Forest Scents

The tall dawn grass was glistening with dew from a few glorious days of steady rainfall. My sneakers were soaked through in only a couple hundred yards, making me think how impractical my shoe choice would have been if I still lived in Washington State. The scent of damp pine warmed by the morning sun permeated the humid air.

That pine forest fragrance brought up memories of so many mornings spent amongst the forests of Northern Arizona, camping during monsoon season, with a mug of warm, milky cinnamon tea in hand.

I've read the reason why scents are such a trigger for memory is that the olfactory center in your brain is right next to your memory center. I don't know if it's that simple, but the notion rings true for me. A familiar scent will instantly transport me in space and time. And sometimes to incredibly banal memories. Like a single moment driving on a road you drove many hundreds of times, but that one time you had a passenger wearing a subtle perfume. Or maybe it's the presence of the scent that helps to register the moment in your memory banks. In my quest for somatic experiences, I'll keep this in mind. From now on, whenever I add a new illustration to my nature journal, I'll note the scent, with hopes the memory will be logged and I'll have the ability to come back to that moment.

Tomorrow is this season's last nature journaling class. This Winter/Spring season went by fast! Tomorrow we'll be drawing and painting Irises. These flowers are a tricky thing to wrap your mind around, with their twisting and turning petals.

Although the nature journaling classes are coming to an end for the season, I am planning a few outdoor journaling sessions, where we can meet at an interesting location and draw in nature, together. Stay tuned!