scent portraits

[asakiyume]

I was wishing I could make a scent recording of the route from my home to the supermarket. You'd get the fresh, sweet-light scent of long grass, and then the cloying, overpowering scent of the Russian olives in bloom, and then a whiff of creosote, as I passed a telephone pole, and then the sharp, rich smell of the mulch heaped around the bushes by the supermarket.

If I took a sound recording on the same journey, then as I walked along the boardwalk through the marsh, you'd hear--without fail--a frantic robin fly up from under the boardwalk. She's made a nest down there, and every time I walk along the boardwalk, she flies away in a panic. I hope she doesn't have high blood pressure or PTSD by the time she's done incubating her eggs.

The thing is, she's actually quite safe from anyone or anything on the boardwalk--it would take some doing to get off the boardwalk, go underneath it, and find her nest.

. . . Today, though, I walked the other direction, in search of mugwort (found!). I didn't have my camera, but I did have my cell phone (very unusual for me to have my cell phone w/me, but today I did), so here is a cell phone photo of star-of-bethlehem wildflowers.

Comments

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Do you find that just the mention of some specific scents is enough to make you react? Since I'm familiar with some of those you mentioned, it's very easy to imagine your journey based on those smells alone.

Those are lovely wildflowers. I don't think I've ever seen them. Thanks for sharing.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Oh absolutely. And scent is so visceral--if you smell a smell you associate with a certain memory, then suddenly you're right there again.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Yes, smells are the best time-travel mechanisms I know of.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

A scent portrait! That is such a gorgeous concept which I never conceived of before! *saves in my idea files*

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It really was wonderful. You could have a very vivid walk even with your eyes closed.

*hello from Lurkdom*

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

I love this post! These are the same things I think about on my daily walks. Down here (Virginia) right now it's all honeysuckle and wild roses - it's wondrous.

Re: *hello from Lurkdom*

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

High fives, fellow walker!

We have a small bit of Japanese honeysuckle, but alas it's overwhelmed by the siberian olive. But next month we'll have the wild roses, and that will be glorious ♥

Re: *hello from Lurkdom*

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

Also, I was so inspired by a glorious picture of Joe Pye Weed you posted a few years back (that picture, by the way, is in my Screensaver rotation) that I put Joe Pye Weed plants in my garden. They are not quite as glorious as those, but when they are in bloom, they are very nice, and the bees and butterflies love them. Thank you for your lovely pictures and posts!

Re: *hello from Lurkdom*

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, this makes me so happy! And I love your icon here, with the day lilies against the weathered shingles.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Loved this description!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Mission accomplished :-)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

:-)

[dudeshoes.livejournal.com]

These just popped up in my vinca. So happy to have their identity confirmed! Very lovely flowers.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yeah, these ones in my photo were growing by the side of the road, in the shade.

[scallywag195.livejournal.com]

We have little star flowers blooming right now, too, but I'm not sure if the leaves are the same. The flowers look alike, though.

Love the idea of having a scent recording. I often do sound maps--sitting still in a place and recording the sounds all around me, and I try to be aware of scents, but I've never thought of recording them while walking from point a to point b.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

The leaves in the picture aren't the flower's leaves--the flower's leaves are like grass, or like the leaves of day lilies (long and thin). The leaves you can see in the photo are from sprouts of oriental bittersweet and Virginia creeper.

Sound recordings are lovely--with my old camera, I could sometimes take little videos to record sounds, but my current camera isn't as good at it.

[pinkroo.livejournal.com]

where do you live? I'm wondering where Siberian olives grow~

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Western Massachusetts! It looks like I've messed up on the common name--it should be Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia). It's an introduced species native to southern, not northern, Russia, and also Iran and Turkey and Kazakhstan, that's now established as a fairly invasive naturalized shrub.

(PS--I edited the entry to make it Russian olive)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

It's a great thing to have a camera with you all the time. We've been trying to catch sight of a particular bird we've been hearing around our house. It's got a distinctive call, but at the moment my guess is that it's actually a magpie mimicking something else. I'm hoping one of us will be lucky enough to get some video so we can get closer to solving the mystery.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I'll look forward to the post when you've solved that mystery.

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

"Hello, Mrs.Magpie-- how are your children?"

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Our camera is so big (and invasive) that I hardly ever take it around with me, but i have yet to have the reflex to use the camera phone....the phone which I hate to carry with me. :P

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I was going to say that it's too bad we can't take pictures by just blinking our eyes--but then I had a shiverful presentment of Google developing some technology like Google glass that would do just that… and suddenly I didn't want it anymore :-P

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

*shudder* Yeah, wouldn't want any of that tech either. :P

[syomsong.livejournal.com]

You made me imagine those scents. Thank you.
What is your favorite flower scent?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

:-)

I'm glad.

I love all kinds of scents, both strong and delicate. Some people say this or that scent is overpowering, but when it's the actual flowers, I never mind. I like hyacinth, lilac, lily of the valley, jasmine, chestnut flowers, plum blossoms, maple flowers … so many.

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

http://naturesbeauty.livejournal.com/3504476.html this made me think of you despite the post title

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I can just imagine swimming in there, beneath those trees. If I had endless energy, I'd swim and swim and swim up a river like that. (I'd probably also have to be tiny, because it may not be very deep….)

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

A lot of people assess star-of-Bethlehem as a weed, but I like them and miss them.

You know their family name, right? Ornithogalum-- birds' milk.

I always really liked the Dr. Dolittle stories in which Jip featured as a super-smeller.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't know the family name! How wonderful.

(And I don't know the Dr. Dolittle stories, except to know that he could talk to the animals. Who was Jip?)

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Jip was the longest-term dog member of the household, a mongrel with a terrific snout, though not the supreme detective dog.

I always recall particularly his stint as consultant to a perfume company. Their views of fine scents differed rather.

I expect you've heard that the Dolittle books incorporate explicit racism. Just in case you hadn't heard, I thought I should tell you.