The Dawn of a New Day I wake up before the sun. I always have. There is a quiet magic in those early hours before the world starts its busy engine. You can hear the birds waking up in the oak trees outside. You can feel the cool morning air drifting through a cracked window. […]
Warm summer nights always bring a familiar scent to the breeze. It is a mix of cut grass, barbecue smoke, and the sharp tang of sulfur. I sit on my front porch watching the fireflies dance in the heavy evening air. They remind me of the sparks that will soon fill the sky. We gather […]
The Scent of an American Weekend The scent hits you before you even turn the corner. It is a sweet, woody perfume hanging heavy in the late afternoon air. Hickory, maybe oak, mixed with the unmistakable aroma of rendering fat and spices. You hear the screen door slam. You hear the laughter of children running […]
A Window Down on the Open Road Sometimes I close my eyes and I can still smell the warm summer air of 1955. The scent of fresh cut grass mixed with the rich aroma of grilled onions and engine oil. The country was waking up and the sun was shining on a new era. Neighborhoods […]
The Scent of November Air I remember the exact smell of roasting turkey hitting the cold November air before we even reached the front porch of my childhood home. The wood planks creaked under my boots. Inside, the heat of the oven mixed with loud laughter and the clinking of real silver against china plates. […]
The Magic of the Winter Season The air turns crisp, the days grow short, and soon enough, strings of colored lights begin to twinkle from the eaves of our homes. I have seen many Decembers come and go across this great country of ours. Each year, the familiar scent of pine needles and roasting cinnamon […]
The Comfort of a Warm Kitchen I remember the sound of the wooden rolling pin hitting the flour covered table. Thwack. Roll. Thwack. Roll. My grandmother wore a flour dusted apron that smelled like vanilla extract and strong black coffee. The kitchen was always warm. Even in the dead of winter, when the frost crept […]
A Tradition Forged on the Frontier I have watched the sun rise over cold concrete parking lots more times than I can count. There is a certain kind of magic that happens when the early morning dew is still clinging to the grass and the towering stadium lights are just standing there, quiet and waiting. […]
The Porch and The Promise I remember standing on the creaky wooden porch of my childhood home. It was a late Saturday afternoon in the spring. The dogwoods were just starting to bloom. My older sister was getting married. The entire neighborhood walked over. There were no rented limousines or professional lighting crews. My mother […]
The Dawn of American Hospitality I still remember the familiar clinking of heavy ceramic mugs against the smooth Formica countertops at the local diner back in the late nineteen fifties. The morning air always smelled of strong black coffee and sizzling bacon. You would sit at the counter, read the morning paper, and leave a […]