The Smell of Sunshine

by Jodi
(Ontario, Canada)

I love the smell of sunshine. Sunshine you wonder? It doesn’t have a smell. Ah yes, it does. Close your eyes and daydream as I remind you.

When it hits the Adirondack chairs nestled in the grass next to the fire pit you can smell the fragrance of cedar and a faint lingering of burned apple wood. When it shines down on the golden locks of a playing child it smells of musk, the sweetness of youth. When the sun shines, you feel a tug at your heart and a longing in your soul to run outside and stretch like a cat lazy from slumbering in a sunny spot near the window or curled in a chair on the porch.

The smell of sunshine reminds me of summer vacations. Endless days of playing on the beach. Sun and wind burned lips turning blue from the cold water. Soggy sandwiches pulled from the cooler beside bottles of ice cold beer. Catching toads by the stream and fishing with my father. Playing hide and seek with friends or swimming in the local pool. It brings back memories of an ideally perfect childhood made of the stuff of dreams.

Now open your eyes. Did you smell the sunshine? Yes! So now you see, sunshine does have a smell. What does it remind you of?