Nature’s Perfume? Pee-yew!

I first noticed it this morning when I woke up – the cloying, heady sweet smell that I always forget but inevitably comes crashing down on me during the waning days of August, reminding me of gardenia perfume on old women.


The mock orange (Philadelphus) hedge next to the house is blooming again and the Manoa winds are wafting its honeybee-attracting aroma my way. Lawdie, it gives me a headache.


At least I can close the windows, head back to the bedroom or my home office and turn up the air conditioning in those rooms.


But I will never forget reporting a week before classes began in August when I was teaching at the University of Hawaii Manoa. Crawford Hall was old and had no A/C. So I had to open the windows when I was in there, which made it rather comfortable when breezes swept through my corner office.


However, just outside my window were a couple of mock orange trees that released their power during the hottest and most humid days of late summer. I could either close the windows and suffocate in a puddle of sweat, or open them and choke on the floral fumes.


Still, I guess gently choking for a couple of weeks is a small price to pay for the luxurious greenery of the plant’s leaves.


I just wish the aroma smelled like … subtle vanilla. Or sliced cucumbers. Or even pizza.