Last week, a two-hour flight took us from the cold, dry air of the American Midwest to the warm, humid air of South Florida. More than a change in weather conditions, the trip brought a return of natural fragrance to our daily life, a feature missing in northern winters.
The frozen landscape of the north offers little fragrance; only the resinous scent of conifers comes to mind. Rather, Midwestern winters are characterized by the odors of human culture: wood smoke, industrial effluent, exhaust emissions and, in rural areas, the smell of hay and fresh animal waste. But in southern Florida, the land of perpetual warmth, natural odors flood the senses: flowering plants, wet sand, cut grass, rotting vegetation, marine air and marsh muck are just a sampling.
Fragrance will move north with the spring and should be in Missouri by mid March or so. It is an essential ingredient of seasonal change.
