Bit of Ivory

Yesterday, I took the time to stop and smell the pine tree.

You see, a long time back, my family went on a camping trip to Bryce Canyon National Park. One night, the park rangers gave a little slide show presentation about the flora and fauna in the park. She specifically pointed out the Ponderosa Pine, whose bark smelled either of butterscotch or vanilla, depending on who you talked to. Well, being the young children that we were, we spent the rest of the trip going up to various trees and sniffing them. To me, they smell like butterscotch. I wish I could say they smell like vanilla, because it’s one of my favorite smells, but it doesn’t– it’s definitely butterscotch.

Well, ever since then, when my family is out in the woods, we search for the smell of butterscotch. Once, we were in Yosemite National Park, and the smell of butterscotch was very heavy in the air– there were Ponderosa Pines everywhere! Even a hint of butterscotch will send my family smelling every tree in sight. Actually, once we know it’s there, we can usually pick out a Ponderosa from the other trees around.

To make a short story long, one night as I was walking back to my car after work (I have to park in student parking, which, as everyone knows, is about as far away from campus as possible), when the strong odor of butterscotch filled my nostrils. I looked around, and there, in front of the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, was a Ponderosa Pine! I was thrilled. I walked up to it and stuck my nose up to the bark, breathing deeply. It smelled wonderful.

Ever since then, I’ve stopped by every once in a while to smell the tree. I’m sure it looks really strange to anyone who happens to be passing, but I don’t care. I’m a tree-sniffer, and proud of it.

Next time, I’ll tell you about my family’s somewhat similar (but also different) obsession with Pinion Pines.