What Are Your Favorite Smells of Fall?

Earlier this week, we blogged our favorite sounds of fall. But fall's also about smell as well, warm comforting smells that underline our ties to friends and family and home. Our list, after the jump...

The rich amber smell of our fall candles
The spicy smell of cinnamon
The dark mysterious bouquet of complex red wines
The sharp smell of pine in your hand after you've brushed against it.
The cool smell of the night just after the sky darkens
The buttery smell of melted cheese
The fresh smell of new magazines
The smell of the heat when it comes on
The milky smell of a hot bath with bubbles and the warm smell of skin that's just been bathed
The comforting smell of someone else's sweater.

What are your favorite smells of fall? Do you make an effort to change the smell of your home in the fall by adding candles, baking or cooking more or changing the varieties of flowers that you buy? Is there one smell that says fall to you more than any other?

Comments (27)

I love the smell of wood burning fires inside and out, leaves burning, hot apple cider, that crisp cool air in the early fall mornings as the sun is rising, definitely the smell of apple-cinnamon, and warm baked goods.

warm apple cider! hands down!

When on a walk, I love the smell of fireplaces burning (even the smell of those nasty preformed logs).

Fresh baked banana bread in the oven.

A hearty soup or stew on the stove.

Hot tea brewing.

The inside of a pumpkin.

Anything baked with apples and cinnamon.

Warm wool blankets and sweaters fresh from storage.

Hot chocolate.

The heater the first time it's turned on for the season (I know - it's burning dust which is gross, but it signals the beginning of cool weather).

The smell in the air after the rain.

A plant near my house that gives off the scent of a pumpkin in the fall. Love it!

My favorite fall sound has to be standing in the woods, eyes closed, as a cold wind blows through the trees.

My favorite fall smell has to be woodsmoke on a cold day; it reminds me of fall as a kid and my favorite red sweater, and then going to this hunting-cabins-turned-community pig roast (even though I am vegetarian)-they would cook apple cider in a big kettle over an open fire and then put Jack in it, the smell of the woodsmoke, the cider, the crunching of leaves underfoot, the wind and the rattling of leaves in the trees; the crackle and snap of the fire....oops I'm waxing poetic here, sorry (I love fall!)

Dry leaves
Pumpkin innards
Apple cider
School supplies (especially a new box of Crayola crayons)
Woolite (for tights and sweaters)
Cool, crisp air in the country

1. fires, 2. the smell of a dewy morning and the leaves, 3. Apple cider, 4. heavy beers, 5. whiskey

Pungent oak firewood
Wet rotting leaves
Balsam and clove
My dad's pheasant stew
Dried mud on hunting dogs (seriously!)
Baked pumpkin seeds

*then* meaning as a young adult!

Crayons
Wet mimio paper (the kind we had in school)
Fires in fireplaces
The plain, crisp cool winds of fall
and robertcraig's dad's pheasant stew!

I also love that (probably very toxic) floor sealant smell that every school has at the beginning of the school year. It reminds me of so many Septembers back in school.

I love the smell of burning leaves/twigs that people rake up in their yards, which is a hallmark of fall weather here in Georgia.

I also love the smell of amber/vanilla candles and freshly washed wool blankets.

I just bought some pumpkin and cinammon candles... yummy Fall smells!

Anything baking in the oven - it's finally cool enough in the apartment to bake!

The smell of our old heater as it starts up.

The smell of a crock-pot stew when you open the front door after a long day.

Rain is frequent in Seattle, no matter the season. However, in fall the air is cooler and to me, there is nothing more refreshing and relaxing then the mixed smell of the cold morning air and fallen leaves filled with last night's rain.

jewish apple cake

The smell of hot cider/cinnamon/mulling spices

The smell of dried leaves

The smell of a pot of chili cooking on the stove

Just plain old dry leaves, oak or maple. I grew up in the midwest and moved south, where we really don't have much of a 'fall.' In fact, sometimes I get that fall smell in December or January, depending on the weather.

I have to agree with the warm scent of burning leaves is rather soothing...

On another note, my least favorite scent is that of the local sugar beet processing factory. Every Fall its stench covers the entire city in which I work... I can't imagine living near it.

hot apple cider

I live in the south.
It does not seem like fall untill sugar cane fields start burning.

Mmmmm....wet wool.....dead leaves...rotten wood...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a286/MAGNAVERDE/DESK--CPNYsmall.jpg?t=1222371524

the lingering smell of a bonfire on my clothes and... pinesol. weird, i know, but the smell always reminds me of entering a clean school building on the first day.

When it stops being in the 90s - 100s! geez it was hot yesterday

jln3681-- got a recipe for that?

victory.

from my new england days - that first chilly breeze that comes with the bright blue skies (rare in boston!). how to describe that smell - fresh?

Pumpkin pie scented candles- I stock up each fall.