When I open my car door at the farm, one of the most important factors that makes me feel like I’ve arrived “home” is the smell. I’ve thought long and hard about how to describe the fragrance of the farm in words, and all I can come up with is: clean dirt. I know it may sound silly, and I’m certain that most people wouldn’t find the aroma of pasture grass, hay and horse manure appealing, but for me, I think it has become an unconscious signal to my brain that makes me happy. I have asked other people, “what smell makes you happy?” Some of the answers included, “Gasoline, because it reminds me of driving with my dad to fill up his pickup truck on Sunday mornings.” “Lily of the Valley, because it was my mother’s favorite flower.” “The smell of burning brakes, from driving fast on the track.” “A freshly washed baby.” I guess most people tend to link certain smells with events or feelings that are associated with a fond memory.
In addition to the overall smell of the farm, each of the structures has its own unique smell. The big barn, where many of the horses are stalled, also smells like hay and manure, but in addition, it has the rich, heavy smell of the horses that live there. The tractor barn’s odor is a mixture of thick oil, bitterness from the rusting metals, with a touch of gasoline. The large bird pen in the front of the grain barn, where the turkey, chickens and peacock live, smells like sweet milled corn mixed with musky dust.
If someone would blindfold me and bring me to each of the different spots on the farm, I am certain I would know them as well as I know my own home. I hope the clean dirt smell lasts in my mind forever.
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