Sunday, October 16, 2011



it's sunday night with a cold wet rain falling. it's the night we put our garbage out. i can hear the scrape of the neighbor's plastic bins along the street. tom and i remind each other that it needs to be done. but neither of us wants to do the job. it's been a windy day, with bright sun and periodically the wind blew in rain. i hung white towels and linens on the line and they came in smelling of winter. and, although it's hard for me to admit openly, the scents of winter in my laundry are my favorite. they are fresh and distinct. i wrapped in my still damp towel after my late afternoon bath and kept my face in it, filling up with it's scent.there was football on tv while i ironed strips of fabric for quilts. and a fire in the fireplace. and we just returned from a neighborly gathering across the street. a potluck to which we contributed nothing but a bottle of wine. homemade perogies, baked beans, slow cooked bison, roasted root vegetables, apple/rhubarb crisp and apple cranberry cake. the children played upstairs in the loft under the eaves. some of us collected around the table, while others found softer seats. and we talked about our weekends and the upcoming week. recent happenings in the neighborhood. new phones. work.
a lovely day.



7 comments:

  1. sound indeed like a lovely day... and although the scent of summer is my favorite, i like the way you discribe and the way you love the scent of winter : )

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  2. A beautiful evocative piece of writing.
    I also love the smell of washing straight from the garden, I do not know why more people don't dry their clothes that way - its free and environmentally friendly too. I am just off now to hang my washing out!

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  3. it does sound like a lovely day!

    here it still smells like fall, rotting leaves and earth. but I agree, the smell of winter is my favourite, too, even though I hate almost everything else about that part of the year!

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  4. sounds lovely.
    I love that smell too.
    beautiful photographs.xxx

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  5. there are only 2 versions of dried in the air laundry scents for me. winter and summer. and they are quite different. the rotting smell of fall is so distinct....i wonder why i don't smell it seeped into the laundry. but the winter scent is crisper and cooler and stronger, and is the same scent i find if i'm lucky enough to dry clothes in the winter and believe me, i have a hard time saying i love anything about winter.

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  6. I must say, the only things I enjoy during winter are the fire in the fireplace and the smell of woodsmoke as soon as I open the door. Ok, and watching the snow fall, and waking up to the ground covered in snow and sparkling from the morning sun. But, I prefer it to be gone by the end of the day. ;)

    The potluck sounds absolutely amazing! The food, and the wine. Happy to hear your weekend ended well. :)

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  7. What a sensual post. All the smells and then that wonderful list of food. Your writing is wonderful. I feel like I can see and smell and taste it all.

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