Bears in Alaska hibernate through the winter. Actually, that’s not exactly true. They do more of a deep sleep. Some biological processes don’t shut down in bears the way they do in true hibernators. Nonetheless, bears more or less disappear during the winter, re-emerging in the spring. But this has nothing to do with my intended post. Bears hibernating was just the entry, for comparison purposes, to the idea that smells hibernate, too, which of course isn’t technically true, either. So this whole attempt at an interesting intro is lame, and I should just start here: Today I noticed that smells are beginning to re-emerge after the long winter. (This is why writers revise.)

I noticed a wet-pavement smell and a wet-dirt smell on the trip to the mailbox. Not exactly noteworthy except that I haven’t smelled them for lo these past 6 months, and I will probably stop noticing them in the next week or 2 as I grow accustomed to them. Consequently, it seems appropriate to give them their due now, during the brief window in which they have my attention. Perhaps they are also noteworthy as the harbingers of more exotic smells: decaying plants as more snow melts, then new buds, and sweet flowers.

Welcome back, smells!