The Smell of Oranges

Every year about this time I get nostalgic for California. More than usual, anyway. Spring really is the loveliest time out there. The days are warm but not summer's holy crap, I'm living on the face of the sun heat; the rains turn the hills and deserts green, the winds buffet the smog back once in a while; and best of all, the orange trees bloom.

We lived in an area very close to major orange groves and for a week or two every spring, the whole world would seem clean and dewy and smell like a feshly-cut orange. It was amazing. The winds would kick up a swirl of fragrant white petals, and to drive past the orange groves made me feel like I was cruising by trees topped with orange-scented snow.

While looking for pictures to go with this post, I stumbled upon the excellent themed collections at The UC system's Calisphere site. I experienced Internet-Induced Missing Time Syndrome and somehow lost an entire naptime while browsing those photos.