"Do you get high in here?!"

A colleague walked into one of the greenhouses today for the first time. She asked, "do you get high in here?" (Now, in our current political culture, after two states passed legislation related to legalizing smoking marijuana you may be concerned; I assure you, there's no need.) The smell has become somewhat normal to me but it's intoxicating, especially in the middle of January; when the world around us is readying to hibernate, a chunk of my world is entering the first weeks of spring (it's fighting to do so but I feel like that is what nature is all about - a fight to survive, grow, and thrive!)

A colleague brought in tomato plants that are nearly 3' high now. Tomatoes. Smells like a ripe, middle-of-summer tomato. (And I love the smell of fresh, straight from the vine, tomatoes. It's so different from the smell grocery-store tomatoes exude now, after travelling from warmer climes.)

In addition to the tomato, there are between 200 - 300 sprouts shooting up. It smells lush, green: and then occasionally, I catch a whiff of Cilantro, Sage, Thyme, or Basil.

Soil: there is now nearly 300 pounds of it piled neatly into containers here in the greenhouse. Which gives off that wonderful earthy, life-giving aroma.

It's snowing. Outside of the greenhouse, the weather is appropriate for the end of January: snow has arrived. While most of the natural world is slumbering through winter, there's a different smell to the snow in the greenhouse. The snow, a few flakes have scurried their way inside. They've found their way through the spaces between ceiling panels and now that there is  bit of snow inside, it smells refreshing; more similar to a spring-time rain in April.

Today, with all of those smells combined, although it's snowing outside, it smells like a spring rain. Like I have escaped winter's grasp and have time traveled right into spring. Maybe that is why I have had a difficult time being productive in the office lately; I'm intoxicated with the aroma of the greenhouse.