I’m thankful for smells. The good ones. You might think fragrance or aroma would be a better word. I think smells is best.

We’re coming up on Thanksgiving. I’ll bet you could make a list of at least a dozen experiences you’ve had during family Thanksgiving celebrations, just thinking about the smells in the house while dinner is being prepared. It doesn’t matter what your tradition is, maybe your family meal includes fish, or lasagna, or tacos, or breakfast food, or hot dogs. The smells combined with the experiences make the memories indelible.

When we were growing up our parents used to cook the turkey all night. It’s a wonder any of us survived! And the stuffing was inside the turkey! Unbelievable! The house slowly filled with that indescribable smell as the turkey roasted.

Bacon! Can’t you actually smell bacon, just seeing the word?! Bacon! What would camping be without bacon? What would spending a weekend at the cottage be without bacon? What would bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwiches be without bacon? They would be LTs. That just wouldn’t work. Eggs would be so lonely without bacon! What would the Smokehouse Breakfast at Cracker Barrel be without bacon?!

Chocolate chip cookies! I just gained three pounds imagining the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies! When I was young, somehow it became my job to make the chocolate chip cookies at our house. I was really good at it. It was my Grandma Ola’s recipe and it was fool-proof.

Cinnamon! I make awesome cinnamon rolls, if I do say so myself. Ever since McDonald’s made the incredibly awful business blunder of dropping their delicious, soft, huge cinnamon rolls literally swimming in icing (of which I always got extra) I have sought for a replacement. I make them myself! They’re buried in icing. Warm, dripping, luscious cinnamon rolls! The smell in the house is wonderful!

Grilled burgers! Are you kidding me?! You cannot beat grilled burgers for that beautiful smell that wafts through the yards telling people a mile away someone is grilling burgers!

Sauteed onions! Come on now!

Lilacs! Roses! Burning leaves! Christmas trees! Candles!

I have saved the best til last. Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Where would we be without the smell of freshly brewed coffee? There are actually people who love the smell of coffee but can’t stand the taste! That makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

Coffee shops make most of their money because of the smell of coffee, not because their coffee is so much better than anyone else’s. Well, maybe Starbucks coffee is better. Perked coffee is still the best. It fills the house with that smell that says, “Everything is going to be okay. I’m home. I’m in the house and it’s warm.”

Well, there it is. I’m thankful for smells.