We accumulate memories through smells and growing up in Appalachia, I was no stranger to the mountains and the natural woodsy scents that grew there.

Reminiscing, I can smell the mountain air after a rainstorm and how the wet earth smelled musky and fresh. The lingering smell of pine as I watched the tall Table Mountain Pines swaying in the wind.

The distinctive aroma of a coal fire vs. a wood fire and the scents were wafting in the breeze as you walk through a field of Goldenrod, White Violets, or mountain laurel. There are not many things that can come close to being in the mountains, and not much will prepare you for the breathtaking scents and sights you will experience in the forest; being here gives one a sense of calm, tranquility, and the feeling of being alive. In reminiscing, the most cloying scent was that of my Grandfather.