Smells Like Summer

It was 89 degrees here yesterday, and they’re predicting 92 today. This is hot for Seattle, especially for May. I don’t know if it’s the warmer air or what, but I’ve noticed these smells in the air the last couple of days that just mean summer for me.

Coconut scented sun tan lotion! It's like summer in a bottle. But then so is Goldschlager.

Yesterday I could smell somebody’s hair mousse, and that just brought me immediately back to high school. It smelled like the same brand I used when I still had a reason to use styling products. It smelled like prom. It smelled like piling into a car to drive to the beach, to drive to the canyon, to drive anywhere.

This morning I could smell orange blossoms. As far as I know there aren’t orange trees around anywhere, so I’m not sure if it was a scent somebody was wearing or if I was having a stroke – but again I was snapped back to those warm summer nights in Southern California. You could smell the orange groves as you were falling asleep, wrapped up in that warm air. Orange blossoms will always smell to me like spring spilling gracefully into summer, like excitement and freedom.

It’s a smell that will always remind me of rollerblading at night along a bike trail that ran through miles and miles of orange groves. One night we got crazy stoned on one of those mongo joints that Damon used to take pride in rolling and sat there on the side of the grove, talking and laughing, feeling relaxed. Pretty soon we realized we could hear something coming through the trees. I got a little paranoid, but calmly thought to myself (and told Damon) that it was probably just a possum or something. Then it turned towards us; and it for sure was not a possum, it was something big. We sat there paralyzed for a minute then bolted. I don’t think I’ve ever moved that fast without a vehicle before.

Aaah, summer. Good times.