What Does Fall Smell Like?

Leaves. Wet leaves, piled up and decomposing. Dry leaves, crunchy and sun-kissed. You're just walking along on the sidewalk, breathing in the woodsy smell when suddenly you get the urge to go out of your way to scuff through a pile of them.

Pumpkin pie. Warm and thick. Can you smell the color orange? The answer is yes and it smells like pumpkins. Flaky pie crust baking, heating up your kitchen. A sprinkling of cinnamon - spicy - yet comforting, like a hug.

Hay. Itchy. Prickly. Smells like bumping in a wagon up a steep dirt road. Wandering through a maze at dusk. Laying on the ground on a quilt, staring up at the sky. Straw on your jeans and clinging to your sweater.

Bonfires. Smoke burning your eyes. The smell clinging to your clothes, wafting in your hair. Leaning up close to the heat, seeing how long you can stay until you get so hot you can't take it anymore. A bright spot on a dark fall night. A warm circle in brisk wind.

Apples. Baking in a crisp. Floating up as steam from hot cider...apple air. Muffins, pies, cakes. Biting into one, hard and green, cold and sour almost hurting your teeth.

That's what fall smells like.