While the weather has not yet shown to be true autumn weather – the forecast people say that is coming this week, the smells as I was out this morning are definitely fall.

In the thick fog, you can smell the testing of the wood stove. The smell hangs fragrantly in the air, even overpowering the exhaust from the huge dump truck that has sped by.

There is the smell of wet leaves. Not as fragrant or special as the wood stove, but a smell that really only comes this time of year. As the trees lose their leaves, then the heavy dew or rain will make the leaves wet and they have a scent that is uniquely theirs.

And, even more overpowering, is the smell of exhaust. Sort of like the inversion you get in places like the San Juaquin valley in California, the heavy fog and dew hold in all those fumes. They mix – the gas engines of the cars and SUVs, the diesel ones of the school busses and trucks – and hang in the air.