Smells and the city

This morning Jem woke up and said, "Mommy, what smells so good? It's coming from the window..."

Living in the city certainly has advantages - but experiencing pleasant odors usually isn't one of them (unless you live next door to a bakery.) Typically you won't go far before you'll have to hold your nose not to be bowled over by the stench of garbage, or an unpleasant waft from residual dog poop smeared on the sidewalk...

But for the last couple of days the air has been overwhelmingly fragrant with the scent of some sort of plant that has recently gone into bloom in Riverside Park. It's smell is lovely - strong and dizzyingly sweet. When the windows are open it fills our apartment as noticeably as if an overly perfumed woman were visiting. I can't be sure what it is (I haven't noticed anything flowering) but to me it smells like a fringe tree.

My husband (who, since he quit smoking can't stand strong scents) says it's nice, but that he couldn't take too much more of it. But to me it's heaven. Whatever it is, I'm enjoying it while it's here.