Smells of the City

Walking to work this morning many fragrances pleasant and repulsive greeted me along the way and I thought it would be fun to share some of them with you.

Stepping outside this morning immediately noticeable was the strong scent of burnt wood and smoke. Firefighters put out a huge blaze yesterday in a former slaughterhouse on the edge of town and because of the heat-wave and lack of breeze the scent still hangs heavy in the air. Let's pray this fragrance not become as familiar as it did last year.


Some of the other smells of the city I noticed today include:

• exhaust from cars and buses
• onions and meat being browned for someones breakfast or појадок
• the occasional waft of BO from a passer-by
• freshly cut grass in front of a local supermarket
• garbage and sometimes sewage
• flowers, lots and lots of flowers... in front of shops, in gardens and on balconies
• cigarette smoke from groups of gentlemen hovered over turkish coffee in cafes
• fresh baked bread from places like Жуто Лукс
• the much too heavy dosing of perfume on a young gal wearing stilettos
• fruit trees... apple, cherry, apricot, peach and more...
• freshly ground coffee from corner markets with a grinder
• bushes of rosemary and lavender
• mix of oil and rubber from a tire repair place or вулканизер
• water on pavement from car washes or people cleaning the sidewalks in front of their stores... or on grass, weeds or trees from sprinklers
• and again the heavy smell of smoke

It was really interesting to me this morning as I purposely paid attention to the various smells. They're always there, but how often do we really take them in? It's easy to smell the most pungent ones, but to smell the roses you need to stop for a moment.

Frankly, I'm enjoying this time of walking to and from the office. I can tend to be a work-a-holic at times and in the past when weighing walking against taking a taxi I more often than not took the taxi simply for the sake of getting there more quickly. This walking challenge is good for me because it's forcing me to slow down and to not rush so much through life, to be more deliberate with time and to take in the moments, each one, as special. Thank you for walking with me on this journey.

Day 5: $14.78 and counting.