The weather is rainy, and the evening air is chilly. While the trees haven’t shed their chlorophyll to reveal their brilliant foliage, leaf-peeping people will soon busy. The other season harbinger has hit the streets – Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

They make me laugh since there is no pumpkin in Pumpkin Spice. They should correctly call it Spiced Coffee. The seasonal seasonings typically include cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, and allspice, or some combination. The other trick they play to create an olfactory illusion is to mix in the aroma of a browning butter and sugar mixture.

It turns out that we learn to recognize odors through associations. The traditional spices used to highlight the taste of pumpkin pie form a link to our memories of warm cozy fires, gatherings of family and friends, and the bounty of an autumn harvest.

They say eighty percent of flavor is in the aroma. Maybe that is what I love about autumn, the perfume of leaves, a crackling fire, fresh-baked treats, spiced candles, and my morning cup of hot, black coffee. It must be time to enjoy a brisk walk and maybe a Pumpkin Spiced sugar cookie.

What is your favorite part of fall?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer