Pine

January and February have often been depressing months for me.  Post Christmas excitement,cold weather that is unpleasant to be outside in, kids back in school, etc.  But I discovered something that lifted my spirits while vacuuming up a pile of dumped, crushed chips today...my vacuum is emitting a wonderful scent of pine!    I guess vacuuming up fallen needles from our tree for a month has done the trick.  I am thankful for being able to smell (one of my friends from La Grande was born without a sense of smell...never had thought of that possibility before...she'd had had 3 house fires in the years she was raising her family, largely because she didn't detect things burning early enough to prevent the fires' spread!).  One more blessing.