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Friday, August 6, 2010

Friday Photo Shoot Out: Smells

It seems strange to have the FSO theme twice in a row, but it was just happenstance. I just happened to be doing the Member Voice with Doreen when the news of Barry’s passing came. I’m not hogging the themes, really! Anybody would have thought of that; I just happened to say it first.

Smell my town. Go ahead; smell it!
I thought of this one right after the Sounds theme, which also asked everyone to depart from the usual visual thing (but it is a Photo shootout!) and explore a different sense. Mark quite naturally said Touch! Touchy touch! So I grabbed Smell, sweeping Taste up in the batch because they so often go together, and now I’ve let Taste go. Been done! And will be done again in some form. Do not feel sad for Taste; it will be served.
Among the quite recent smells of my town are those generated in that perpetually changing place: the Centre Jean Perrin, where I work. Last week we were treated to fresh, hot asphalt. Mmm Mm! Get a whiff of that, and keep it all day. The odor has tapered off, and now we have proper parking on part of the lot. Just part of it. Since we cannot ever just be closed, stuff like this has to be done in stages.
In the woods on the weekend (if I can walk there from here, they must count as being in town) there were lots of smells. Fresh cut pines where they’ve been logging were stacked high, their ends still bright. Love that smell. I didn’t take any photos of that part of the woods, sorry. One section was clear-cut earlier in the summer, which I think is an awful thing to do. The sections I hiked past this time had just been thinned. They took one tree in ten or so, scattered around. The decimated field looks a lot better than the cleared field, but I wonder where the replacement saplings are. They’ve been thinning this area for a few years already: it’s curious they’ve not put in new trees for the crop 10 - 20 years from now.
In the afternoon a different familiar scent crept up on me: that of rain in the air. Yep, here it comes! Time to hurry home. That story is here.
My yard is full of scents too. In the front there are roses. It annoys me that the neighbors park in front all the time, in both spots, so letting the roses go and hang their spiny branches out over the parking spot, is my petty revenge. They have a driveway!The back yard is full of competing scents. The lavender was full of bees, but I didn’t get a single good portrait. The rosemary, thyme, and (what is that other one?) are doing their best to get as bushy.
My tomatos are just turning, at long last. Love how a good tomato smells! Soon it will be time to gather some up and make sauce for the whole winter.
Four of the plum trees are going full tilt just now. I’ve been thinning out their fruit for weeks, but there’s still a huge crop and it’s beginning to fall onto the ground. Every day this week I’ve taken a sack of the small yellow ones (top container), and/or the wild ones (bottom container) to the lab, and so far they have all disappeared into my colleagues. But even they will get full. I’m encouraging the formation of tarts and preserves, but still the dropped plums accumulate on the ground and in just a few days it will begin to smell like fermenting fruit out back.The apples have been dropping fruit for weeks, too, though only one of the trees has any that are ripe (god, I love apples that are barely ripe!). With apples being larger, they’re easier to clear up and into the compost bin. I’m about to start drying apple slices for the winter and soon will be giving apples away by the sackful as well. I should know somebody with peaches to trade.
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So there you are. For more Shootout fun, click here!
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16 comments:

Scriptor Senex said...

I love the smells of hot tar and ripe apples. And who can resist a rose? A good topic choice, thanks Nan.

Sara Diana said...

I loved your shoot out! I love the smell of Roses they are so dreamy. I like the texture of the petals too x

Heather said...

Sounds like you've been busy and your fruits will keep you that way :)

Mmmm...what wonderful smells!

GingerV said...

I love the smell of tomatoes on the vine. those green ones are ready to make fried green tomatoes-one of the best seasonal dishes. Often when shopping for fruits and veggies I pick up to smell, this is the only way to tell if they will have taste - fresh taste or bad spots. I can't get veggies to grow here - too wet - so loved your post and its memories of smells it provoked.

NanU said...

You're so right, Ginger. Food that smells like nothing generally tastes the same. I almost never buy fruit/veg/cheese/meat at the grocery store any more, only at the market full of farm trucks. I like that the farmers get paid better there too!

Sarah Sullivan said...

Oh NanU that was wonderful...I swear I could smell that rose!! I loved this one..so much fun! Wonderful shootout and subject!!

Kim, USA said...

Oh wow plenty to smell and taste in here. I love weeding close to a tomato because I love their smell. My lavender I wonder why after it blooms in spring it won't bloom again most specially in summer. Thanks for the visit!

Friday shoot out

Kerry said...

I hope they re-plant the clear cut; perhaps they prefer to plant it during the fall? Hope so.
Oh that fruit looks great and makes me hopeful that one of these days I will get tomatoes from my own garden, which is slow this year.
Good idea for a shoot-out Nan, thanks!

Pauline said...

The smell of tomatoes on the vine, I'd forgotten about that. And rosemary is my favourite smelling herb, love the smell that wafts around when you touch the leaves.
Thanks for the topic. At first I thought, "How the hell am I going to capture a smell" and was surprised when it turned into such fun. And the team's interpretations have been reminders of so many lovely smells I hadn't thought of - and some I've never even heard of! Great!

spiritsoflena said...

Great idea for for the shoot-out. I love that shot of the rose: beautiful!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Thank you for suggesting this topic.

As a scientist, you must be able to differentiate many smells.

A rose by another name, would it smell as nice

Jama said...

I love the smell of rose! and those fresh fruits, who could resist them?

Unknown said...

thanks so much for suggesting this theme. it has been so much fun to see and smell everyone's post. love your series of smells. the rose is perfect!!

farmlady said...

You are the lady who gave us this subject. I'm so glad. This was fun. I love your "incoming storm" photo. I love to see a storm moving in and love the fragrance of the rain before and after.
I always like to water the tomatoes in the morning. There is an aroma that is like the color green....

Bagman and Butler said...

Tar was definitely a unique one that brought back memories for me. And rain...I'm glad you suggested this topic because it opened up a sense for me that I seldom use.

~JarieLyn~ said...

Mmm, Fresh tomatoes sounds divine right about now. I wish I had a garden full of veggies. Someday!

This was a great topic. Thank you for suggesting it. It was a lot of fun.

Love your photos of all the fruits and the trees.