Tea Leaves and Tobacco Leaves

Something I will confess right here and now, this fiction class is making me want to become a smoker. This would be fine except that I have asthma and I can't stand the smell of tobacco. Well, okay I can't stand the smell of smoked tobacco. I love the smell of unsmoked tobacco. I probably didn't notice until my husband mentioned it, that I love it so much. This morning while walking around campus, I could smell it, strong and sweet, as if the warehouse were a block away and not a mile.

There is something about the smell of tobacco that is alluring, but I can never put my finger on it. For my husband the appeal lies in the fact that for years his grandfather smoked a pipe and it is a scent he assoicates with childhood, specifically spending afternoons with his grandfather. He has solid memories of afternoons spent together making pizzas or peanut brittle, reading stories or playing baseball. For me, I have no clear associations, I just enjoy the aroma the way many people love the smell of coffee.

Speaking of smells and childhod. When I was young, we had a sassafras tree on the property border between our yard and our neighbor's; my cousin and I would pick leaves and grind them up for tea. Now, everyone who seriously drinks sassafras tea is aware that roots are best for the purpose, but I quite remember liking the tea made from the leaaves.