold, nights.
I love countries and cities in the morning. That’s when I usually feel and smell the essence of where I am. I loved Ghana with the smell of charcoal fires and the sounds of fufu being made.
Have a great day!
June 10, 2018 at 4:07 pm
It’s about to start. Somewhere Christer is getting ready for Sweden to play South Korea (next Monday), England will play Tunisia on the same day but first there is a real old “ding dong” next Sunday as Team Bochum Belle take on Mexico
The air will be full of xenophobia but somehow it’s ok for a couple of weeks as the national teams take to the fields of Russia and hope fills 32 countries. Everything will stop, the bars and pubs will be full and we will watch. The last time England won it, I was the exact same age as The Prince. Could somehow Harry Kane and the boys from Tottenham carry the national team ?
I send very best regards to the friends I have made at KTCC. It’s on Fox, fake news but not fake football
June 10, 2018 at 4:34 pm
I have a running issue with my British coworkers on spelling. The company courseware standard is North American English as referred to the Webster dictionary. They insist on sending me courseware with British misspelled words. 🙁 I just thought about this because soccer is really futbol as opposed to NFL football.
Here is an interesting article about Russia and how they got the World Cup.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/07/opinion/sunday/world-cup-fifa-corruption-russia.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region®ion=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region
June 10, 2018 at 5:10 pm
Yes, enjoy the month Bob, it will be fab
June 10, 2018 at 5:56 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I wonder where the US team will watch the matches. I know, though, my Colorado family will be glued to their sets for many of the games. I don’t know where their allegiances lie.
The North End of Boston closes down when Italy plays. The Brazilian restaurants will be filled with fans speaking Portuguese. I wish your tam all the best!!
Fox is the official mouthpiece of the current administration. The president puts what he’s heard in the morning into his speeches as if the words were his. It is fake news at its worst.
June 10, 2018 at 6:02 pm
Bob,
Webster took a lot upon himself and changed the spelling. The American spelling of words is closer to how a word sounds rather how it was spelled in the language it came from.
June 10, 2018 at 6:46 pm
Kat, no USA, Holland or Italy, and, of course, the Scots are staying home as usual
I do have tickets to see your BoSox play the Tigers at Comerica, on the weekend after the World Cup Final. We are trying to round up the Prince for a big afternoon out
Fox sucks. Don’t watch their “news”, but have no choice for the footie.
If you haven’t seen it try to watch “November 13 An attack on Paris” on Netflix.
June 10, 2018 at 7:08 pm
North American spelling is more concise and does reflect the spoken words more closely. Interestingly, all the world’s airplane operating and maintenance manuals are written in US English. The British haven’t built an airplane since the late 1960s so no one knows what they would do. BTW I work for a Canadian company based in Montreal and that’s where the style manual originated. 🙂
My British coworkers have never complied with any standard that the rest of the company dictates. They just do their own thing and claim cultureal differences. Airplanes don’t care about culture. The only difference between us and them is that they drink tea and say lovely a lot. 🙂
June 10, 2018 at 7:54 pm
MDH,
The Red Sox are playing well. Their pitching has been amazing and their bats are hot. I hope this is not a flash in the pan. I hope it is a good game!
I haven’t ever watched a Fox newscast. Of that, I am quite proud!
Thanks, I will watch it. TV is quite boring of late.
June 10, 2018 at 7:59 pm
Bob,
I chuckled at your last sentence, especially the lovely.
In Ghana, it was the British spelling so I had to make sure I was using it and not American.
I agree it is easier to spell using the US words.
June 10, 2018 at 7:16 pm
I’ll be ready on Sunday 🙂
Hedley, should I look for Mexican beer?
Too bad that the USA and Ghana aren’t participating.
FIFA, who?
June 10, 2018 at 7:28 pm
Birgit,
It is too bad.
Ghana played the US a while back. The US lost!
June 11, 2018 at 5:52 am
Birgit, two great games on Sunday Germany-Mexico followed by Brazil-Switzerland
It’s also Fathers Day, so my kids should be in the house while I yell at the TV
I do have Corona beer in the fridge
June 10, 2018 at 4:47 pm
I can’t think of one odor that reminds me of a specific location or time except the musty odor of the NYC subway. I have ridden on the Metro in Milan, Washington DC, San Francisco, Vancouver and the London Underground and they don’t have that distinct musty aroma. I can’t conjure up the smell of the ocean or even a bread bakery but I remember that they had specific pleasant aromas. Maybe this is tied to my genetic distaste for cilantro. 🙂
Wait, I can imagine the smell of a new car. All that plastic has a distinct smell which eventually dissipates. Here we had another, hot, partly cloudy day. Didn’t break triple digits. 🙂
June 10, 2018 at 6:37 pm
Bob,
I don’t get how cilantro fits into the ocean or bakery smells. Most times bakeries smell like bread to me while the ocean has its own wonderful smell.
Boston’s subways feel hot and smell a bit like exhaust, but it has been a long time since I last rode on the subway. The Russian metro was beautiful, but I don’t remember any specific smell.
You’re right about new car smell.
Chilly day today.
June 10, 2018 at 6:55 pm
I don’t know why I can’t recall any aromas except the musty NY subway smell. Maybe my failure to recall aromas other than recalling them as being good or bad, is tied to my genetic defect that makes cilantro taste like Ivory soap. 🙂
June 10, 2018 at 4:54 pm
Do you use a projector for the movies? I remember the smell of popcorn at Woolworths. How hungry I felt! The other real powerful smell was of coffee while walking in downtown Wiesbaden Germany. That was quickly followed by the sweetness of the bakery. Denise
June 10, 2018 at 7:03 pm
Denise,
I have an Epson projector. I wanted one which didn’t need a computer hook-up and this plays directly from the DVD. I have a good size screen as well.
Coffee is one of the best of all smells and now I’m wishing for fresh bread hot from the oven to go with my coffee.
June 10, 2018 at 8:29 pm
Interesting slip up on Fox this morning:
“Fox & Friends” co-host Abby Huntsman seemed to slip up Sunday while discussing the upcoming summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, calling it a meeting of “two dictators.” 🙁
June 10, 2018 at 9:06 pm
Bob,
I think that is Trump’s objective which is why, I think, he is choosing to align with dictators.
June 10, 2018 at 9:34 pm
“You are permitted in time of great danger to walk with the devil until you have crossed the bridge.” – Bulgarian proverb
June 10, 2018 at 9:50 pm
Who determines what bridge?
June 11, 2018 at 7:12 pm
In this case, Trump. Or shall the US not meet with a dictator for principle and forego a possible solution? Obama had no reservations about making a deal with the Iranian de factor dictatorship.
June 11, 2018 at 8:23 pm
Obama joined with our European allies in formulating and signing the Iran deal in which Iran agreed to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions. It was not done unilaterally as I fear trump will do as it will be just Trump and his interpreter and Kim Jong Un and his. I find that scary. Trump, though, is far more confident, “I think within the first minute, I’ll know,” Trump said, explaining that it would be “just, my touch, my feel — That’s what I do.”
June 11, 2018 at 9:50 pm
The Europeans need Iran’s oil and they will do most anything to be able to continue trading for oil – including tolerating Iran’s funding of terror and fomenting instability throughout the Mideast. And the Europeans are the most vulnerable by proximity to Iran’s missiles and eventually their weapons. So Trump is handing the ball to the Europeans to deal with Iran as they see fit. If they want Iran to continue their ways; it’s their choice. The US is out – we have plenty of oil and not in easy range. Now Obama didn’t do much anything with Korea for 8 years while Kim was improving his ICBMs and nuclear arsenal. This in spite of his superior intellect and Hillary’s sophisticated foreign diplomacy organization. Am i incorrect in my impression that progressives would be just as happy if a deal with Korea falls through?
June 11, 2018 at 10:04 pm
I just don’t like or trust our new bedfellows, North Korea and Russia. That the alliances with our European allies and Canada have been weakened makes me uneasy. US farmers are already scared about the possibility of a tariff war.
June 12, 2018 at 7:25 am
The Russkies are hardly new bedfellows – US been dealing with them for 70 years through wax and wane cycles – you will recall Hillary’s “reset” button. They have considerable influence in the Mideast and are a chief antagonist v. China; so the US and Russkies have interests in important areas and must be dealt with. If North Korea, a long term avowed enemy, rolls over, that will be a huge (yuge in Trump talk) accomplishment and leaves Iran isolated as the principle “bad actor” in the world and pressure will increase accordingly. The Saudi’s are their chief rival and the Sauds are rapidly modernizing their culture and stature . Arabnews.com is more informative than much of US media. Hardly any US journalism is straight-up news these days – it’s all spun to one side or the other. Eveyone is an editorialist.
June 12, 2018 at 5:56 pm
Spaceman,
I watched the reactions to the summary of the meeting. Most seemed to think the US gave away too much without real assurance that Kim will follow through. I am a doubter when it comes to both Kim and Trump.
June 12, 2018 at 8:36 pm
So what is it that we gave away too much of – according to reactions?
June 12, 2018 at 8:51 pm
I don’t remember them all. I was listening to news on the radio and watching news programs on TV. Paul Haenle, a former China director at the White House National Security Council in the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations is one, but there are more. Just don’t remember.
June 12, 2018 at 9:32 pm
Were they factual or speculative? And how do there people know? I have seen virtually none in print.
June 12, 2018 at 10:00 pm
They were evaluating and comparing what Kim offered and what Trump gave him.
June 13, 2018 at 8:19 am
Sounds like conjecture. These people don’t know what was offered or countered. An agreement in principle was reached. Nuts and bolts will be worked out by the Pompeos and the equivalent NORKs. 90% of the media hates Trump and anything he does. So they will be trying to find faults rather than present the potential positive aspects. I hope Trump doesn’t say he likes peach ice cream – MSNBC will be researching how bad it is for me and CNN will run an expose on the immigrants used to harvest,
June 13, 2018 at 10:34 am
The paper this morning had the headline, “Trump gambles on a ‘very special bond.'”
Underneath that was, “President departs without concessions but with a conviction Kim has been swayed to give up arsenal.” I’m so glad they became such fast friends after less than a day together. Now that Trump has bosom buddies Putin and Kim. China next!
The agreement was a page and a half long. I figure it will take a long while for the nut and bolts to be worked out.
June 13, 2018 at 4:42 pm
Trump doesn’t trust Putin or Kim any further than he could toss the both of them. And neither does Pompeo and Bolton. It’s all part of negotiation mixed with diplomacy. But if patting Kim on the head and complementing him helps achieve where you want to move him to; pour it on. Nothing ventured, nothing gained – and it might just work. The Russkies also can be worked with – but have to keep a real close eye on them – they always up to something nefarious. In the meanwhile, the journalists can write whatever makes their little hearts happy and likewise the TV talking heads . I have never understood why people think journalists know very much. I mean they have a journalism degree, whatever that is supposed to qualify one for. But there are scholars and people that specialize in these political arenas
June 13, 2018 at 5:05 pm
Some of the articles I read were written by people in these political arenas. Many deplored his description of Kim as an honorable man and as a man who loves his people. I think there are plenty of ways to complement Kim without these obvious in accuracies.
June 13, 2018 at 5:27 pm
What does it matter? This isn’t a Toastmasters event
June 13, 2018 at 5:32 pm
I guess because it is the most repressed country and to call him honorable and loved by his peoplemjust stuck in my craw.
June 13, 2018 at 5:59 pm
Trump is blowing smoke up Kim’s ass. And Kim knows it as well. They aren’t dummies. The end objective is what is important. Maybe it will work. Maybe it won’t. Give it go and see what happens. We’re no worse off than where we started even if it doesn’t pan out
June 13, 2018 at 6:47 pm
True!!
June 13, 2018 at 8:41 pm
Been too serious;
June 13, 2018 at 9:09 pm
Agree!!
Very clever.