Winter Smoke Signals

Speeding on a winter highway,

Passing farm houses in the fog…

I caught the scent of a chimney

Belching a sweet pine log.

Instantly it was Christmas day,

In nineteen fifty-four…

Also a campfire at Yosemite

And so many memories more.

A glass of wine at a ski lodge,

The hike at 6^th grade science camp…

Major forest fires in Truckee

Scented oil in a dorm room lamp.

The Airwick in mom’s bathroom,.

The pine tree on a rear-view mirror…

I saw sixty years of memories,

Within seconds in fifth gear.