Smelling like Christmas

“It smells like Christmas,” the woman hiker said as she and her companion made their way through the thick cluster of pines just below and out of sight from where I was resting. It had been a challenging 4-mile hike up Grandfather Mountain, but the squeak in her voice made me stop panting and smile, if only for a second. It was late September and I really shouldn’t be back at school (sorry, couldn’t resist), but I couldn’t stop thinking about Christmas after her comment.

The bond between hikers was palpable. We were alive and spending the morning in a special way, so glad tidings were abundant. We were full of great joy as we watched a hawk, with enormous wings, glide below as if on snow. The first leaves were changing color at the higher elevations. Some clung like ornaments, other twirled down to the rocks below like tracing their way around a candy cane.

A father and daughter were hiking together and her delight in having his undivided attention made her talk with holiday excitement. A young college-aged couple walked holding hands, as if through a silent night, and a mother and father tried to keep up with their two children who were running ahead like children headed for stockings, pleading for them to hurry because they might miss the stream they’d discovered. 

Even the parking lot had holiday cheer. There had only been a few cars when I set off, but now it was almost full. It looked like outside a shopping mall, where people park on the grass even when there are empty spaces. (I couldn’t help laughing at hikers trying to save steps before their five-hour hike.)

It was a morning as lush as the dark green rhododendron, which looked like holly. And people greeted each other not thinking about what they did for a living, where they grew up or went to school, who they voted for, or what they thought of the Supreme Court hearings. It felt sacred, and, yes, smelled like Christmas.

Extra Credit:

Go find a pine tree and put your nose next to its branches and take a deep breath. Rub the branch between your hands and smell them for the next few hours. Close your eyes and think about the things you love most about Christmas and consider how you, too, might “smell” Christmas even in September.